ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 11, Number 75 September 12, 2002 In This Issue: SECOND URGENT ACTION ALERT: PUT LSTA UP FOR A VOTE IN THE HOUSE! CALL REPRESENTATIVES TO SIGN ON TO A LETTER TO THE LEADERSHIP TO SCHEDULE VOTE ON H.R. 3784 Please call your Representative today and ask him or her to sign on to the Letter to the Leadership below. To sign on, your Representative's staff person should call Rebecca Hunt in Rep. Hoekstra's office at 202-225-4401. Please do not call yourself, either your Representative or his or her staff person must call. Representative Pete Hoekstra, chairman of the Education and the Workforce subcommittee on Select Education has agreed to take the lead in an effort to get the House leadership to schedule a vote on HR 3784, the Museum and Library Services Reauthorization. The Congress is scheduled to go home to campaign early in October, so we need to ask Congress to move this legislation quickly. Please don't delay, call your Representative immediately! (Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121) Following is the text of the letter to the House Leadership: Dear Members of the House Leadership: We are writing to encourage you to schedule a vote on HR 3784, the Museum and Library Services Act of 2002, before the end of the 107th Congress. H.R. 3784 has 94 bipartisan co-sponsors and passed favorably from the Education and the Workforce Committee in April. Given the time that has passed, and the dwindling number of days left on the congressional schedule, we believe it essential that the Museum and Library Services Act of 2002 be brought to the House floor as soon as possible, to enable the reforms in this reauthorization to take effect before the 107th Congress adjourns. Passage of H.R. 3784 will also provide guidance to the Appropriations Committee as it considers library funding issues. All Americans benefit from the small, but mighty, federal role of this legislation, which assists libraries and museums in fostering an informed citizenry. The Library and Museum Services Act is very flexible, and built around the idea of local control. The federal role has traditionally focused on areas that require incentive funding for activities that libraries and museums have difficulty initiating independently, which involve coordinated interstate efforts, and which benefit from a national policy initiative. Federal funding for libraries and museums provides services to those who require extra effort or special materials, including individuals with disabilities. These additional funds are crucial to America' s efforts to identify, preserve and share information resources across institutional and governmental boundaries. Libraries and museums are capable of astonishing creativity and aid communities in revitalizing the economy, helping children begin school ready to learn, and developing literate, informed adults. One of the few sources of funding for innovation available to libraries is federal funding, and local libraries and museums are often able to significantly leverage the funds they receive. In fact, it is estimated that library programs stimulate $3 to $4 for every federal dollar received. More often than not, these dollars are invested in the surrounding communities in which libraries are located, providing additional jobs and stimulating local economies. Thank you for consideration of our request to schedule H.R. 3784 in the coming weeks. Sincerely, Pete Hoekstra ****** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. To subscribe to ALAWON, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc@ala.org or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. To unsubscribe to ALAWON, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff. Executive Director: Emily Sheketoff. Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Camille Bowman, Mary Costabile, Don Essex, Patrice McDermott and Miriam Nisbet. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Jennifer Hendrix, Carrie Russell, Claudette Tennant. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.