****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File**** *************************************************************************** ISSN 1069-7799 ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 3, Number 17 April 5, 1994 In this issue: (191 lines) FOR THE COST OF A BALL-POINT PEN, WRITE LIBRARY FUNDING BACK IN INVITATION TO CONTRIBUTE TO SENATE HEARING RECORD SENATE PASSES BUDGET AND EDUCATION LEGISLATION *************************************************************************** FEDERAL LIBRARY PROGRAMS REACHING OUT, RAMPING UP, AND RETRAINING -- ALL FOR 57 CENTS PER PERSON! FOR THE COST OF A BALL-POINT PEN, WRITE LIBRARY FUNDING BACK IN! DO THE WRITE THING FOR LIBRARIES! The U.S. is currently spending $146,309,000 on Department of Education library programs. That's less than one/one-hundredth of one percent of the federal budget, or $.57 per person--about the cost of a ball-point pen! The pay-off from the library innovation sparked by federal funds is great-- both in matching funds from other sources, and in new services benefitting our diverse population. But the Administration would cut all but two of the currently funded programs: Program (amounts in thousands) FY94 FY95 ADMIN. FUNDING REQUEST LIBRARY SERVICES & CONSTRUCTION ACT $ 128,866 $ 102,976 Title I, public library services 83,227 83,227 II, public library construction 17,792 -0- III, interlibrary cooperation 19,749 19,749 IV, Indian library services 2 % of LSCA I, II, and III V, foreign language materials -0- -0- VI, library literacy programs 8,098 -0- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- HIGHER EDUCATION ACT $ 17,443 $ -0- Title II-A, college library tech. 3,873 -0- II-B, library education 4,960 -0- II-B, research & demonstrations 2,802 -0- II-C, research libraries 5,808 -0- VI sec 607, foreign res. materials -0- -0- WHAT IS THE FEDERAL ROLE IN SUPPORT OF LIBRARIES? Most library funding is local, but federal stimulus funds administered by the Department of Education are concentrated on three critically important and appropriate national goals: 1. To extend outreach to those for whom library service requires extra effort or special materials (examples are recent immigrant groups, those with disabilities); 2. To adapt new technologies to identify, preserve, and share library and information resources across institutional, local, and state boundaries; and 3. To support education, research, and demonstrations in the library and information science field. These goals relate directly to two major Administration initiatives: 1. National Education Goals. Federal library funds help libraries contribute to achievement of the Goals 2000 agenda. Example: Libraries help children start school ready to learn; federally- funded projects include taking children's library services to day-care centers. 2. National Information Infrastructure. Federal library funds help libraries, as local on-ramps for the information superhighway, to ensure that access is equitable, content is useful and useable, and expert help is available. WHY FUND THE PROGRAMS PROPOSED FOR ELIMINATION? The zeroed-out programs are needed if libraries are to make real the Administration goal of connecting every school, library and hospital to the National Information Infrastructure by the year 2000. What happens when libraries are connected to this information superhighway? Do library resources become magically available to schoolchildren across the nation? Are library staff immediately expert in computer interfaces and telecommunications as well as information resources? Not without a lot of time, effort, retraining, and resource deployment on the part of libraries. The zeroed-out library programs help libraries retrofit and rewire for new technologies, become fully accessible to the disabled, assist adult illiterates in basic and information literacy, digitize the content of academic and research library collections for wider access, recruit minorities to serve diverse populations and retrain librarians for the electronic networked environment. FOR THE COST OF A BALL-POINT PEN, WRITE LIBRARY FUNDING BACK IN! RECOMMENDATION: For the cost of a ball-point pen, or $.57 per person, restore library program funding to at least current funding levels. The American Library Association recommends a total of $150 million for FY 1995. DO THE WRITE THING FOR LIBRARIES! *************************************************************************** INVITATION TO CONTRIBUTE TO SENATE HEARING RECORD Libraries, especially public libraries, are invited to provide information electronically for the April 19 hearing on Libraries and Their Role in the National Information Infrastructure. The Senate Subcommittee on Education, Arts, and the Humanities, at the request of Sen. Paul Simon (D-IL), is holding the hearing to educate legislators about the NII technology, to find out how libraries are using it, why libraries are important players in the NII, what is needed in telecommunications legislation, and why federal assistance through the Library Services and Construction Act and the Higher Education Act title II is essential. Library Legislative Day participants are encouraged to attend the hearing at 10:00 a.m. in Room 430, Dirksen Senate Office Building. Please provide brief answers (keep it to no more than three screens) to the following questions, add your name and affiliation information, and respond by April 15 to alawash@alawash.org. The results will be part of the technology demonstrations at the hearing itself, and will be added to the hearing record. Sen. Simon's staff would like answers to the following questions: 1. What is your library doing now with NII technology? 2. What concrete applications is your library involved in to benefit the community? bulletin boards? lending software? electronic jobs information? electronic government information? other? 3. What do you see as your library's role in the future? 4. Tell your best story. 5. What barriers hinder your use of NII technology or applications? 6. What federal policy changes should be made? 7. Why is federal funding important to you? *************************************************************************** SENATE PASSES BUDGET AND EDUCATION LEGISLATION On March 25, after late sessions all week, the Senate passed the Congressional Budget Resolution, S. Con. Res. 63, which sets forth the congressional budget for the U.S. Government for the next five years. The House companion piece, H. Con. Res. 218, approved on March 11, sets a higher total for expenditures so conference will occur when the Senate and the House return on April 11. The Senate also approved the conference report on H.R. 1804, Goals 2000: Educate America Act (S. Rept. 103-85). The bill now goes to the President to be signed into law. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363. Editor: Lee G. Enyart (lge@alawash.org). ALAWON is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your name]" to listserv@uicvm (Bitnet) or listserv@uicvm.uic.edu (Internet). Back issues and other documents are available from the list server. To find out what's available, send the message "send ala-wo filelist" to the listserv. The ALA-WO filelist contains the list of files with the exact filename and filetype. To get a particular file, issue the command "send filename filetype" to the listserv. Do not include the quotes in your commands. All materials in the newsletter subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. For other reprinting or redistribution, address requests to the ALA Washington Office (alawash@alawash.org). *************************************************************************** ***End of file******************End of file******************End of file***