At the final session of the ALA Council today, Committee on Legislation member Bernard Margolis reported that due to the location of Annual Conference 2010 in Washington, D. C., National Library Legislative Day, held annually in May, will become Library Advocacy Day instead. The event is being planned for June 28 during the conference. The switch will enable more ALA members to participate in the annual lobbying effort.
The event will include a rally in Upper Senate Park near the U. S. Capitol. The rally will feature guest speakers, and the committee hopes that up to 2,500 people will participate from every state in the union.
Council also approved the establishment of a representative group within ALA to assess the proposed Google Book Search Settlement. The Committee on Legislation made the recommendation in consideration of the Settlement’s broad potential implications for the profession in the areas of intellectual freedom, copyright and fair use, privacy, acess, and economics.
During the COA report, debate over the reauthorization of Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, resulted in the adoption of a resolution prepared by the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee in which ALA urges Congress to allow Section 215 to sunset. The recommendation will be communicated to Congress and President Obama.