ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 13, Number 64 September 16, 2004 In This Issue: SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE PASSES LIBRARY FUNDING BILL; PROVIDES AN ALMOST $25 MILLION INCREASE FOR LSTA and $3 MILLION INCREASE FOR SCHOOL LIBRARIES ACTION NEEDED: Contact your Senators immediately and ask them to support $223.56 million for Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) programs at the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and $22.842 million for the Improving Literary Through School Libraries program. The Senate Appropriations Committee proposed significant increases in library funding to the fiscal year 2005 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill that passed yesterday. The increases in library funding proposed by the Committee are higher than the President's budget and the levels approved by the House of Representatives last week. The Committee recommended a total of $223,560,000 for library programs at Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), an increase of $25,318,000 over FY 2004 and $3,070 over the President's request. The Committee provides $172,900,000 for state grants, an increase of $15,272,000 over FY 2004 and almost $2.5 million more than the President's budget request. The Committee also recommended $20,000,000 for the National Leadership Grants for Libraries and $20,000,000 for the Recruitment of Librarians for the 21st Century. Native Americans Library Services would receive $3,800,000. Overall, the Committee provided a funding level of $262,240,000 for the IMLS, the same level as the FY 2004 appropriation for IMLS, which included over $30 million in congressionally-directed grants. For the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program, the Committee recommended $22,842,000, an increase of $3 million over FY 2004 and the level approved by the House of Representatives. ALA, along with 89 Members of Congress, had requested that the House and Senate Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriation Subcommittees fund the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) at the authorized level of $232 million and $100 million for the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Program - the level of funding necessary to initiate formula grants to all states. Many education programs are level funded and several programs are eliminated entirely, including the Innovative Education State Grant program (Title V) and Even Start. However, some of the programs that the President and the House have proposed for elimination the Senate restored with some funding, like the Star Schools program and Community Technology Centers. For Adult Education and Family Literacy, the Committee provided $590,127,000, just slightly below the House and the President's budget. At this level, $574,266,000 will be available for State Grants, $9,169,000 for National Leadership Activities and $6,692,000 for the National Institute for Literacy. In addition, the President's Striving Readers Initiative was funded at $25 million -- $75 million less than the House and the President's request. According to the President's budget, the Striving Reader's Initiative would make competitive grants available to States and school districts to develop, implement, and evaluate effective reading interventions for middle or high school students reading significantly below grade level The Senate has not yet set a date for floor consideration of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill. However, ALA is urging its members to contact their Senators in support of the funding levels approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee for libraries. Visit ALA's website for more information and talking points on these critical programs: . Use ALA's Washington Office Legislative Action Center at 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) 224-3121. ****** 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.