ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 13, Number 18 March 22, 2004 In This Issue: CONTACT YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS IMMEDIATELY AND ASK THEM TO SUPPORT FEDERAL FUNDING FOR AMERICA'S LIBRARIES In both the House and the Senate, Members of Congress are circulating letters of support for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Circulating the letters in Congress are Representative Raśl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Representative Robert Simmons (R-CT) in the House of Representatives, and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Senator Susan M. Collins (R-ME) in the Senate. The letters are addressed to the House and Senate Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriation Subcommittees and respectfully request that the House and Senate include $232 million for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and $100 million for the Improving Literary Through School Libraries program for FY 2005. The LSTA and the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program provide critical funding for libraries of all kinds nationwide. Only by including $232 million for the LSTA and $100 million for the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program in the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill will we ensure that library patrons of all ages have sufficient access to library and information services, support recruiting and educating the next generation of librarians, and provide libraries the resources they need to improve literacy skills and academic achievement. ALA's Washington Office strongly encourages ALA's membership to immediately contact their elected officials in Congress and urge support for these letters and federal library programs. Funding is tight this year and competition is very strong among the many groups seeking federal funding for the upcoming year. With a March 24th deadline for signatures on the letter in the House of Representatives, it is critical that ALA members contact Congress in a timely manner and let them know the importance of federal library programs. Currently only the following Members have signed on to the House letter: Rep. Michael McNulty, Rep. James McGovern, Rep. Bob Etheridge, Rep. Donna Christiansen, Rep. Chris VanHollen, Rep. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Henry Waxman. If the number of signatures does not significantly increase, the letter will not be taken seriously. If your Member of Congress is not on the letter, it is critical that you contact them immediately. Time is of the essence. Visit ALA's website for more information on these letters at: http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/WOissues/washfunding/funding.htm ACTION NEEDED: Contact your Member of Congress and ask them to please sign the Rep. Grijalva-Rep. Simmons letter in the House and the Sen. Reed-Sen. Collins letter in the Senate that support federal library programs. Please do not contact Rep. Grijalva, Rep. Simmons, Sen. Reed or Sen. Collins directly. Instead, ask your Representative's staff to contact Rep. Grijalva, Rep. Simmons, Sen. Reed or Sen. Collins' staff to add their Member's signature. Use ALA's Washington Office Legislative Action Center at http://capwiz.com/ala/home/ to identify and fax your Members of Congress in both the House and the Senate. You can also call your Member of Congress directly using the U.S. Capitol switchboard at: (202) 225-3121. ****** 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; Carol Ashworth, Camille Bowman, Don Essex, Joshua Farrelman, Patrice McDermott and Miriam Nisbet. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Carrie Lowe, Kathy Mitchell, Carrie Russell. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.