Institute of Museum and Library Services Archives | Page 3 of 5

New Task Force for Federal Funding for Libraries

By Alan S. Inouye | February 14, 2019

In fall 2018, ALA’s Washington Office engaged in a policy strategy retreat looking forward to the 116th Congress and the 2020 elections. Discussions addressed federal funding, improved broadband access, copyright, and other topics. The ALA Committee on Legislation (COL) then invited representatives from the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) to explore possibilities of … Continue reading New Task Force for Federal Funding for Libraries →

Vote tally in House on S. 3530, Museum and Library Services Act, December 19

Museum and Library Services Act Passes

By Kathi Kromer | December 20, 2018

Thanks to the persistence of American Library Association (ALA) members and bipartisan support of congressional leaders who introduced the legislation, Congress is currently on record as saying that America’s libraries are a national priority. ALA thanks Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Jack Reed … Continue reading Museum and Library Services Act Passes →

Lame-Duck Library Advocacy

By Kathi Kromer | December 6, 2018

Passage of the MLSA would reauthorize the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), reinforcing the agency—and America’s libraries—as a priority for the federal government. The proposed MLSA mirrors the previous authorization, which expired in 2016. The new legislation authorizes IMLS through 2025 and contains improvements to enable more libraries on tribal lands to participate … Continue reading Lame-Duck Library Advocacy →

Museum and Library Services Act Introduced

By Kathi Kromer | October 1, 2018

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) led the Senate version of the bill (S. 3530) with 11 cosponsors: Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Angus King (I-Maine), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.). Rep. Raúl Grijalva … Continue reading Museum and Library Services Act Introduced →

Federal Budget Includes Big Gains for Libraries

By Loida Garcia-Febo | September 28, 2018

When the new fiscal year begins on October 1, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) will have an additional $2 million to improve administration of library state-formula grant programs and research. Grants funded through the Library Services and Technology Act will continue to receive level funding, enabling libraries to continue offering a range … Continue reading Federal Budget Includes Big Gains for Libraries →

Subcommittee Calls for Library Funding Increases

By Kevin Maher | 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 →

Hope, Power, Action

By Jim Neal | May 1, 2018

The current and prospectively annual battles over funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Innovative Approaches to Literacy have dominated our advocacy work. We have sustained and even expanded funding for IMLS in FY2018, but we are already pushing for support for FY2019 appropriations. At the same time, other important aspects … Continue reading Hope, Power, Action →

Spending Bill Includes Big Increases for Libraries

March 23, 2018

“We are thrilled that Congress has passed an FY2018 omnibus spending bill today that includes significant federal funding increases for our nation’s libraries! “One year ago, the White House proposed eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and slashed millions of dollars in federal funding for libraries. Twelve months and tireless advocacy efforts … Continue reading Spending Bill Includes Big Increases for Libraries →

ALA President Issues Statement on White House Budget

February 13, 2018

In response, American Library Association (ALA) President Jim Neal issued the following statement: “The administration’s FY2019 budget is out of touch with the real needs of Americans and the priorities of leaders in Congress who represent them. The president miscalculates the value of more than 120,000 libraries across America, just as he did in his … Continue reading ALA President Issues Statement on White House Budget →

Out of the Branches, into the Woods

By Ronnie Wachter | January 2, 2018

Libraries from coast to coast are buying hiking backpacks, stuffing them with field guides and park passes, and making them available for checkout. The intent, officials in several libraries agree, is to give families a new reason to get off the couch and into the world. “It’s really becoming more and more popular by the … Continue reading Out of the Branches, into the Woods →

Denice Adkins (left) and Elizabeth Jean Brumfield (far right) at an LIS curriculum committee meeting at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Changing Perspectives through Exchange

By Denice Adkins and Elizabeth Jean Brumfield | September 22, 2017

A mentor and mentee case study IFLA IMLS fellow Elizabeth Jean Brumfield, distance services librarian at Prairie View (Tex.) A&M University (PVAMU), has been mentored by Denice Adkins, associate professor at University of Missouri’s School of Information Science and Learning Technologies. Through their interactions, they were able to view librarianship from each other’s perspective. Adkins’s … Continue reading Changing Perspectives through Exchange →

Latest Library Links

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Angela Hursh writes: “Libraries have great stories to tell. But getting the media to listen isn’t always easy. Here are the top 10 practical tips that Leslie Marinelli, communications manager at Forsyth County (Ga.) Public Library; Ray Holley, communications manager at Sonoma County (Calif.) Library; and I shared [at a recent online panel] for getting your library into the news.”

Super Library Marketing, June 30
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Pranay Parab writes: “I’ve mostly been really happy with my M1 MacBook Air, which I’ve been using for nearly three years now. However, I regret not going for the variant with 16GB of RAM. The newer laptop still occasionally slows down when I open too many browser tabs. Luckily, I did some troubleshooting and fixed the problem, and I’m here to share what I’ve learned with you. So, if Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari or other browsers are slowing down on your computer, try some of these tips to nip that problem in the bud.”

Lifehacker, June 26
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Victoria Cox writes: “LaRue County (Ky.) Board of Education heard both criticism and praise last week when members were asked to remove 14 books from the high school library. Although the vote was split, the board ultimately refused to ban the books, citing the need to uphold the constitutional rights of students” by a 4–1 vote. Books the board considered include The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood; Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi; Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

LaRue County (Ky.) Herald News, June 25
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Jennifer A. Keach, Jenne M. Klotz, and Galen J. Talis write: “Library leaders at all levels are well-placed to create opportunities for joy in their organizations and to model how to do so with nuance and balance. Toward that end, we explored the multidisciplinary literature and compiled an annotated bibliography for leaders who wish to support joy within groups, organizational change agents who want to create equitable conditions for joy in the workplace, and readers seeking to develop their personal practice of joy. We provide a guide exploring five themes: defining joy, finding individual joy, work and organizational joy, empowering change with joy, and joy-adjacent emotions.”

Library Leadership and Management, June 30
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David Vickers Loertscher and Michelle Young write: “This tutorial introduces school librarians to the use of data visualization tools for documenting and communicating their impact on teaching and learning. By leveraging accessible platforms like Google Forms and Google Sheets, the authors demonstrate how librarians can build dashboards and real-time visual reports to showcase co-teaching, instructional collaboration, and student engagement. The tutorial features real-world examples, highlights common data sources already available to librarians, and argues that dynamic visual storytelling is a powerful alternative to traditional library statistics.”

Learning Hub, June 25
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Robin Camille Davis writes: “It wasn’t until seven years into my career as a user experience librarian that I realized I’d been accidentally excluding a sizable segment of users from my user research. Interviews, surveys, and usability studies favor people who are gifted at oral and written communication. What about people who are more gifted at visual communication? In the context of user research, this participatory design invites participants to design their own response to a given prompt.”

Choice 360 LibTech Insights, June 30
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Stories from communities nationwide come to life on ALA’s new Show Up for Our Libraries interactive site map. The stories illustrate the real-life consequences of potential funding cuts to rural, research, city, state, and university library programs and, in turn, to the hundreds of millions of library users across the country. Services such as summer reading programs, telehealth resources, interlibrary loan, and ebooks have all been affected. ALA collected the stories in conversation with patrons, library professionals, and advocates across the country to better understand the impact of federal funding cuts since the President’s executive order to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, June 25

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