ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 8, Number 40 May 6, 1999 In this issue: [1] 25th National Library Legislative Day A Rousing Success [2] Action Needed: Congressional Signatures Sought for E-rate Support Letters by Monday, May 10 [3] Correction for ALAWON n39: Library Services and Technology Act [1] 25th National Library Legislative Day A Rousing Success Librarians, trustees, friends of libraries, users of libraries and other supporters (including a few parents with children) came from 48 states and the District of Columbia to the 25th National Library Legislative Day on May 3-4. More 500 library advocates -- over half of them first-time participants -- visited congressional offices, told their library stories and encouraged new legislative friends to support our nation's libraries. Library advocates focused on funding of library, education and literacy and related programs, ESEA reauthorization, intellectual property issues, public access to government information, and the E-rate and related Internet issues such as potential requirements to use filtering and blocking software. The event was sponsored by the District of Columbia Library Association, the American Library Association Washington Office and other participating organizations. A record-breaking 325 library advocates participated in the all- day briefing session on May 3. ALA Washington Office staff and consultants prepared participants for their visits to Capitol Hill and provided issue briefs and other background information for both library advocates and for every Representative and Senator. ALA Washington Office Executive Director Carol Henderson, who will retire in August, was given a standing ovation. The May 4 kickoff to the congressional visits was highlighted by Friends of the Library U.S.A. President C. David Warren, who presented public service awards to Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Rep. Connie Morella (R-MD). Both legislators have been champions of the E-rate telecommunications discounts for libraries and schools. They spoke enthusiastically about their strong support for libraries and the importance of library advocate visits to congressional offices. Elyse Wasch, legislative assistant to Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), told participants that Sen. Reed will introduce legislation or an amendment to provide assistance for school library media centers as part of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). She suggested that library advocates urge their Senators or their staff to contact her at 202-224-4642 to cosponsor or otherwise help in this effort. For those who participated, the National Library Legislative Day committee expresses its thanks for coming and for such a strong showing on the 25th anniversary of this important grassroots event. Please return your participant evaluation forms to the ALA Washington Office. The tradition will continue next year with the 26th Annual National Library Legislative Day to be held on May 1-2, 2000 in Washington, D.C. For more information, call the ALA Washington Office at 1-800-941-8478 or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/legday.html [2] Action Needed: Congressional Signatures Sought for E-rate Support Letters by Monday, May 10 Congressional champions of the E-rate are seeking help from National Library Legislative Day participants and other library advocates for letters to the Federal Communications Commission in support of the E-rate telecommunications discounts for libraries and schools. The FCC will be determining the level of collections for this year's E-rate universal service fund within the next few weeks. FCC Chairman William Kennard has said publicly that he intends to ask for $2.25 billion, the cap set by the FCC in the first round of discounts before the actual funding was cut significantly. However, the full FCC must vote on this year's amount. The 32,000 applications for the second round of discounts would require $2.4 billion. Some industry and congressional opposition has already surfaced to higher levels that would accommodate more of the discount requests. Action Needed: (1) Urge your Representative to sign on to a letter to the FCC that is being circulated by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Connie Morella (R-MD). To sign on, a Representative or their staff should contact Stephanie Vance in Rep. Blumenauer's office at 202-225-0820. (2) Urge your Senator to sign on to a letter to the FCC that is being circulated by Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV). To sign on, a Senator or their staff should contact Tom Geier in Sen. Snowe's office at 202-224-5344, or Barbara Pryor in Sen. Rockefeller's office at 202-224-2578. Both letters express strong support for the E-rate and urge that it be fully funded during the second year of discounts. Since the FCC may make a decision very soon, it's important to get your calls in quickly, preferably by Monday, May 10. If you discussed this issue during your Legislative Day visit, please make a follow-up call to ask whether your legislator has indeed signed on to the appropriate letter. The more congressional signatures on each bipartisan letter, the greater its effect. Many legislators do not sign on to such letters unless it is in response to a constituent request. The Capitol switchboard number is 202-224-3121. The ALA Legislative Action Center is available at http://congress.nw.dc.us/ala/ [3] Correction for ALAWON n39: Library Services and Technology Act In the May 3 ALAWON (v8, n39), we erroneously referred to the Library Services and Construction Act instead of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). LSTA, enacted in September 1996, is a major update of the Library Services and Construction Act. Administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, LSTA is the only federal grant program for libraries. Thank you to the alert ALAWON readers who called this to our attention. ****** 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 or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. 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. Editor: Lynne E. Bradley; Managing Editor: Deirdre Herman; Contributors: Phyllis Albritton, Mary Costabile, Carol Henderson, Peter Kaplan, Claudette Tennant and Rick Weingarten.