On April 24th more than 350 librarians and library supporters gathered in Washington, DC, for the National Library Legislative Day. I was lucky enough to represent South Carolina school libraries and the SC Association of School Librarians with Fran Bullington. Fran and I were part of a nine person delegation visiting the offices of our Congressmen to encourage them to support federal funding for school, public and academic libraries.
The three initiatives discussed with each of our eight Congressmen were requesting level funding for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), level funding for the Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) grant, and inclusion of provisions for a school librarian at each school in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
Every SCASL member is encouraged to email, phone or tweet to his/her Congressmen thanking them for meeting with SCASL and reminding them of these initiatives.
The three initiatives discussed with each of our eight Congressmen were requesting level funding for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), level funding for the Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) grant, and inclusion of provisions for a school librarian at each school in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
Every SCASL member is encouraged to email, phone or tweet to his/her Congressmen thanking them for meeting with SCASL and reminding them of these initiatives.
I enjoyed the opportunity to represent our state and savored my time with Fran. I hope I didn't annoy her too much as we chatted about our libraries. It was so nice to have another librarian to talk to and bounce ideas off of.
You absolutely did not annoy me! I thoroughly enjoyed our time for library talk. Thank you for guiding me throough NLLD. It was an amazing experience. I encourage EVERY librarian to establish and maintain contact with his/her legislators. They need to hear from us!
ReplyDeleteHow dare you drive my house & not drop in for tea! ;-) We're so lucky to have amazing librarians like you & Fran advocate for our profession & practice! Can't wait to see you at SCASL!!!!
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