[Libs-Or] Fwd: [alacro-l] House Budget Proposal to Elminate IMLS

[Suzanne Sager]

FYI,

Suzanne L. Sager

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael Dowling <mdowling at ala.org>
Date: Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 10:37 AM
Subject: [alacro-l] House Budget Proposal to Elminate IMLS
To: alacro-l at ala.org


House budget proposal dismisses role of IMLS

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For Immediate Release
Tue, 04/01/2014
Contact:

Jazzy Wright

Press Officer

Washington Office

202-628-8410

jwright at alawash.org

WASHINGTON, D.C.--In a new budget released today from Representative Paul
Ryan (R-WI), the House Budget Committee Chairman denounces the critical
role that the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) plays in
supporting civic engagement, literacy and lifelong learning in more than
123,000 libraries nationwide. Rep. Ryan recommends that the federal
government not have a role in libraries and that Congress shift the federal
agency's responsibilities to the private sector in his 2015 fiscal year
budget resolution.

Today, American Library Association (ALA) President Barbara Stripling
released the following statement in response to Rep. Ryan's
budget<http://budget.house.gov/uploadedfiles/fy15_blueprint.pdf>(pdf):

"We were shocked to learn that Representative Paul Ryan recommended
eliminating IMLS, the agency that promotes library services for the
American public. We are disappointed by the House Budget Committee's
outright dismissal of IMLS, the agency that administers the primary source
of federal funding to libraries. Libraries depend on the support they
receive from IMLS to help patrons learn new skills, find job opportunities
and access reading materials that they otherwise could not afford. More
than $180 million has been appropriated to the Institute for Museum and
Library Services through September 2014 to help libraries make information
and services available to the citizens they serve.

In Rep. Ryan's own state of Wisconsin, more than 65 percent of libraries
report that they are the only free access point to Internet in their
communities. Just a few blocks from Rep. Ryan's Wisconsin office, more than
716,000 visitors used the Hedberg Public Library in Janesville, Wisconsin
to access library computers and research databases, check out books and
receive job training in 2013. The Institute of Museum and Library Services
administered more than $2.8 million in the 2014 fiscal year to help
Wisconsin libraries prepare young students for school and provide lifelong
learning opportunities for all Wisconsin residents. For example, the state
reported that more than 215,000 children participated in summer reading
programs at Wisconsin public libraries.

IMLS provides invaluable professional development opportunities to
librarians across the country. As the director of school library programs
for the New York City Department of Education, I witnessed the ways in
which the IMLS-supported programs helped young students learn and discover
new information. In recent years, IMLS provided professional training for
New York City school librarians, who used their training they received to
change the lives of children with limited access to books and technology.

Furthermore, the Institute has been a vital component in facilitating
collaboration between federal agencies that relate to library services,
such as the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human
Services, the Federal Communication Commission and the Government Printing
Office, among others. For example, the Institute has been instrumental in
working with the U.S. Department of Labor so that libraries can be
considered additional One-Stop <https://www.careeronestop.org/> partners
for job-seekers.

Library funding support from the Institute for Museum and Library Services
wields large returns in the form of literate and civically engaged
communities. We hope that Congress will support the important role that the
Institute for Museum and Library Services plays in supporting educated
communities by rejecting the House Budget resolution."

*###*
*About the American Library Association*
The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library
association in the world, with approximately 57,000 members in academic,
public, school, government, and special libraries. The mission of the
American Library Association is to provide leadership for the development,
promotion and improvement of library and information services and the
profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access
to information for all.







-- 
Suzanne L. Sager
Oregon ALA Representative
Portland State University Library
PO Box 1151
Portland, OR  97207-1151

Phone: 503-725-8169
Fax: 503-725-5799

email: sagers at pdx.edu
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