Legislative Update, April 2008

Volume 7, Number 1
April 8, 2008

Be one of the hundreds of library supporters from all across the country visiting Members of Congress to share stories about libraries in your communities and to talk about the needs and accomplishments of libraries in your area during the 2008 National Library Legislative Day. The event will be held from May 13-14, 2008 in Washington, DC. More information on events, hotel accommodations, and registration is available at http://www.ala.org/nlld. The registration deadline has been extended until Friday, April 18, 2008. 

While in Washington, join your academic and research library colleagues at a special ACRL luncheon during the briefing day Tuesday, May 13, 2008, at the Holiday Inn on the Hill. Our speaker is Terry Hartle, Senior Vice President, Division of Government and Public Affairs at the American Council on Education. Hartle is widely considered American higher education’s chief lobbyist. He will talk about "Higher Education and the 110th Congress. RSVP for the complimentary luncheon by Monday, April 28, 2008, at https://marvin.foresightint.com/surveys/Tier1Survey/ACRL/242.  

If you can’t make it to Washington, participate in "Virtual Legislative Day." Find out how at http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washevents/nlld/virtuallibrarylegislativeday/vlld.cfm.

To support the expansion of its grassroots legislative advocacy program, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael McLane as visiting program officer. McLane will play an integral role in carrying out the recommendations of the ACRL task force on national advocacy. He will work with ACRL members and staff to recruit new legislative advocates, plan training opportunities and assess the program.

McLane, the director of libraries at The Catholic University of America in Washington, has served as a member of ACRL’s Government Relations Committee and been involved in developing the ACRL Legislative Advocates program. His extensive experience in legislative advocacy includes serving as executive director of the Central New York Library Resources Council, where he provided leadership for advocacy efforts and led coordinated campaigns on the state and federal level.

To supplement the existing Legislative Network, ACRL is seeking to expand its group of ACRL Legislative Advocates. Recognizing that not all members are active in their local chapters, ACRL is directly recruiting legislative advocates in an effort to complement the good work of the chapter networks and the chapter legislative coordinators. To learn more from current ACRL legislative advocates about why they feel this program is so important, listen to a podcast interview with Jonathan Miller at http://blogs.ala.org/acrlpodcast.php or read the profile of Aaron Dobbs at http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/aboutacrl/acrlmembership/acrlmembers.cfm#dobbs. 

A full description of the program complete with responsibilities, duties and application is available online at http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/washingtonwatch/acrladvocates.htm. Apply by Friday, July 11.