ACRL New England Chapter News Online

ISSN 1527-0106

Spring 2007, Number 111

In This Issue (Home):

President's Letter

Chapter Professional Development Scholarships Available

Board Election Results

Happy Centennial!!

ACRL Legislative Network Report

Student Conference Summary

Board Minutes, June 18th Retreat
Calendar Listings

2007 National Library Legislative Days

Suzanne Wones
ACRL/NEC Legislative Network Coordinator

Tuesday May 1st and Wednesday May 2 were this year’s National Library Legislative Days. This year over 400 librarians descended on the Capitol to learn about the major legislative issues affecting libraries in America and then meet with our legislators and their aides to discuss these issues.

This year the ALA was asking legislators to support the President’s request of $226.18 million for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). We were also asking to increase the Fund the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program to $100 million. Future librarians will be glad to hear that the outcome for the LIBRARIAN Act of 2007 is looking good. This measure, if passed, will provide for Perkins student loan forgiveness for librarians that are employed in low-income schools and public libraries.

In the realm of Copyright, we asked legislators to Co-sponsor H.R. 1201, the FAIR USE Act of 2007, to amend Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to allow bypassing a technological lock that controls access to and use of a copyrighted work in six narrow circumstances. These exceptions would facilitate education and preservation activities, without causing any harm to copyright owners. 

In support of open government legislation, the ALA supports opening up access to the reports created by the Congressional Research Reports to the public. We also voiced our appreciation to Congress for interceding and conducting investigations into the EPA library closures while expressing our concern about the future of other federal libraries and the potential loss of access to important resources used for the public good. While the PATRIOT ACT is not a current issue, we did ask members of Congress to support ongoing investigations into the FBI abuses of National Security Letters (NSLs).

This year during the ALA’s Washington Office is supporting some activities on Capitol Hill to coincide with the National Conference in June. If you’re planning to attend the conference consider signing up to join in the extra day of lobbying. All of the Senators and Representatives have also been invited to make a READ poster for their districts and to come try out one of the flashy bookmobiles that will be surrounding the Capitol buildings that day.