[kids-lib] Fwd: [Libs-Or] ACTION NEEDED: Call your Representative about LSTA and IAL

Tue Mar 28 18:00:49 PDT 2017

Sorry if you read this on other lists but it's super improtant.

Jane

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Buzzy Nielsen <Bnielsen at crooklib.org>
Date: Tue, Mar 28, 2017 at 2:40 PM
Subject: [Libs-Or] ACTION NEEDED: Call your Representative about LSTA and
IAL
To: "libs-or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us" <Libs-Or at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>

Hi everyone,

Many have no doubt heard that the President’s proposed budget eliminates
the Institute of Museum and Library Services and with it two critical
pieces of federal library funding: Library Services and Technology Act
(LSTA) <https://www.imls.gov/grants/grants-states> and Innovative
Approaches to Literacy (IAL)
<https://www2.ed.gov/programs/innovapproaches-literacy/index.html>,
totaling about $200 million nationwide and over $2 million to Oregon. *This
is not business-as-usual; there is a legitimate threat to these programs,
and we need to take action! *I’ll explain further below.

*The Short Version*

LSTA and IAL funding for libraries is in danger of being eliminated. ALA
has written two letters to the Appropriations Committee in support of
retaining this funding; *we only have until Monday, April 3* to get
Oregon’s five U.S. Representatives to sign onto the letter. Emails and
phone calls from library workers and patrons expressing support for federal
funding, as well as stories of how the funding has helped the library and
community, are crucial. Find your representative here and please act NOW!”:

http://cqrcengage.com/ala/

If you’d like to direct your comments to Congressional staff who work in
this policy area, here is their contact info:

http://www.olaweb.org/assets/Legislative/leg_2017_%20congress_contacts.doc

*The Long Version*

LSTA supports many essential programs in Oregon: statewide licensed
databases (Gale and LearningExpress), OSLIS, Oregon Battle of the Books,
Answerland, the Sage Library System courier, State Library consultants
(Katie, Darci, Jennifer, Tamara, Arlene, and Ferol), Summer Reading
Collaborative, EDGE Initiative, Focus on Children and Young Adults
Institute, and more. It also supports competitive grants that have resulted
in projects such as UO’s Historic Oregon Newspapers
<http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/>, K-16 information literacy standards,
outreach programs to underserved populations, and others at school,
academic, public, special, and tribal libraries across the state. IAL funds
provide competitive grants to school libraries and support programs such as
Reach Out and Read (ROR) and Reading is Fundamental (RIF).

In other words, this funding is important to all libraries in our state.
That’s why the Oregon Library Association’s Legislative Committee needs
your help. Currently, the House of Representatives is discussing 2018
budget appropriations, including allocations, if any, to LSTA and IAL. The
ALA has written two letters to the Appropriations Committee encouraging
them to keep LSTA and IAL funding at their current levels. We need as many
legislators as possible to sign onto and send these letters to the
committee. Here are links to those letters:

·         Letter supporting LSTA: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/
sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/FY18-LSTA-House-DA-Letter.pdf

·         Letter supporting IAL: http://www.districtdispatch.
org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IAL-Approps-FY18-Letter.pdf

Please contact your House Representative and ask them to sign onto both of
these letters. Calling is best. Be prepared to share a story about how LSTA
and/or IAL have touched the lives of your patrons: the person who helped
find a job thanks to LearningExpress, the child whose love of literature
was sparked by OBOB, or the student who received critical research
assistance thanks to Answerland.

*The deadline for House members signing onto these letters is Monday, April
3*, only a week away. Don’t know who your Representative is? No problem!
Use the ALA’s Legislative Action Center to find out:

http://cqrcengage.com/ala/

While messages from library workers are important, those coming from
patrons have greater impact. Encourage them to call, too, especially if
they’ve somehow been touched by a program supported by LSTA or IAL.

Two notes:

1.       Representative DeFazio has already signed the letter. However, if
you’re a constituent, please call to thank him; it’s important legislators
know how many of their voters support them. If you’re aware of other Oregon
Representatives who have signed on, please let me know.

2.       The Senate will not take up appropriations until after Congress’s
recess in April. We’ll put another call out to you when they take up the
issue.

If you’d like more information, ALA has a couple of handy websites to keep
you informed:

·         Fight for Libraries!: http://www.ala.org/fight-for-libraries

·         District Dispatch: http://www.districtdispatch.org/

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that you show your support by
contacting your House member. LSTA and IAL touch the lives of so many of
our patrons. Our legislators need to understand the impact that cutting
this funding would have on their constituents. Thank you for your efforts,
and please let me know if you have questions.

Cheers!

Buzzy Nielsen

OLA VP/President-Elect, 2016-17

******************************

Library Director

Crook County Library

175 NW Meadow Lakes Dr.

Prineville, OR  97754

bnielsen at crooklib.org

(o) 541-447-7978 x301 <(541)%20447-7978>

(m) 971-270-0527 <(971)%20270-0527>

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-- 
Jane Corry
Youth Librarian-Belmont Neighborhood Library
Multnomah County Library
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Oregon Library Association Immediate Past President

*Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that
matter.-Martin Luther King. Jr.*
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