National Library Legislative Day 2016 – Updated

It’s that time of year again! National Library Legislative Day!

• When: Monday, May 2 and Tuesday May 3, 2016
• Where: Liaison Hotel, Capitol Hill, Washington DC

National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) is an annual, two-day advocacy event organized by the American Library Association. The event brings Library advocates, Library supporters, Librarians, Trustees, and Friends from across the United States together in Washington DC to meet with members of Congress and their aides to advocate and encourage support for libraries.

Briefing Day – Monday, May 2nd is a briefing day. You may register for this session through April 22nd on the NLLD webpage. Walk-in registrations will also be accepted at the door.

Virtual Briefing Day – New! – Briefing Day will be streaming live starting at 9am on Monday.

Issue Briefs – The 2016 issue briefs are now available. This year, all of the briefs are in this one document.

Reception – The reception will be from 5-7pm in Room 902, Hart Senate Office Building. Members of Congress and their staff have been invited by the American Library Association (ALA) and library supporters are welcome.

Legislator Visits – Tuesday, May 3rd is when most of the visits to Congress occur. If you are interested in joining a delegation for a visit, please contact Natalie Edington at nedington@bcpl.net by Monday, April 25th.

Virtual NLLD – Can’t make it to Washington DC? You can still participate virtually through Friday, May 6th. Visit the American Library Association’s advocacy page for more information on Virtual NLLD, including how to email, call or tweet your elected officials. There will be an opportunity to participate in Virtual NLLD via phone, email and tweets. Register at this site to receive talking points and other resources. Encourage others to register, too!

For more information, please visit http://www.ala.org/nlld and check back on this Legislative Panel blog.

National Library Legislative Day Video

Below is a  video about National Library Legislative Day  from the ALA Grassroots Coordinator.  It is your support and advocacy that will educate the elected officials about the value of libraries.

http://youtu.be/OUAKx5Op1CA

Remember also that you can use our new advocacy tool, ENGAGE,  to contact your elected officials to tell them how useful our libraries are to the over 3 million library users, and to those who walk through our doors seeking information on workforce and educational opportunities. Click on our Take Action button and tell your library story:  http://cqrcengage.com/alamd/

National Library Legislative Day 2015

National Library Legislative Day ( NLLD) is a two day event, organized by ALA, where, Library advocates, Library supporters, Librarians, Trustees, and  Friends from across the United States, gather in Washington DC to meet with their Representatives in Congress to advocate and encourage their support for libraries.

Registration is now open for this year’s NLLD

When: May,4, 5, 2015

Where: Liaison Hotel, Capitol Hill, Washington DC.

There is a cost for the first day briefing session, but for the second day, advocates may visit their representatives at no cost.

MLA usually takes care of registration for designated  officers on the Executive committee and the MLA legislative Panel/Federal Coordinator  will  provide information  about coordinators for each district.

Over the next few months,ALA will provide us with information on issues

For more  information on NLLD. check ALA’s District Dispatch link below.

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/nlld

If libraries make you “Happy” then join the Rally & Flash Mob!

The North Carolina Library Association (NCLA) has scheduled a national rally for libraries in Washington, DC on Tuesday May 6, 2014 from 2:30-4:00 p.m during National Library Legislative Day. The event includes guest speakers Emily Sheketoff (ALA Office Executive Director), Cal Shepard (NC State Librarian), Dale Cousins (NCLA President), and a number of K-12 student ambassadors. 

A “Happy” flash mob dance is planned for 3:00pm and NCLA is extending an invitation to everyone to participate! For more information, including links to dance instructional videos, see the flyer on the NCLA web site.

 

Reception scheduled for National Library Legislative Day

A reception to recognize legislators will be held on Monday, May 5, 2014 from 5-7pm, just after the National Library Legislative Day briefing. The event will be held on Capitol Hill in Room 902 at 104 Hart Senate Office Building. Invitations have been sent to all members of Congress. Library advocates are encouraged to attend.

 

Issue Briefs now available for National Library Legislative Day

Issue briefs on key library issues are now available. Advocates participating in National Library Legislative Day should review these documents before visiting with legislators and aides.

 

Advocate for Libraries! National Library Legislative Day 2014

National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) is right around the corner! This annual advocacy event is coordinated by the American Library Association (ALA). Library advocates from across the country will come to Washington, DC this year on Monday, May 5^th and Tuesday, May 6^th to learn about legislation and issues that impact libraries and visit with members of Congress and their aides.  This concentrated presence on Capitol Hill serves to compliment the year-round advocacy efforts of library supporters. Additional information will be added to this post as it becomes available.

 

Briefing Day

A Briefing Day will be held on Monday, May 5^th at The Liaison Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Information on federal legislation and issues that impact libraries will be presented to prepare library advocates for legislator visits on Capitol Hill. You may register online by April 25^th. The cost is $30.

 

Reception

A reception to recognize legislators will be held on Monday, May 5, 2014 from 5-7pm on Capitol Hill in Room 902 at 104 Hart Senate Office Building. Invitations have been sent to all members of Congress. Library advocates are encouraged to attend.

 

Legislator Visits

On Tuesday, May 6^th, library advocates will visit members of Congress and their aides to share library success stories and to ask for support of libraries and library legislation.  In order to present an organized advocacy effort, formal meetings with Maryland’s legislators will be coordinated through the Maryland Library Association’s Legislative Panel.  If you are interested in participating in the scheduled meetings, please contact Glennor Shirley, Maryland’s State Coordinator and the Federal Coordinator of the Legislative Panel, at glennorloy@gmail.com by Monday, April 14^th.

 

Issue Briefs

Issue briefs on key library issues are now available on the National Library Legislative Day web site.

 

Hashtag #nlld2014

When posting to social media, be sure to use hashtag #nlld2014.

 

Hotel Information

The ALA Washington Office has already blocked off rooms at The Liaison Capitol Hill hotel. To make reservations:

• By Phone: Call 1-866-AFFINIA (1-866-233-4642) and reference the ALA National Library Legislative Day group or the reservation ID NLLD14.
• Online: Go to the online reservation form and enter NLLD14 in the “Group Code” box.
• By E-mail: Send reservations to reservations@affinia.com. Reference the ALA National Library Legislative Day group or the reservation ID NLLD14, confirm dates and provide payment information.

 

National Library Legislative Day 2013 – A look back

About a month ago, Maryland library advocates joined over 350 advocates from across the country to participate in National Library Legislative Day, an annual advocacy event coordinated by the American Library Association. Many of the legislator visits have occurred over the past month because of the conflict with the Maryland Library Association / Delaware Library Association Conference.

Overall, advocacy efforts were a success! Key issues included appropriations funding for public and school libraries and access to government research. We were able to reach out to newly elected Congressman John Delaney. We also received a compliment from one legislative assistant about how organized libraries are in their advocacy efforts. Some photos are available on the National Library Legislative Day web site.

Many thanks to everyone who participated and contributed to the success—either in person or virtually!

Action Alert! Advocate Virtually for National Library Legislative Day 2013!

National Library Legislative Day is being held in Washington DC on May 7^th and 8^th. But if you can’t make it to DC, you can still take part in this national advocacy event by virtually contacting your representatives in Congress during Virtual Library Legislative Days, May 6^th – May 10^th. Give a simple thank you for supporting libraries, show appreciation for signing on to a Dear Colleague letter, encourage support  of legislation or advocate for a library issue that is your passion.

• Issue Briefs Read the background and talking points on key issues from the briefs available on the Capwiz Action Alert.
• Call Congress – Enter your ZIP code on the Capwiz site and get the phone numbers for your representatives.
• Email Congress using Capwiz – Visit the Capwiz Action Alert for the virtual event. For your convenience, a pre-written letter is provided and you are encouraged to personalize your message to tell your story. Never used Capwiz? This is an easy way to start!
• Tweet Congress – Use Twitter to automatically send a tweet to Congress in support of the Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA) and Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL). Sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).

Many thanks in advance for your virtual contribution to the success of National Library Legislative Day!

 

Issue Briefs for National Library Legislative Day

The issue briefs outlining the talking points and the American Library Association’s position on various legislation and issues are being posted to the National Library Legislative Day web page as they become available. New this year are videos giving an overview of some topics. Check them out!