Mississippi Library Association

URGENT ACTION ALERT: Get Librarians into the Job Bill

The ALA Office of Government Relations (OGR) is asking that all state chapters mobilize library advocates in each state to contact their U.S. Senators regarding the Jobs for Main Street Act, also known as the “Jobs Bill.”

The current draft of the Senate’s $80 billion version of the Jobs for Main Street Act does not include librarians. However, the bill does include $20.5 billion for “Creating Jobs that Provide Public Services” which includes $18 billion for hiring and retaining teachers; $500 million for hiring firefighters; $500 million for hiring police and $1.5 billion for hiring and training youth.

There are at least two actions each of your chapters can take:

a. Adapt the information below and send a letter from your chapter to your Senate delegation on behalf of your members about including libraries in the “Jobs Bill”;
b. Send out an “urgent action alert” to your chapter members asking them to contact their U.S. senators; and,
c. Ask your advocates to call and email their senators’ offices; Call the U.S. Capital switchboard ASAP at 202.224.3121. For email addresses and other contact information go to: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

The message to advocates – as soon as possible is:

ALA has reports from Congressional offices that they hear from teachers, police and firefighters every day and almost nothing from the library community. Libraries are as essential as schools and public safety and help the economy by helping people find jobs. Yet library jobs are being cut – and, now, not included in this jobs bill. It is vitally important that librarians be as vocal as these other public employees. The reason they are getting funding in this piece of legislation is because they are calling their congressional offices more often and in higher numbers than we are.

Your grassroots efforts are critically important. The omission of librarians in the jobs bill is in addition to the troubling news this week that President Obama’s budget proposal freezes the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and consolidates the school library program with literacy programs in the Department of Education. These cuts will lead to a loss of jobs and a loss of services that our communities cannot afford to be without.

Please call both of your U.S. Senators to ask each of them to request that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), include the hiring and retaining of librarians in the $18 billion as well.

This bill could come up at any moment and it is critically important that you contact your Senators’ offices immediately and tell them to push the above Senate leaders to include librarians in the jobs bill. Don’t just call once – keep calling until we succeed. Make sure to tell your senators what your library is doing to help people find jobs.

We cannot let this legislation pass without the inclusion of library employees. We have no chance of getting into this legislation without your calls and emails – and the support of all senators!!

Please act now.
Sincerely,
Lynne E. Bradley

Entry Filed under: News
Posted on: February 2nd, 2010