Two federal legislators from New York have drafted unrelated bills that would channel billions to the construction, refurbishment, technology, and collections budgets of public and school libraries.
On June 3, Sen. Charles Schumer chose the 42nd Street steps of the New York Public Library as his venue for previewing the Andrew Carnegie Libraries for Life-Long Learning Act, which ALA’s Washington Office expects him to introduce soon. If passed, it would amend the Library Services and Technology Act by authorizing competitive grants totaling $1 billion over five years to libraries that can raise dollar-for-dollar matches.
On May 26, Rep. Major Owens, the only librarian elected to Congress, invited House members to cosponsor H.R. 1820. The second House bill in a month to address improvements to the nation’s aging school buildings, the bill calls for the distribution of $22 billion on a per-pupil basis to rebuild crumbling facilities and replace outdated equipment in media centers and science labs. Introduced May 14, it was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Posted June 14, 1999.