Author Archives: Jenni Terry

OITP, LITA seek nominations for cutting-edge technology practices

Posted on October 6, 2011 | Leave a comment

The American Library Association (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) and the Library & Information Technology Association (LITA) are soliciting nominations for best library practices using cutting-edge technology.

“We want to showcase libraries that are serving their communities with novel and innovative methods and provide the library community with some successful models for delivering quality library service in new ways,” said Christine Hage, chair of the Cutting-edge Technology in Library Services selection committee. “We welcome LITA’s expertise and additional reach in this effort.”

Last year, four libraries were cited for their work: Creekview High School in Canton, Ga.; Orange County Library System in Orlando, Fla.; North Carolina State University Libraries in Raleigh, N.C.; and OhioLINK in Columbus, Ohio.

“We are pleased to work with OITP to select and highlight the outstanding work taking place every day in our nation’s school, academic and public libraries, as well as in library consortia and state libraries,” said Mark Beatty, LITA past president and member of the selection committee.

A joint committee of members from the Subcommittee on America’s Libraries for the 21st Century and LITA will review all nominations and may conduct selected interviews or site visits to identify those libraries that are truly offering a best practice or most innovative service.  Libraries or library service areas selected will be publicized via the OITP and LITA websites, highlighted through ALA publications, and featured in a program at the ALA Annual Conference in 2012.

“Cutting edge” refers to tested and successful implementations of technological advancements used in services such as:

• Improvements in traditional services and processes by inventing/re-inventing/twisting technology
• Introduction of new, innovative services that are flexible and responsive to community needs
• Methods for connecting libraries to their communities
• Funding initiatives or organizational models that ensure library information technology will remain current

Additional details, including submission information, for the nomination process can be found on the OITP website.

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Big win for educators! Streaming video copyright case dismissed

Posted on October 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

Yesterday, a United States District Court in California dismissed the copyright suit that Ambrose Video and the Association for Informational Media and Equipment (AIME) brought against UCLA. Ambrose Video and AIME claimed that UCLA infringed copyright when it digitized and streamed library DVDs to course management systems for educational purposes.  The case was dismissed primarily on two grounds – the plaintiffs did not hold the copyright of any of the works allegedly infringed and state sovereign immunity protected UCLA from suit in a federal court.  The court also ruled that making temporary copies to stream DVDs was a fair use and that streaming did not implicate the distribution right but only the public performance right.  UCLA had public performances licenses for the DVDs streamed to course management systems.  In addition, the use was educational because only enrolled students could access the content.

Carrie Russell, Director
Program on Public Access to Information
Office for Information Technology Policy

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Senate committee clears appropriations bill with funds for school libraries, level support for Library Services and Technology Act

Posted on September 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

Contact: Jenni Terry
Press Officer, ALA Washington Office
(202) 628-8410

For Immediate Release

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed its Labor, Health and Human Services, Education appropriations bill yesterday with at least $15 million designated for school libraries. The bill also level-funds the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) at $189 million.

The Senate bill sets aside $30 million for national non-profit organizations and school libraries in high-need areas and directs that at least 50 percent of this funding be used for school libraries.

“Last year, funding for the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program was wiped from this bill, which left school libraries without any specific federal funding, and the President’s budget request also zeroed out the program,” Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association (ALA) Washington Office, said.

“It seems the Senate Appropriations Committee has recognized what a mistake this was, and we thank them for including new funding in the bill that will directly benefit students depending on their school libraries. Yet, we understand that there is a long road ahead and urge House appropriators to safeguard this funding for our nation’s students when they mark up their version of the bill.”

Sheketoff said protecting LSTA funding at its current level in this “slash and burn” Congress is one of the most important federal issues for public libraries.

“This is a very uncertain time for the future of many, many federal programs,” Sheketoff said.

“We knew there was a strong chance the Senate appropriators could choose to further reduce LSTA funding – or even cut it all together. While we take it as a positive sign that LSTA cleared the first hurdle, we know the race is not over yet. In these tough economic times, the public has been using their public libraries more than ever, depending on the library’s computers, Internet access and employment skills training.  LSTA allows libraries to continue offering these important services.”

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Posted in Funding, OGR, Public Libraries, School Libraries, Telecommunications, Washington Office News

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Funding for school libraries included in LHHS subcommittee’s appropriations bill

Posted on September 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

The Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee marked up (voted on) its FY 2012 bill Tuesday afternoon on at 10-8 party-line vote.  This funding bill, which is scheduled to be marked up in the full Senate Appropriations Committee Wednesday afternoon, contains federal support for school libraries.

The report language of this bill sets aside $30 million for national non-profit organizations or school libraries in high-need areas.  Furthermore, at least 50 percent of this $30 million must be used for school libraries.

This restoration of funding for school libraries comes as a huge victory since the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program was zero-funded in FY 2011; however, the fight is still not over. School libraries fared better than many other programs, but the next stage of the legislative process will prove critical in securing this funding for FY2012. Please continue to put pressure on your senators and representatives to support school libraries.

More information will be made available after Wednesday’s mark-up.

On the LSTA front…

This bill also level funds (or funds at last year’s level) the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) at $189 million – another victory for libraries during this time when many in Congress are looking to make budget cuts.

Jeff Kratz
Assistant Director, OGR

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Posted in Funding, OGR, Public Libraries, School Libraries, Washington Office News

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Senate committee bumps up funding for GPO in Legislative Branch Appropriations bill

Posted on September 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

Great news from the Senate! The Senate Committee on Appropriations passed its Legislative Branch Appropriations bill with an increase in funding for the Government Printing Office (GPO) over the amount in the House committee’s bill.

The Senate version includes $116.8 million for GPO while the House bill set the amount at $108.1 million.

Thanks to everyone who called their senators yesterday to ask for increased funding for GPO! Keep an eye on the District Dispatch so that you can continue to be involved when the bill comes up for a vote.

Jessica McGilvray
Assistant Director, OGR

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