Support Our Nation's Libraries and Offer Your Support for Virtual Library Legislative Day!
National Library Legislative Day is this coming Monday and Tuesday, April 23 and 24, but YOU can advocate for our nation's libraries from afar by participating in Virtual LibraryLegislative Day! All you need to do is call your members of Congress any day next week to express your support for America’s libraries. To find the phone numbers of your legislators, click here.
The American Library Association recommends you discuss the following two issues of importance with your Senators and Representatives:Ask Your Senators to Include School Libraries in ESEA
On October 20, 2011 the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee marked-up the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Unfortunately, the legislation that came out of committee did not include any language for school libraries.
Please contact your two senators and tell them that school libraries MUST be included in ESEA. ESEA will determine K12 federal education policy in the country for years to come and it is critical that school libraries be included in this legislation.
Ask Your Representative to Vote NO on CISPA
Please call and ask your U.S. Representative to OPPOSE H.R. 3523, The Cybersecurity Information Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 or CISPA, one of several bills to be considered in the U.S. House of Representatives during “Cybersecurity Week” starting April 23, 2012.
ALA is concerned that essentially all private electronic communications could be obtained by the government and used for many purposes – and not just for cybersecurity activities. H.R. 3523 would permit, even require ISPs and other entities to monitor all electronic communications and share personal information with the government without effective oversight just by claiming the sharing is for “cybersecurity purposes.”
In this proposal the National Security Agency (NSA), would be able to indefinitely retain and use the shared information for other purposes. The NSA could even share the information with other federal agencies and local law enforcement, even with entities concerned with intellectual property.
The consequences for library users are also inherent to cloud computing, higher education networks, privatized libraries and networks, and network/vendor contracts - whether intended or not.
For more details on this issue, click here.
If you’d like to learn more about ALA’s events and agenda issues for National Library Legislative Day, click here.
Spread the Word!
We ask you to please share this critical information with your friends and colleagues and invite them to participate in Virtual Library Legislative Day. Please give them a call or send them an email message. And if you have a Facebook page, Twitter account, or blog, please use those outlets to spread the word as well!
