================================================================= ALAWON Volume 6, Number 110 ISSN 1069-7799 December 10, 1997 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (107 lines) -ALA/COSLA "E-RATE" WORKSHOP HELD IN WASHINGTON, D.C.; FORMS EXPECTED THIS WEEK (OR NEXT) -TITLE IV FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM AMENDED _________________________________________________________________ ALA/COSLA "E-RATE" WORKSHOP HELD IN WASHINGTON, D.C.; FORMS EXPECTED THIS WEEK (OR NEXT) More than 40 state library representatives attended a two-day workshop December 8-9 in Washington, D.C. to discuss the latest developments in the universal service ("E-rate") program. The event was hosted by the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy, the ALA Washington Office and the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies. Representatives from the Schools and Libraries Corporation (SLC), who will be responsible for the disbursement of universal service discounts to libraries and schools, said that finalized application forms should be available from the SLC either late this week or early next week. The program is scheduled to begin January 1, 1998. The first day was opened by San Mateo (CA) Public Library City Librarian K. G. Ouye, chair of the SLC Board. Ouye introduced and welcomed SLC CEO Ira Fishman who answered questions from the participants. The day also featured panels on the roles of state libraries and additional resources for libraries seeking information on applying for the discounts. The second day of the workshop included the release of "draft" application forms. Debra Kriete and Tom Carroll of the SLC answered questions about the forms and other issues. ALA collected additional questions which will be submitted to the SLC. The SLC is expected to publicly respond to these questions by Friday, December 19. ALAWON will provide information on the release of finalized application forms when it becomes available. _________________________________________________________________ TITLE IV FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM AMENDED U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley has published an amendment to the regulations governing the Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (Title IV, HEA programs). A notice concerning the amendment was published in the Federal Register on November 28, 1997 (Vol.62, No. 229, pp. 63437-63439). The changes are being made in response to the President's "America Reads Challenge" by providing for an additional waiver of the FWS institutional-share requirement for tutors in a family literacy program that provides services to families with preschool age children or children who are in elementary school. These regulations will take effect on July 1, 1998. The expansion of the waiver of the FWS institutional-share requirement to tutors involved in family literacy programs is important in meeting the goal of children reading independently and well by the end of the third grade. The Secretary strongly encourages all institutions to employ FWS students as reading tutors for children and as tutors in family literacy programs that provide services to families with preschool age children or children who are in elementary school. The Secretary is providing for an additional waiver of the FWS institutional-share requirement. The Secretary will authorize a Federal share of up to 100 percent of the compensation earned by a student during an award year if all criteria are met. For a list of criteria, please see the November 28 Federal Register announcement online at http://www.ed.gov/news.html or for more information, Nancy Adams, U.S. Department of Education, 600 Independence Avenue SW., Regional Office Building 3, Room 3045, Washington, D.C. 20202-5447. Telephone: (202) 708-8242. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Aleck Johnson Andrew Magpantay All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================