Alan Inouye's Policy and Advocacy Updates, May 10, 2020
/Thank you to ALA’s Senior Director, Public Policy & Government Relation Alan Inouye for tracking library news, some of which is digital content related:
ALA POLICY & ADVOCACY UPDATES
Broadband is getting traction in Congress for the 4th coronavirus recovery/stimulus bill (sometimes called CARES II). Rep. Meng introduced a broadband bill in the House and Sen. Markey is expected to introduce a similar bill in the Senate imminently. ALA endorses both bills and is advocating to move them into CARES II. Article by Marijke Visser in American Libraries magazine.
https://twitter.com/AlanSInouye/status/1258755809615515649
Advocacy for funding for IMLS in CARES II. Letter signed by over 100 House members. Letter co-leads are Reps. Levin, Young, and Grijalva. Letter with over 40 signatures in the U.S. Senate was sent to Senate leadership.
House Judiciary Committee’s investigation on competition in digital markets coming to a conclusion this spring, says Rep. David Cicilline. ALA submitted comments and has been engaged throughout.
https://twitter.com/AlanSInouye/status/1259423144693174272
ALA formally endorsed legislation to make states and local governments eligible for emergency paid leave tax credits.
Article on how college & research libraries can benefit from the CARES Act funding.
https://twitter.com/ALA_ACRL/status/1258422941164933123
Many ALA Policy Corps members engaged in Virtual Library Legislative Week. Here is Qiana Johnson. Many more can be found on twitter @ALAlibrary or @LibraryPolicy.
https://twitter.com/ALALibrary/status/1257810343524470790
Bohyun Kim on artificial intelligence and other technologies and implications for libraries, in American Libraries magazine. Kim is a member of ALA’s Information Technology Policy Advisory Committee.
https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2020/05/01/new-tech-revolution/
ALA submitted testimony to the U.S. Senate about the FY21 budgets for the Library of Congress and Government Publishing Office.
https://twitter.com/AlanSInouye/status/1257224778399825920
ACRL & ALA submitted comments on public access to federally-funded research to the White House Office for Science and Technology Policy.
https://twitter.com/AlanSInouye/status/1258326858480979974
ALA Senior Policy Fellow Sari Feldman provides a U.S. update and overview about eBooks for IFLA.
https://twitter.com/IFLA/status/1252975672668061696
Third cohort of ALA’s Policy Corps begins—article in American Libraries magazine.
https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/meet-the-2020-ala-policy-corps/
Funding available from our Libraries Lead (Grow With Google) initiative for public libraries to improve job services and support for small business.
https://twitter.com/AlanSInouye/status/1257232347814154245
ALA joined Next Century Cities in a FCC filing on the Lifeline Program.
https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filing/10420161296478
NEWS AND ARTICLES
IMLS announces new grant program for coronavirus response and recovery.
https://www.imls.gov/news/15-million-imls-cares-act-grants-now-available-museum-and-library-services
"...dozens of Juilliard students who now are quarantined in their respective homes bring a socially distant approach to the classic orchestral composition [Maurice Ravel's Bolero]." Worth a watch if you enjoy the arts--about 9 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqzkn-jX-JU