Advocacy Updates from Indiana Library Federation
February 16, 2018
|
|
President proposes elimination of IMLS
|
Earlier this week, the White House issued its proposed budget for 2019. Like last year, the president proposed eliminating the
Institute for Museum and Library Services
(IMLS) and hundreds of millions of dollars dedicated to America’s libraries through the
Library Services and Technology Act
(LSTA). Federal funding through LSTA provides over $3 million a year to Indiana libraries--supporting InfoExpress, Evergreen, summer reading, digitization grants, services for the blind and visually impaired and much more. Read
ALA's District Dispatch post
.
Additionally, t
he draft budget proposes cuts to many important programs important to patrons, students and communities, including SNAP, Medicaid, low-income energy assistance, financial aid for college and more.
|
|
Updates from the Statehouse
|
The
Indiana General Assembly
continues to see announcements of legislators not running or stepping down. Long-term Senate President Pro Tem David Long announced he will step down in November. This is just one of many updates in the
Report from Bose Public Affairs for Feb. 16
. Note that you have to be signed in as an ILF member for access to these important updates. Contact the office if you forgot your login or password.
Here are some other quick links:
|
|
State Library bill will be heard Wed, Feb. 21
|
State Library - Historical Bureau Merger
HB1412
officially merges the
Indiana State Library (ISL)
with the
Indiana Historical Bureau (IHB)
and makes technical changes to clean up the petition process. The bill also removes a limitation on the location on a future Archives building. The bill passed out of the House 90-0.
ILF testified in support of the ISL-IHB merger at the
Jan. 30 hearing and will support through the Senate. The
Senate Public Policy Committee
is scheduled to hear the bill on Wed, Feb. 21, at 1:30pm. You may
watch it live
.
The ILF Advocacy/Legislative Committee meets monthly to review bill language, possible impacts on libraries and patrons and then makes recommendations about actions. The committee is monitors bills related to tax policy, school issues and intellectual freedom.
|
|
Attend Third House sessions
|
Legislators meet with constituents in "
Third House
" or "
Meet your Legislator
" events within districts. Most legislators will offer a preview or update of the types of legislation being considered during the short session of the
Indiana General Assembly
.
Let us know if you plan to attend one of the upcoming sessions, as we can provide talking points and updates specific to your legislators.
- Bartholomew County - every Monday 7:30am
- Greater Lafayette - February 17
- Hendricks County - February 26
- Henry County - February 23
- Huntington County - February 10 at 10:00am
- Kokomo - February 23
- Madison County - February 26
- Middlebury - February 17
- Muncie - February 23
- Orange County - February 17
|
|
Register for End-of-Session Wrap Up on March 16
|
ILF has hosted special virtual updates with public library directors. We want to invite
all ILF members to a special end of session virtual update
. The virtual meeting will be held Friday,
March 16, at 11amET
.
|
|
Help us with the remaining districts in the
ILF School Library Census
Districts
without a red "v"
on the map at left still need to be surveyed.
We especially need help in the following 30 counties
: Carroll, Cass, Clark, Clinton, Daviess, Floyd, Greene, Knox, Lake, Marshall, Martin, Miami, Montgomery, Newton, Ohio, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Scott, Shelby, Spencer, St. Joseph, Starke, Sullivan, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Wabash, Warrick, Washington and White.
Submit the volunteer form (include the school district you will survey) or
contact the office
.
|
|
Indiana Library Federation
2018 Policy Priorities
|
The
ILF 2018 Policy Priorities
include a continued focus on
broadband expansion
initiatives,
lifelong learning
initiatives and support for
effective school libraries and certified librarians in K12 education.
|
|
Legislative Updates from Bose Public Affairs
|
Matt Long
serves as our primary account manager with
Bose Public Affairs
, our contracted firm for government affairs and lobbying. Through our contract, we have access to the entire team of government affairs experts.
See the
latest report from Bose Public Affairs
for a summary of news from the Statehouse. (Remember that Bose Reports require your ILF Member Login. Contact us if you forgot your login or password.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|