[Libs-Or] INFORMATION: ALA calls on Congress to restore support to libraries in FY2012 budget

[Diedre Conkling]

ALA calls on Congress to restore support to libraries in FY2012
budget<http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=5990>
April 15, 2011 (

Contact: Jenni Terry  <jterry at alawash.org>

For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – H.R. 1473, the budget bill that will fund the government
through September 2011, includes across-the-board cuts that may deeply
affect libraries of all kinds.

The bill, which cleared Congress Thursday night, includes a $28 million cut
to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), appropriating the
agency at $237.8 million for FY2011.    IMLS has 30 days to determine how
they will administer these cuts.

The Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program – the only federal
program exclusively for school libraries – was absent from the bill text.
The program was last appropriated at $19.1 million in FY2010. By not
designating an appropriation for the remainder of FY2011 in this bill,
Congress gave authority to the Department of Education to determine funds
for school libraries. The Department of Education also has 30 days from the
date of enactment of H.R. 1473 to submit to Congress an operating plan for
school libraries.

“These cuts in funding hurt people throughout the United States who depend
on libraries,” American Library Association (ALA) President Roberta Stevens
said.

“We are putting our nation at a disadvantage as we compete in a world that
realizes and values the importance of being educated and informed.”

As the FY2012 budget debate proceeds, the ALA calls on Congress to restore
support for libraries, which serve the American public now more than ever
with job hunting and career development. In our schools, libraries provide
students with the 21st century skills they need to succeed in the Digital
Age.
http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=5990

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*Diedre Conkling**
Lincoln County Library District
P.O. Box 2027
Newport, OR 97365
Phone & Fax: 541-265-3066
Work email**: **diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org*<diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org>
*
Home email: **diedre08 at gmail.com* <diedre08 at gmail.com>
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