================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 80 ISSN 1069-7799 June 30, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (126 lines) - LEGISLATION AND POLICY UPDATE AT ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE - DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR NATIVE AMERICAN LIBRARY SERVICES GRANT _________________________________________________________________ LEGISLATION AND POLICY UPDATE AT ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE The June 27 Legislation and Policy Update, sponsored by the ALA Committee on Legislation, included segments on copyright, E-rate, Title 44 revision bill, and an opportunity to speak with staff from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The ALA Washington Office made an appeal for action by ALA members to protect fair use and the E-rate, and to respect local decision-making on the Internet. "If there was every a need for 20,000 library advocates to be in Washington, D.C., now is the time," said Pat Wand, chair of the Committee on Legislation. Carol Henderson, executive director of the ALA Washington Office, urged attendees to contact their members of Congress "any way they could." The Washington Office has set up an e-mail alert service at http://congress.nw.dc.us/ala/ that includes sample letters for ALA members to e-mail to Congress. While Congress is on recess, ALA members are also urged to call congressional staff at 202-224-3121, or their visit their member of Congress at their local district office. Eric Peterson, staff director of the U.S. Congress Joint Committee on Printing, and Kennie Gill, Democratic staff director and chief counsel for the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, spoke on efforts to introduce a bill to revise Title 44 of the U.S. Code, the statute that governs printing and public dissemination of government information. The bill will be introduced in July by Sens. Wendell Ford (D-KY) and John Warner (R-VA) after Congress returns from recess. Gill asked that ALA members tell stories to their members of Congress about "fugitive documents" and ask them to support the upcoming Ford/Warner bill. Tom Sloan, co-chair of the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, summarized the current copyright and fair use issue as a need to "balance economic interests with information needs" in the digital environment. He encouraged ALA members to ask Congress to support the Klug/Boucher amendment to H.R. 2281, the "WIPO Copyright Treaties Implementation Act" The amendment would resolve the fundamental flaws in H.R. 2281 that threaten the future of electronic commerce, technological innovation and Internet growth. Tom Kalil, director to the White House's National Economic Council, cited recent news that the number one constraint on economic growth in the United States is that companies cannot hire skilled workers. He said that the Clinton Administration's concerns include how to continue support for the E-rate, how to increase the quality of content on the Internet, how to finance the production of digital libraries, and how to provide training to the next generation of information professionals. "The President and Vice President are committed to fighting off any congressional efforts to derail the E-rate program," he said. ALA Washington Office Deputy Executive Director Lynne Bradley introduced Karen Hauptman, a ninth grade student activist from Bethesda, MD who has organized People for Internet Education. "We know how important [the E-rate] is," Hauptman said, "and we've been writing letters" to lobby Congress and raise public awareness. For more information, e-mail p-i-e@alloymail.com. Michelle Richards, director of federal programs at the National School Boards Association, spoke on behalf of the Education and Library Network Coalition (EdLiNC) and characterized the E-rate fight as "David and the well-funded Goliath." She added, "The truth is on our side, and so are the grassroots efforts." Richards explained that the E-rate is not causing long distance phone rates to go up, rather, "Rates since February have gone down 4.5 percent to their lowest rate in history." Adding, "We're not out of the woods yet," Richards stressed the importance visiting members of Congress, raising the issue at local town hall meetings during this congressional recess, and sending letters to the editor. The update concluded with the staff from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, including Diane Frankel, director, and Betsy Sywetz, deputy director of the Office of Library Services. IMLS staff members gave brief presentations and took questions. _________________________________________________________________ DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR NATIVE AMERICAN LIBRARY SERVICES GRANT The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has announced the extension of the application deadline for the Basic Library Services Grants of the Native American Library Services grant program to Friday, July 31, 1998. According to the IMLS press release, "This extension will ensure that all eligible tribes have an opportunity to apply for these non-competitive grants to support existing library operations." The deadlines for two types of special-purpose grants in the Native American Library Services grant program, Technical Assistance Grants and Enhancement Grants, have not been extended. The Institute of Museum and Library Services published a notice of the deadline extension for Basic Grants in the Federal Register and is sending the guidelines to all 1997 grant applicants who have not submitted applications this year, as well as to others who have requested them. If you would like to be placed on their mailing list, please send e-mail to: imlsinfo@imls.fed.us, phone: 202/606-5227 or go to http://www.imls.fed.us/ _________________________________________________________________ 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: Carol C. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================