ALAWON v4n50 (May 31, 1995)
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v4n50

****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File****
***************************************************************************
                                                             ISSN 1069-7799
                                  ALAWON
                      ALA Washington Office Newsline
                     An electronic publication of the
              American Library Association Washington Office

                            Volume 4, Number 50
                               May 31, 1995

   In this issue: (121 lines)
     AMERICAN'S CAN'T WAIT - LIBRARY ADVOCACY NOW! CAMPAIGN EXTENDED
     NATIVE AMERICAN ASSISTANCE PART OF HOUSE BLOCK GRANT BILL

***************************************************************************

      AMERICAN'S CAN'T WAIT - LIBRARY ADVOCACY NOW! CAMPAIGN EXTENDED

ALA's "Library Advocacy Now!" campaign has been extended through June 30,
giving library supporters additional time to send in postcards and letters
to their Congressional offices.  There could be no better time to conduct
an advocacy campaign since this is a critical period for Congressional
activities related to library legislation.

The House continues work on its block grant efforts to include library
programs in H.R. 1617.  A bill, S. 856, has now been introduced in the
Senate to reauthorize the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) as a
Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).  These efforts will soon be
followed by a battle over actual appropriations so it is extremely
important for legislators to hear from grassroots library advocates in
June.

ALA has heard positive responses from Congressional offices about "getting
all those cards", so the campaign is succeeding in its goal to alert policy
makers to the urgency and scope of the American public's need for
information and for libraries that can satisfy that need.  This advocacy
campaign is part of ALA's Goal 2000 efforts to make the voice of libraries
heard where information policies are developed.

Patricia Glass Schuman, chair of the "Americans Can't Wait" campaign and of
the ALA Legislation Committee, said a key legislative goal is renewal of a
revised LSCA as a Library Services and Technology Act (whether in a block
grant or other mechanism), as well as to protect other legislation to
support public, school and academic libraries.  There is a special emphasis
on acquiring the technology libraries need to provide public access to the
information superhighway.  "It's critical that library advocates speak out
given the current political climate in Washington," Schuman said, "...the
grassroots efforts are needed now more than ever."

The goal of the "Pass-A-Buck" campaign is to convince members of Congress
to ultimately increase federal support for all types of libraries to a
dollar per person, and to reaffirm the federal role for library
development.  A key campaign strategy is the "Pass-A-Buck" postcard
initiative which is intended to demonstrate broad-based public support for
federal library programs.  Each congressional office should receive at
least 100 postcards.

Postcards and other materials related to the Library Advocacy Now! campaign
are available from the ALA Public Information Office, 50 E. Huron St.,
Chicago, IL 60611 (phone:  800-545-2433 ext. 5044).

The "Americans Can't Wait" campaign has also been endorsed by Friends of
Libraries USA and Libraries for the Future, a national citizens advocacy
group.

***************************************************************************

         NATIVE AMERICAN ASSISTANCE PART OF HOUSE BLOCK GRANT BILL

H.R. 1617, the block grant bill approved May 24 by the House Economic and
Educational Opportunities Committee, includes a consolidation of funds
under several currently separate provisions or setasides of funds for
Indian tribes and tribal entities.  This consolidated provision would
include the current setaside of Library Services and Construction Act funds
for library services.

Small setasides of funds from several areas of the block grant bill,
including from the separate subtitle for libraries (the Library Services
and Technology Consolidation Grant), would be combined.  These funds could
be used for grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements with Indian tribes
or tribal organizations and institutions (including Alaska Native village
entities and Hawaiian Native organizations) to provide employment,
training, vocational rehabilitation, library services, and education
assistance.

The choice of use of funds would be up to the tribal entity.  According to
House Committee staff, this provision was worked out with representatives
of tribal organizations.  Section 315 of H.R. 1617 as introduced would
accomplish part of this intent, and will be further refined in the
Committee-approved version of the bill (not yet issued) or in technical
amendments during House floor consideration.

The Senate LSTA bill just introduced, S. 856, includes a Native American
setaside similar to the current LSCA provisions.

***************************************************************************
***************************************************************************

ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library
Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC
20002-5675.  Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-547-4440;
Fax: 202-547-7363.  Contributing to this issue:  Carol C. Henderson;
Editor: Lynne E. Bradley (leb@alawash.org).

ALAWON is available free of charge and is available only in electronic
form.  To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your name]" to
listserv@uicvm (Bitnet) or listserv@uicvm.uic.edu (Internet).  Back issues
and other documents are available from the list server.  To find out what's
available, send the message "send ala-wo filelist" to the listserv.  The
ALA-WO filelist contains the list of files with the exact filename and
filetype.  To get a particular file, issue the command "send filename
filetype" to the listserv.  Do not include the quotes in your commands.

All materials in the newsletter subject to copyright by the American
Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial
purposes with appropriate credits.  For other reprinting or redistribution,
address requests to the ALA Washington Office (alawash@alawash.org).

***************************************************************************
***End of file******************End of file******************End of file***

