Legislative Update

Funding Closes Below Expectations for Libraries

March 24, 2022

Why was this disappointing for libraries? The final budget agreement between the administration and US House and Senate leadership unfortunately resulted in funding significantly below levels originally proposed by Congress. (See ALA’s FY2022 federal funding for libraries chart.) This was the case not only for many library programs but for most other domestic programs as … Continue reading Funding Closes Below Expectations for Libraries


ALA Fund Libraries logo

Subcommittee Calls for Library Funding Increases

September 14, 2018

Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS): $2 million increase Title IV-Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act: $70 million increase National Library of Medicine: $13 million increase Career and technical education state grants: $70 million increase Adult education state grants: $25 million increase Head Start: $200 million increase Level funding was provided for … Continue reading Subcommittee Calls for Library Funding Increases



Scott Allen, Larra Clark, Margaret Caspe, Johanna Pringle

Changing Policy to Support Family Engagement

January 22, 2017

That was the question at the center of “Improving Federal and State Policy to Support Family Engagement in Libraries,” a Saturday morning panel sponsored by the Public Library Association (PLA) at ALA’s 2017 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Atlanta. Caspe reinforced that family engagement is a shared responsibility, can happen anywhere, and can happen at … Continue reading Changing Policy to Support Family Engagement


2016 Year in Review

2016 Year In Review

January 3, 2017

Hayden Becomes 14th Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, 2003–2004 American Library Association (ALA) president and former director of Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, made history by becoming the first African American and the first woman to head the Library of Congress. She was sworn in September 14.     ESSA Shows ALA’s Grassroots Advocacy … Continue reading 2016 Year In Review


ESSA and school libraries

ESSA and School Libraries

November 1, 2016

In 2002, when President George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act, the previous ESEA reauthorization, the educational decision making and resource allocations were shifted away from the states. Testing requirements were significantly increased within legislation that also lacked language to include school librarians and libraries. Since then several iterations of … Continue reading ESSA and School Libraries


Detail of statement from Illinois School Library Media Association

Speaking Out Against Chicago School Library Cuts

September 8, 2016

Patti Fleser, ISLMA president and school librarian at Deer Path Middle School in Lake Forest, Illinois, says the open letter addresses the “trend of school districts cutting their librarian positions at a time when it’s been proven over and over again that school librarians and effective school library programs increase students’ academic achievement.” ISLMA’s letter … Continue reading Speaking Out Against Chicago School Library Cuts


Keith Michael Fiels

Advocacy School Is in Session

September 1, 2016

With a sustained national advocacy campaign our first priority, the Libraries Transform public awareness program launched last year. More than 3,000 libraries and supporters have already signed on to be part of the campaign. Last year we saw 144,001 page views of LibrariesTransform.org, 12,387 downloads of the library toolkit, 22,000 #LibrariesTransform mentions on Twitter, 65,000 … Continue reading Advocacy School Is in Session


From left: Marci Merola of ALA's Office for Library Advocacy, and Leslie Preddy, president of the American Association of School Librarians.

Unpacking ESSA for the Library Ecosystem

June 26, 2016

AASL President Leslie Preddy opened the program by emphasizing the spectrum from public library to school library to academic library in each learner’s life. Communities with strong libraries have increased student success. Vailey Oehlke, Public Library Association president and director of libraries at Multnomah County (Oreg.) Library, explained how the provisions in ESSA are a … Continue reading Unpacking ESSA for the Library Ecosystem


Keith Michael Fiels

Every Student Succeeds

March 1, 2016

Examples of these changes include new provisions in the ESSA regarding local education agencies assisting schools in developing effective school library programs to provide students the opportunity to develop digital literacy skills and other ways to improve academic achievement. The bill also authorizes states and local educational agencies to use these federal funds to support … Continue reading Every Student Succeeds


OITP Deputy Director Larra Clark asks how many people in the audience are logged into the conference center's Wi-Fi

Washington Office Update

January 10, 2016

Washington Office Executive Director Emily Sheketoff started by noting “how important your voice is in the successes ALA achieves,” specifically citing the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act in December. Sheketoff said lawmakers were able to get library-friendly requirements into the bill because ALA members made the effort to call and write to their … Continue reading Washington Office Update


2015 Year in Review

2015: Year in Review

January 4, 2016

  Librarian of Congress Moves On James H. Billington (left) retired as Librarian of Congress after 28 years. During his tenure, LC launched the National Digital Library and National Book Festival, among other accomplishments. Billington’s decision came after the Government Accountability Office issued a report identifying weaknesses in LC’s information technology planning.       … Continue reading 2015: Year in Review