Advocacy Alert! Ask Your SENATORS & Reps to sign LSTA & IAL letters to #FundLibraries

This is a new request to contact your SENATORS and ask them to sign the Dear Appropriator Letter in support of federal funding for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and the Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) program. The White House budget proposal for FY21 has eliminated this funding for the fourth year in a row. Just like last year, your advocacy is needed to restore that funding.

Please reach out to Senators Cardin and Van Hollen and ask them to sign the Dear Appropriator letters and continue their support of libraries. They have signed on to both letters every year since FY18. The previous request to contact Representatives is below. We have already made progress! Representative Sarbanes has signed on to both letters and Representative Brown has signed on to the LSTA letter.

Visit Engage to find more information and talking points, and to email or tweet your Senators and Representative.

Thank you to everyone who has and will contact their members of Congress!

 

Advocacy Alert! Ask Your Rep to sign LSTA & IAL letters to #FundLibraries

For the fourth year in a row, the White House budget proposal for FY21 proposed the elimination of the federal funding for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and the Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) program. Last year, advocacy efforts helped to restore this funding. We need your advocacy to make that happen again!

Please reach out to your Representative and ask him to sign the Dear Appropriator letter in support of full funding for the LSTA and IAL program. Visit Engage to find more information and talking points, and to email your Representative.

For your reference, here are the MD Congressmen who have previously supported LSTA and/or IAL by signing Dear Appropriator letters and in which of the previous 3 years:

• Rep Brown (LSTA: FY18-FY20; IAL: FY18 & FY20)
• Rep Raskin (LSTA & IAL: FY18-FY20)
• Rep Ruppersberger (LSTA: FY19-FY20; IAL: FY20; as a member of the Appropriations Committee, he has also included this in his list of priorities)
• Rep Sarbanes (LSTA & IAL: FY18-FY20)\

Thanks in advance for your advocacy efforts!

Advocacy Alert Update: House Appropriations approves IMLS increase!

Please see below for some good news from the American Library Association’s Public Policy and Advocacy Team in Washington DC!

Thank you to everyone who contacted our legislators to ask for support for the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS), Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA) and Innovative Approaches to Libraries (IAL). If you have not already done so, please take a moment and use Engage to thank the Senators and Representatives who signed on to the Dear Appropriator letters. Legislators who signed include:

• LSTA & IAL: Senators Cardin & Van Hollen and Representatives Brown, Raskin, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes
  • Note: Please give a special thank you to Representative Ruppersberger, who serves on the Appropriations Committee.
• LSTA only: Representative Cummings

Thank you!

 

From The Public Policy & Advocacy Team on Wednesday, May 8, 2019:

We have exciting news to share on #FundLibraries. This evening, the House Appropriators Committee approved its FY2020 funding bills, which contained a $25 million increase for IMLS, including $17 million for LSTA! That’s exactly what we asked for in our Dear Appropriator letter. The $17 million increase is dedicated to the Grants to States program and would bring the minimum state allocation to $1 million recommended in the Museum and Library Services Act we worked so hard to pass last year. Moreover, the House markup includes a $2 million increase for the Innovative Approaches to Literacy program, a Department of Education program which provides competitive grants to school libraries.

Today’s House mark would bring overall IMLS funding to $267 million, LSTA funding up to $206.3 million, and IAL to $29 million. Of course, this is just one step on the pathway to appropriations, but it’s a big step in the right direction. We know that the Senate will be a steeper climb. We’ve already begun targeted outreach to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and will continue to work closely with advocates in those key states.

In the meantime, please take a moment to send an email thanking your representative if they are on the Appropriations Committee or if they signed one of the Dear Appropriator letters.

Thank you!

The Public Policy and Advocacy Team

 

Advocacy Alert! Ask Senators to Fund Libraries, LSTA & IAL

4/16/2019 Update:

Senators Cardin and Van Hollen signed on to both the LSTA and IAL letters. Many thanks to everyone who contacted our Senators! Please feel free to reach out to thank them for their support.

3/30/2019 Update:

Many thanks to all of you who have already contacted our Senators to ask them to sign on to the Letters in support of LSTA and IAL!

Senator Cardin has still not signed on to either letter, despite the fact that he signed over the last two years. The deadline to sign on to both letters has been extended until Thursday, April 11. If you have not yet already done so, please contact Senator Cardin and ask for his signature. See below for details on who the Senator should contact to sign the Letters. Additional information appears in the emails further below.

• LSTA Letter: Contact Elyse Wasch with Sen. Jack Reed to sign the bipartisan Reed-Collins LSTA letter at Elyse_Wasch@reed.senate.gov or at 202-224-4642.
• IAL Letter: Contact Moira Lenehan-Razzuri to sign the Reed-Stabenow IAL letter at Moira_Lenehan@reed.senate.gov or at 202-224-4642.

Senator Van Hollen has signed on to the Letters for both LSTA and IAL. Please take a moment to thank him for his support.

According to the American Library Association’s Office for Library Advocacy, we are a few signatures short of last year’s totals in the Senate. Maryland library advocates can do our part to change this!

Thank you for your advocacy efforts!

 

Original post:

It’s time for the next step in advocacy for Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA) and Innovative Approaches to Libraries (IAL) program. Thanks to your advocacy efforts, Representatives Brown, Raskin, Ruppersberger and Sarbanes all signed the Dear Appropriator Letters for LSTA and IAL.

Our attention now shifts to the Senate where there are Dear Appropriator Letters for LSTA and IAL. Senator Van Hollen has already signed the LSTA Letter, but not the IAL Letter. Senator Cardin has not signed either. In FY19, both Senators signed both the LSTA and IAL Letters.

Please see Engage for more information, including how to contact Senators. Information about how Maryland Public Libraries transformed lives with LSTA funds is also available.

Thank you in advance for taking action!

Advocacy Alert! Ask your Rep to Fund Libraries, IMLS, LSTA & IAL

3/30/2019 Update:

Thank you for all of your advocacy efforts! Representatives Brown, Raskin, Ruppersberger and Sarbanes all signed the Dear Appropriator Letters for LSTA and IAL.

3/21/2019 Update:

Many thanks for all of your emails and phone calls to our Representatives! As of this morning, several Representatives have signed on to the Dear Appropriator Letters:

• Signed LSTA and IAL Letters: Brown, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes
• Signed LSTA Letter: Raskin

Feel free to send a thank you to those who have signed on.

Cummings, Harris, Hoyer and Trone have not yet signed on to either Letter and Raskin has not yet signed the IAL Letter. Please continue to email or call to ask for their signatures. It is important that they hear from us before the March 28th deadline. Check the Fund Libraries air table for the most up-to-date list of who has signed.

Thank you!

Original post:

The White House released the budget proposal for FY20. Once again, it proposes the elimination of funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA) and Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL). Dear Appropriator letters are now available for Representatives to sign. (Letters for Senators will be coming soon.)

Please contact your Representative. We would like to have all of MD’s Representatives sign on to the Dear Appropriator letters to show their support for IMLS, LSTA and IAL. We have had great success in the past with Dear Appropriator letters and would like to continue that track record. Most MD Representatives also voted for the Museum & Library Services Act (MLSA), which reauthorized IMLS and LSTA. Here is a summary of past support:

• Signed FY19 LSTA Letter: Brown, Cummings, Raskin, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes
• Signed FY19 IAL Letter: Raskin, Sarbanes
• Included IMLS, LSTA & IAL on his list of funding priorities: Ruppersberger
• Voted for MLSA: Brown, Cummings, Hoyer, Raskin, Ruppersberger, Sarbanes

A few additional notes:

• Representative Ruppersberger: Although he typically does not sign onto letters, as a member of the Appropriations Committee he has included IMLS, LSTA and IAL on his list of funding priorities so it is critical for him to hear from us.
• Representative Harris: Although he has not typically shown support, he also serves on the Appropriations Committee so it is important for him to be contacted.
• Representative Hoyer: As the Majority Whip, he will also likely not sign on, but it is still important for him to be contacted.
• Representative Trone: This is his first year in office, so this is the first time he is being asked to sign onto letters.

For more information or to email your Representative, go to Engage.

Thanks in advance for your advocacy!

Advocacy Update! MLSA has passed! Congress renewed commitment to America’s libraries

Congress passed S 3530, the Museum & Library Services Act (MLSA), to reauthorize the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS) and the Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA)!

Many thanks for all of your advocacy! Please take a moment to thank your members of Congress for their support using Engage or sending the Tweet below. In particular, thank Senators Cardin and Van Hollen for their co-sponsorship of the bill. Representatives Brown, Cummings, Hoyer, Raskin, Ruppersberger and Sarbanes all voted for the bill. Representative Harris voted against. Representative Delaney did not vote.

If you’d rather send a Tweet, here’s the message:
Huge thanks to @SenJackReed and everyone who made the passage of the Museum and Library Services Act possible. We are grateful for Congress’ renewed commitment to supporting our nation’s libraries!

From the American Library Association Washington Office:

“ALA advocates, we applaud your steadfast work to move MLSA forward and to send a strong message to Congress that libraries and the vital services they provide have longstanding value in every community across the country. Thank you for everything you do!”

Thank you!

Advocacy Alert! Email Senators & Rep to cosponsor Museum & Library Services Act

Building on the recent success with funding for libraries, we would now like to secure reauthorization of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). To accomplish this, the Museum and Library Services Act has been introduced in the Senate (S 3530) and House (HR 6988) with bi-partisan support. IMLS administers library funding through the Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA). Reauthorization of IMLS will not guarantee funding in the future, but it demonstrates a strong commitment to IMLS and to continued funding for libraries.

Please email your Senators and Representative using the Engage links below and ask them to cosponsor the reauthorization bill. A pre-written message is provided and you can personalize it to maximize impact. Additional background information is also provided at those links.

Email your Senators asking them to cosponsor S 3530.

Email your Representative asking him to cosponsor HR 6988.

Thanks in advance for your advocacy efforts!

 

President signs bill with FY19 funding for libraries

Yesterday, the President signed a spending bill (HR 6157) that included FY19 funding for many library programs, including:

• $242 million for Institute of Museum & Library Services, a $2 million increase
• $189.3 million for Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA), level-funding
• $27 million for Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL), level-funding

While the bill included FY19 funding for library and other programs under Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, as well as those under Defense, it included only a continuing resolution to fund the rest of the federal government through December 7^th. The continuing resolution provided funding at FY18 levels and avoided a government shutdown.

All of the Maryland members of Congress voted for the budget bill, except Congressman Harris.

For more information about the library programs that were funded, please see the American Libraries article.

Thank you for all of your advocacy efforts to #FundLibraries!

 

Senate approves FY19 library funds in appropriations bill

The full Senate passed a FY19 Labor, Health, Human Services & Education (Labor-HHS) appropriations bill on Thursday with an 85-7 vote. It includes level funding plus a slight increase for IMLS.

• $242 million for Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS), a $2 million increase
• $189.3 million for Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA)
• $27 million for Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL)

The House approved their Labor-HHS bill in July. Congress now must approve 12 spending bills before the start of FY19 on October 1, or pass a continuing resolution to keep the federal government open. The full House is expected to delay voting on the spending bills until after the November election and pass a continuing resolution instead.

Many thanks to all of your earlier advocacy efforts! Senators Cardin and Van Hollen both voted in support of the bill. Please take a moment to thank them for their support either by calling their offices or sending a message through Engage.

For more information, please see the District Dispatch article.

 

Advocacy Update: FY19 LSTA & IAL funding & Thank you to Harris

As you may have heard, both the Senate and House Appropriations Committees passed FY19 funding bills that include level funding for the Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA) and the Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL). LSTA was funded at $186.3 million and IAL was funded at $27 million. The next steps are for the bills to go to the full Senate and House. No date has been set for this. For more information, see the District Dispatch article.

Congressman Harris serves on the Labor HHS-Education Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. Many thanks to everyone who contacted Congressman Harris to ask him to support LSTA and IAL funding! We now need to tell him thank you and we received a request from the American Library Association (ALA) Washington Office to do just that—see below for specifics. If you are in Harris’ district, please take a moment to thank him!

From the ALA Washington Office:

One of the best ways to ensure full funding is to express our thanks to the elected leaders who have supported libraries. As Representative Harris serves on the House Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee, a “thank you” can be doubly powerful right now.

Would you take a moment to thank Congressman Harris for his support of libraries with a call, tweet, letter, or letter to the editor expressing thanks on behalf of your community?

You can reach his congressional office at 202-225-5311.

Use his social media handles to tweet at them a message such as “thank you Rep. Harris for supporting federal funding for libraries – it helps our library [do x, y, z].” Using original photos from your library provides an added personal touch. His twitter “handle” is: @RepAndyHarrisMD.

The message points to express are (and please add any personal examples from your state):

1. Thank you for supporting libraries in your district and state.

2. LSTA funding ensures that everyone has access to a broad range of library services in your state. The funding provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, along with matching state funds, allows libraries to provide access to resources state-wide, implement services for veterans, run summer reading programs, support small business and entrepreneurs as well as many other high-demand services.

3. IAL funding is a small but important program for early childhood literacy. Developing strong literacy skills at an early age is one of the best indicators of a students’ future success in education.

 

Thank you!