Urge Members of Congress to #FundLibraries in FY2022 !

Urge your Members of Congress to #FundLibraries in FY2022!

Please ask that they sign onto 

the Dear Appropriator letters for the LSTA and IAL

American Library Association Action Center: March 2021

#FundLibraries Campaign

President Biden is expected to soon submit an outline of his proposed budget spending requests for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, which includes federal funding amounts for libraries.

We need your help NOW until the final budget is signed in order to ensure that libraries are fully funded in the next fiscal year.

ALA has launched our annual FY2022 #FundLibraries Campaign, and we encourage you to bookmark this page and browse the provided resources that can be shared amongst your library community. Included is the one-page introduction to federal library funding, state-by-state library factsheets to share with your elected officials, and a handy visual guide on the overall federal appropriations process.

Because things are a bit different this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, the Dear Appropriator letters have begun circulating this week in both the House and Senate, a few weeks later than in previous years.

For FY2022, we are asking congressional appropriators to include funding

➤ at least $206 million for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA)

➤ $50 million for the Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) grant program. 

Will you contact your members of Congress and ask them to sign onto the Dear Appropriator letters?  READ MORE ➤➤

Find Your Elected Officials

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 15

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: College graduate

Support Build America's Libraries Act ▬ American Library Association

Build America's Libraries Act

ALA: 2021

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Introduced on January 28, 2021 by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), along with Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Build America's Libraries Act would fund upgrades to the nation's library infrastructure to address challenges such as natural disasters, COVID-19, broadband capacity, environmental hazards, and accessibility barriers.

This groundbreaking legislation would pave the way for new and improved library facilities in underserved communities across the country. Join us in the effort to support this bill and #BuildLibraries .

The Build America’s Library Act would begin to address decades of underinvestment by providing funds to repair and construct modern library facilities in underserved and disadvantaged communities. Specifically, funding could be used for:

➤ Constructing, renovating, modernizing, or retrofitting library facilities, including by enhancing facilities to reduce the risk of COVID-19 and vulnerability to natural disasters. 

* Investing in library infrastructure projects to improve internet access and connectivity.

➤ Reducing or eliminating the presence of potential hazards to library staff and patrons, including toxic substances, lead, mold, mildew, and unsafe drinking water.

* Making library facilities more accessible and inclusive to people with disabilities.

➤ Improving library facilities for the purposes of supporting place-based services or community-based partnerships that provide library patrons with access to educational, workforce, behavioral health, mental health, and social services.

Urge your Senators to support the Build America's Libraries Act.

 TAKE ACTION NOW !

  

Resources

ALA one-pager: Build America's Libraries Act

Press release: ALA acclaims reintroduction of Build America's Libraries Act

Bill text: S. 127

Share Your Story

What are the biggest challenges you face in your library facilities? What impact would this legislation have on your community? Share your story with ALA to help make the case for federal support for library construction and modernization. 

Your elected officials want to hear concrete examples of impact and need from their constituents - increase your impact by sharing your story.

Take a moment to tell your community how important it is that we pass this legislation and #BuildLibraries. Use our social media graphics below to spread the word. Don't forget to follow @LibraryPolicy and #BuildLibraries on Twitter for more updates!  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. old

(Tenth to Eleventh graders)

Why Public Libraries Matter: It’s Time for America To Stop Starving Libraries Of Funding ▬ The Nation

Why Public Libraries Matter
It’s time for America to stop starving its libraries of funding.

ONE BOOK,
ONE CONGRESS

The Nation: 6.04.2015 by Katrina vanden Heuvel

There are more public libraries in America—some 9,000 central buildings and 7,500 branch locations—than McDonald’s restaurants, making them one of the most ubiquitous institutions in the nation. Far from serving as obsolescent repositories for dead wood, libraries are integral, yet threatened, parts of the American social fabric. Libraries, after all, are truly democratic spaces where all are welcome and where everything inside is available to everyone. Few American institutions strive for “equity of access,” a core principle of the American Library Association, and even fewer pay more than lip service to the idea that services like the Internet are necessary aspects of life that simply must be made available to all members of society. But despite their impact and import—much of it hidden from people of means who can independently (and often expensively) secure for themselves those services provided by the library—America is starving its libraries, cutting off millions of people from the stream of information that, like oxygen, powers the development and basic functions of society.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 14

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 21-22 yrs. old

(college level)

Contact Congress to Save IMLS ▬ EveryLibrary

Contact Congress to Save IMLS

President Trump's 2021 budget ends federal funding for libraries and museums. We can't let that stand. Please take a moment and help us fight back by signing this petition

Action EveryLibrary: 12.02.2020

President Trump’s FY2021 Budget is targeting the only federal library programs for complete elimination.

#FundLibraries

#Libraries2020

Again.

This is the fourth year that our president has called for the total shutdown of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It is the fourth year that reasonable and right-minded library advocates have to rally against his proposed cuts.

Join us and thousands of other Americans and tell Congress “NO” to this bad budget proposal. Send your message today to ensure that the House and Senate do their jobs and fund libraries, museums, and archives.

IMLS is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. IMLS provides grants to libraries in need to replace technology and infrastructure. Many rural and urban communities depend on these grants to continue operations and provide essential community services. In small towns and big cities, museums are vital to sharing the arts, extending our cultural memory, and connecting us with people we’d never otherwise have met. IMLS is a primary source of federal grant funding to extend state and local resources in order to educate students, preserve and digitize collections, and connect families with their communities.

═════════►

Every state library puts IMLS funding to work in critically important ways that are high-impact for their states. Public libraries often provide the only broadband access to rural communities and many Americans in all areas often rely on this access to apply to jobs, access training, and to learn new skills. Many entrepreneurs use the resources found in the library to get a competitive edge in an increasingly global marketplace. IMLS funding supports school readiness programs, provides resources and materials to educators, helps libraries develop resources for underserved and at-risk populations and funds pilot projects that enable libraries to address the needs of their communities in creative ways.

This is the fourth time the president's budget has proposed cuts to the IMLS. In 2019, Americans from all political spectrums rallied against the proposed cuts. Over the last three years, EveryLibrary's SaveIMLS.org campaign has helped empower over 20,000 Americans to send a message to Congress to reverse those cuts and expand support for the IMLS. This national voter engagement campaign has educated Americans about the role and impact of libraries and librarians, to secure better funding for school and public libraries from all levels of government.

Send an Email to Support IMLS

Please take just a few seconds to encourage our representatives to preserve the only federal funding programs for libraries and museums

Find your local rep

Please Support Funding for IMLS

As your constituent and a voter, I am writing to ask you to preserve federal funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)

IMLS is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. Cutting this funding means that countless libraries will lose access to the grants that allow them to replace crumbling technology and infrastructure that many rural and urban communities depend on. Libraries often provide the only broadband access to rural communities and many Americans in all areas often rely on libraries to apply to jobs, access training to learn new skills, and many entrepreneurs use the resources found in the library to get a competitive edge in an increasingly global marketplace. In fact, for every dollar spent on libraries, more than $5 are returned to the community.

Libraries are also one of the most used and loved government infrastructures in the  United States. In fact, more people visit their library than attend the NFL, NHL, NBA, NASCAR, or the movie theater COMBINED and voters overwhelmingly support library funding. Cutting this funding would critically wound millions of Americans' ability to get ahead in life.

Thank you.

READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 13

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 18-19 yrs. old

(college level entry)

COABE ▬ National Adult Education & Family Literacy Week ▬ Call for $1B in Federal Funding

COABE, 100+ Partners Mark National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week With Call for $1B in Federal Funding                                       Additional Funding Needed to Help Nation's Adult Education System Recover, Reskill Displaced Workers for Jobs

Twitter Storm

PR Newswire: 9.21.2020 by Coalition on Adult Basic Education

Joined by more than 100 state, national and corporate partners, including Amazon, Google and IBM, the National Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) is intensifying its effort during National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week to secure $1 billion in federal funding to help adult education programs and their learners recover from the pandemic.

National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week began Sunday and runs through Saturday, Sept. 26. During this week, COABE is spearheading a full schedule of activities designed to amplify the call on Congress to provide the additional funding and on state governors to allocate federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) stimulus funding to the adult education recovery.  

The call for additional funding comes at a time when the education and skills provided by the nation's system of adult education are needed to help reskill or upskill low-skill Americans into new jobs that provide family-sustaining wages. According to recent findings published by the American Institutes for Research, 43 million adults in the United States lack the skills needed for the bulk of the nation's family-sustaining careers.

"Adult education is an important part of our nation's economic recovery from COVID-19," said Sharon Bonney, CEO of COABE, which represents the field of 65,000 adult educators nationally. "It's low-skilled adults who are more likely to be negatively impacted by the current economic crisis and who are in need of upskilling. Adult education programs are struggling to get back on their feet and need help so they can safely and adequately educate displaced workers and give them the skills they need to get back to work, this time in better jobs."

The nation's system of adult education has been hard-hit by COVID-19. Programs have struggled with the transition from brick and mortar to a virtual setting; to train educators to deliver online instruction; to provide students with the technology needed for at-home learning; and to find – and afford – the physical space and personal protective equipment needed for safe social distancing for the return to in-person learning.

Of the more than 43 million adults who could benefit from services in the U.S., 1.5 million adults, with 74 percent of them being persons of color, received instruction under the Workforce Opportunity and Innovation Act (WIOA). COABE estimates the return on investment for adult education, which includes preparing adults to earn their High School Equivalency diploma, is $2.5 billion in tax revenue and reduced expenses for every 400,000 adults who earn a high school diploma – a savings of $6,250 per person. 

The week's activities include Virtual Hill Meetings with governors and members of Congress, led by state adult education associations; a Twitter "storm;" and daily awards ceremonies to honor elected officials, at the local, state and national levels, who have shown leadership in the area of adult education. View the full schedule of events and elected officials to be honored.

Among the partners joining the effort are Amazon, The Barbara Bush Foundation, Dollar General Literacy Foundation, Google, IBM, Markle, the National Association of State Directors of Adult Education, National Coalition for Literacy, National Governors Association, National Skills Coalition, SkillsUSA, Strada Network, Tyson, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and The United States Conference of Mayors.

View the list of corporate partners.

About COABE

The Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) is a non-profit organization that champions increased access and investment in adult education, leading to higher-quality instruction and greater student outcomes. We employ innovative and effective strategies to reach more adults who struggle with literacy, numeracy and problem-solving. COABE represents the field of nearly 65,000 adult educators and provides a variety of services, including professional development through annual, state-of-the-art national conferences, more than 50 webinars annually, and publication of the COABE Journal.

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 14

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 21-22 yrs. old

(college level)

The Forgotten Workforce :: Time For Literacy Organizations To Be Brought In via Buffalo News

Editorial: The Forgotten Workforce

Buffalo News: 12.28.2019 by News Editorial Board

On one side, Buffalo is home to significant population that has graduated or otherwise left high school unable to read at a 10th-grade level.

On the other, we see a stable of local employers struggling to fill jobs with qualified candidates, a problem that threatens the health of Western New York’s revived economy.

Any ideas?

The match may not have been made exactly in heaven – making it work will be challenging – but it’s an obvious one: Buffalo needs to train its unemployable workforce to fill jobs that now go begging. It’s good for those who would land new positions, good for employers who need those workers and really good – make that necessary – for a region that needs to protect its improved economy from stalling.

═════════►

It begins with literacy. The inability to read is a slamming economic door. On one side is the possibility of success, while on the other is a guarantee of failure. Illiteracy makes prosperity all but impossible, taking with it the likelihood of good nutrition, good health and general stability.

How do you write a rent check or even open a bank account? How do you read a recipe or a prescription bottle, let alone understand how to use sophisticated job machinery? How do you avoid putting succeeding generations at the same educational disadvantage?

═════════►

State and local governments, economic developers and the private sector need to make a mission of focused job training and, where necessary, they need to begin that work with literacy. That requires funding and commitment.

It’s not as though the area is unequipped to provide that help. While job training programs in the area attract millions of dollars, little of it goes to literacy problems such as Literacy New York Buffalo-Niagara. That’s a frustration for its executive director, Tara Schafer.

“Emphasizing the missing link of that literacy piece has been a real challenge for us,” she told Watson. “So when funding gets to our community, we feel left out.”

It’s time for such organizations to be brought in.  READ MORE >>

National Literacy Directory

 Local Adult Literacy Programs!

Literacy Reports & Statistics

Workplace

2019: Global Skills Index, Coursera

2018: A Stronger Nation: Learning beyond high school builds American talent, Lumina

2017: UpSkilling Playbook for Employers, Aspen Institute

2015: Skills Gap Report, NAM-MI

2010: Literacy & The Entry-Level Workforce - The Role of Literacy and Policy in Labor Market Success, Employment Policies Institute

2008: Reach Higher America: Overcoming Crisis in the U.S. Workforce, NCAL

2007: America’s Perfect Storm, ETS

2007: Can California Import Enough College Grad's. Meet Workforce Needs?, PPIC

2007: Mounting Pressures: Workforce . . . Adult Ed, NCAL

August Is for Advocacy :: Invite Elected Leaders Into Your Library via American Libraries

August Is for Advocacy

Summer is a critical time to invite elected leaders into your library

American Libraries: 7.24.2019 by Emily Wagner

Here’s the truth about the dog days of summer: August is prime time for advocacy. With members of Congress on recess, it is the perfect time to invite legislators to visit your library and let them see for themselves all the ways libraries bring value to their communities.

#ALAadvocacy

═════════►

Inviting your elected leaders—at the state, local, or national level—is not difficult. Here are a few steps to get started:

➧ Call your congressional member’s district office. Ask who handles meeting requests for their district and how they prefer to receive them.

➧ Write your request and tailor it to your elected leader, paying special attention to library services that intersect with their interests. For example, if your US representative is on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, invite them to visit programs that serve the needs of veterans in your community.

➧ If your member of Congress is not available, invite a staffer to visit your library. Often they will enjoy the tour so much they will want their boss to see it.

➧ Once the meeting is set up, put together supporting materials for the visit. The American Library Association’s Public Policy and Advocacy Office can coordinate with you to make sure you have the resources you need.

➧ When you conduct the tour, remember that your elected officials want to hear from you—your feedback is critical to their work. There is no need to feel intimidated.

➧ The visit is a wonderful photo opportunity for them. Be sure to ask ahead of time if they would like to take a picture or video inside the facility. Remember to ask permission to use images on your social media platforms (most officials will appreciate the visibility).

There are several steps you can take afterward that will multiply the impact of your decision maker’s visit, including:

➤ Follow up with the staffer to say thank you and ensure all their questions are answered.

➤ Promote your library’s value by highlighting the leader’s visit on social media.

➤ Write a letter to the editor expressing gratitude for the official’s visit and urging support for your library.

ALA is eager to learn about your congressional visits. Share your library tour using the hashtag #ALAadvocacy so that ALA can amplify your work and inspire others to host elected leaders.  READ MORE >>

RESOURCES

Advocacy 101 Video: Getting Your Library Story in your Local News

Using Social Media

Build Relationships with Elected Officials

Find Your Elected Official     

Become an Advocate  

Talking Points & Tools

Quotable Facts about America’s Libraries

Library Value Calculator

How valuable is your local library?

Use this handy Library Value Calculator, created by the Massachusetts Library Association.

2019 One-Pagers

One Pager: Libraries and Your Community

Leave-Behind: Federal Funding for Libraries

Talking Points: Federal Funding for Libraries

President Eliminates Federal Library Funding :: Take Action :: Tell Congress to #FundLibraries

President Eliminates Federal Library Funding Take Action

Tell Congress to #FundLibraries

ALA

Tweet at your members of Congress and ask them to publicly oppose cuts to federal library funding.

#FundLibraries

In the White House budget proposal for FY2020, the administration has once again proposed elimination of direct federal funding for libraries. The majority of this funding is provided through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), an independent grantmaking agency.

IMLS provides more than $189.3 million for libraries through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and its grants promote innovation, lifelong learning, research and access to information every single person in the United States. The proposal also will also cut $27 million in funding for the Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) program, which helps school libraries buy books, materials, and training focused on serving students in the most vulnerable communities across America, along with cuts to programs like NEH and NEA.

Please tweet at your Members of Congress and ask them to publicly oppose cuts to federal library funding and ask them to commit to fighting for libraries throughout the appropriations cycle.

The House deadline is March 28.

Email now, as letters will close a few days before the deadline. Stay tuned for a similar call to action for the Senate in the coming days.

Want to see if your representative has signed already?

Check our appropriations letter tracker.

Need more info?

Read the latest advocacy news in American Libraries magazine online.

Want to do more?

➤ Invite members of Congress to visit your library.

Check out these tips for organizing a visit.

➤ Tell your story.

Write a letter to the editor or share your story with ALA, who will hand-deliver it to your member of Congress.

➤ Post about the impact of IMLS funding in your library or state.

Tag your story with #FundLibraries.

➤ Not sure how IMLS funding is used in your state?

Look it up in the IMLS database.

➤ Add a Twibbon or Facebook frame to your profile.
Twibbon: #FundLibraries.

Facebook Frame: Facebook.com/profilepicframes and search "American Library Association."

Adult Education Programs Can Offer Hope For A Better Life :: Now They Face Budget Cuts via News Observer

Adult Education Programs Can Offer Hope For A Better Life.

National Skills Coalition

Now They Face Budget Cuts

News Observer: 12.10.2018 by Danielle Chemtob

Faye Alston reached into her mailbox at Kingswood Apartments in Chapel Hill and pulled out an envelope.

It contained the last piece of what she’d been working toward for seven years — her GED math test results.

She opened the letter, looked at her score and burst into tears. It was a 400. She needed a 410 to pass.

Alston, now 58, had taken the test 13 times, and her resolve was wearing down.

“I would just wait for the paper and just pray,” she said.

Every time, she was within reach of a passing score, but just missed the mark. She’d passed every other subject on the first try.

“After a while, I would get so aggravated with math that I would just have to leave it alone for a while and just do the next subject,” Alston said.

After receiving her score, she confessed during her regular tutoring session at Orange Literacy Center that she wasn’t sure she could continue.

“I am so tired of this 400,” she told her tutor, Patrick. “I just don’t think that I can do it anymore.”

But he told her not to give up. She had one more shot: Less than three months later, she could take the test again, and if she didn’t pass, she’d have to start her GED over again.

According to nonprofit ProLiteracy America, 36 million adults cannot write, read or do math above a third-grade level.

Literacy centers across North Carolina help adults such as Alston improve their skills in reading, writing, mathematics and other subjects. They offer courses in basic adult education, GED, English for Speakers of Other Languages, citizenship and family literacy.

But adult literacy programs, which already struggle to find funding, are at even more risk after the federal government issued new guidance on how states should administer funds for adult education. In North Carolina, the changes left five community colleges and six nonprofit organizations, including the Durham Literacy Center, without federal funding.  READ MORE >>