ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 12, Number 83 September 16, 2003 In This Issue: Please Call Senators TODAY! Please call your Senator's offices today and ask them to sign on to the letter below. The letter asks for support of the House funding levels for the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program, the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), and the Museum Services Act during the Conference on the fiscal year 2004 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. This is our last chance to secure the higher House appropriations level. Ask your Senators to sign-on to the letter by having your their staff person call Elyse Wasch in Senator Jack Reed's office at (202) 224-4642 (please do not call Elyse directly-your Senator's staff person should call). Remind your elected officials of the vital importance of libraries to our communities and our children. The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121. Thank you in advance for your help. [text of letter follows] Senator Arlen Specter Senator Tom Harkin Chairman Ranking Member Subcommittee on Labor, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Health and Human Services, and Education Education Committee on Appropriations Committee on Appropriations Dear Chairman Specter and Senator Harkin: We write to urge you to support the House funding levels for the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program, the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), and the Museum Services Act during the Conference on the fiscal year 2004 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Program In passing the No Child Left Behind Act, Congress recognized the need to improve our nation's school libraries as part of the comprehensive and renewed strategy to ensure that students learn to read and to read well. In its first year, the Department of Education received over 1,000 qualified applications for the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program. With $12.5 million available for the program, only 94 grants could be awarded. A similar application to grant ratio is expected with the soon to be released FY03 grants. The need for school library funds nationwide continues to be great. The President requested $27.5 million for the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Program, the same level provided in the House Appropriations bill. We urge you to recede to the House funding level. Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Libraries are the information hubs of our communities, providing essential services - from career information workshops to family literacy classes - that are in great demand during this time of economic downturn. We urge you to adopt a funding increase that meets the President's request of $169.6 million for library state grants and library services to Native Americans, plus the additional $1.8 million needed to double the minimum state allotment as included in both the Senate and House versions of the Museum and Library Services Act of 2003. Museum Services Act Museums are rich centers of culture, discovery, and lifelong learning, providing a deeper understanding of the world. The House has included $29,780,000 for the Museum Services Act, nearly $5 million more than the funding level included in the Senate bill, and just shy of the President's request. We urge you to recede to the House funding level. Thank you for your consideration of these requests and your continued support and commitment to the role of our nation's libraries and museums in developing a literate, educated, and democratic society. We look forward to working with you. Sincerely, ****** 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; Kathy Mitchell, Carrie Russell. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.