|
WASHINGTON HOTLINE
C&RL News, June 2007
Vol. 68, No. 6
by Andy Bridges
National Library Legislative Day 2007
May 1 and 2, 2007, marked the 33rd Annual National Library Legislative Day events. This year, more than 420 participants from 47 states came to Washington, D.C., to speak with their Members of Congress about the needs of libraries in the areas of funding, telecommunications, copyright, privacy, and government information.
ACRL President Pamela Snelson and President-Elect Julie Todaro were in attendance, along with ACRL staff including David Connolly, program officer; Mary Ellen Davis, executive director; and Kara Malenfant, scholarly communications and government relations specialist.
On May 1, ACRL hosted a luncheon that featured George Mehaffy, vice president for academic leadership and change at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Mehaffy’s presentation was on “Developing Informed and Engaged Citizens: The Imperative for Higher Education,” and ACRL is set to podcast an interview with him about that presentation (blogs.ala.org/acrlpodcast.php).
Pictures from National Library Legislative Day can be found on the ALA Washington Office’s Flickr page at www.flickr.com/photos/alawash. National Library Legislative Day is sponsored by the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, the District of Columbia Library Association, the Special Libraries Association, and ALA.
Grassroots advocacy page
The ALA Washington Office recently unveiled its Grassroots Advocacy Web page, which is located in the Getting Involved section of the Washington Office Web site at www.alawash.org. The site is intended to lay out very clearly exactly what resources are available from the Washington Office Web site, along with some strategies for optimizing those resources. Some of the resources include:
• District Dispatch Blog & Podcast, blogs.ala.org/districtdispatch.php. View press releases, ALAWONs, and virtually all vital information from the Washington Office. The District Dispatch is also an archive for past press releases and ALAWONs. Do you prefer to listen to updates about federal issues, policy, and advocacy on your iPod, in your car, or at your desk? Then check out the podcast series produced by the Washington Office.
• ALA Washington Office Newsline (ALAWON), www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washnews/news.htm. Receive action alerts and updates about federal issues in your e-mail inbox by subscribing to ALAWON: the American Library Association Washington Office Newsline. The news alerts give you an overview of the issue and contain links back to the Washington Office Web pages, where you can get background information or the history of an issue.
• Legislative Action Center, www.capwiz.com/ala/home. A short version of each ALAWON is reprinted here in the form of “TAKE ACTION” alerts. Simply click on the alert of your choice and view the text of the alert. Then, using the e-mail form provided on the Web site, send an e-mail about the alert to your Members of Congress. You can copy the text of the alert into your e-mail, but be sure to type in a personalized story or description about how the legislation you are writing about impacts your library.
• Federal Library Legislative & Advocacy Network (FLLAN). FLLAN is a rapid-response grassroots network made up of individuals and groups who have made a commitment to actively and immediately respond to calls for action related to federal issues. For example, the ACRL grassroots network is part of the FLLAN network, but individual academic librarians, who may or may not be part of the ACRL grassroots network, also participate in FLLAN.
|
Inaugural ACRL legislative advocates appointed
To supplement the existing ACRL Legislative Network, ACRL created the new position of legislative advocate. The Government Relations Committee reviewed applications from ACRL members who are interested in federal legislation and policy affecting libraries and willing to work for change.
All those selected have agreed to take on a set of responsibilities that further ACRL’s legislative advocacy goals. These responsibilities include establishing relationships with their Members of Congress and with campus leaders who may be advocates for library issues; making yearly in-person visits to the local offices and, as possible, the Washington offices of their senators and representative; and communicating with senators and representatives in response to at least three action alerts per year on selected issues of importance as identified by ACRL.
Legislative advocates will serve a two-year term, which may be renewed without limit at the option of the advocate and upon review. Congratulations and thank you to:
Rachel Bridgewater, Washington State University Vancouver, OR
Anne Britton, Harvard College Library, MA
Susan Brynteson, University of Delaware Library, DE
Sarah F. Cohen, Champlain College, VT
Carrie Cooper, Eastern Kentucky University, KY
Sean Cordes, Iowa State University, IA
Joe Dahlstrom, University of Houston-Victoria & Victoria College, TX
Trisha Davis, The Ohio State University Libraries, OH
Mark de Jong, University of Maryland University College, MD
Ray English, Director of Libraries, Oberlin College, OH
Hector Escobar, University of Notre Dame, IN
Cristina Favretto, University of California-Los Angeles, CA
Lois Fitzpatrick, Carroll College, MT
Marc Gartler, Harrington College of Design, IL
Ravonne Green, Valdosta State University, GA
Deborah Hagemeier, Augustana College, SD
W. Lee Hisle, Connecticut College, CT
Barbara Jones, Wesleyan University, CT
Charles Kratz, The University of Scranton, PA
Debbie Malone, DeSales University, PA
Jonathan Miller, Rollins College, FL
Lorena O’English, Washington State University, WA
Pattie Piotrowski, Illinois Institute of Technology, IL
Todd Quinn, Dakota State University, SD
Cristina Ramirez, Virginia Commonwealth University, VA
Greg Raschke, NCSU Libraries, NC
Luis Rodriguez, Kean University, NJ
Brena Smith, Westwood College, CA
Aline Soules, California State University, East Bay, CA
Duncan Stewart, University of Iowa, IA
Julie Todaro, Austin Community College, TX
Doris Van Kampen, Saint Leo University, FL
Jan Wilbur, Associate Assumption College, ME
Larry Wild, Judson College, IL
Catherine Wojewodzki, University of Delaware, DE
Arthuree Wright, Howard University Libraries, MD
Daryl Youngman, Kansas State University, KS
|
Andy Bridges is communications specialist at ALA’s Washington Office, e-mail: abridges@alawash.org
|
