C&RL News May 2017 282

Shawnda Hines is press officer of the ALA Washington 
Office, email: shines@alawash.org

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n eShawnda Hines

Successful library funding fight shifts 
to Senate 
In March, the President submitted his bud-
get outline to Congress recommending 
elimination of LSTA and IAL funding for 
FY2018, as well as significant cuts in re-
search funding. The budget also proposed 
deep cuts to TRIO, GEAR UP, and other 
work-study programs, which would im-
pact libraries that rely on student employ-
ees. (Many libraries use TRIO and GEAR 
UP funds to help students get prepared 
to attend college.) The budget also called 
for these major cuts in education funding: 
$3.9 billion in Pell Grants, $732 million in 
student grant aid, and elimination of Sup-
plemental Education Opportunity Grants 
for low-income college students. 

The threat in the President’s “skinny” bud-
get to eliminate the Institute of Museum and 
Library Services and significant federal library 
funding galvanized ALA and its grassroots, 
who deluged their Members of the House 
of Representatives with requests to sign the 
annual “Dear Appropriator” letters support-
ing the Library Services and Technology Act 
(LSTA) and Innovative Approaches to Literacy 
(IAL). The campaign was a rousing success in 
the House and now carries on to the Senate. 

Quick action by the library community 
produced overwhelming results as one third 
of the entire House signed one, or both, of the 
LSTA and IAL letters. The increased support 
for LSTA and IAL generated sends a strong 
message to the Appropriations Committee 
that cuts will not sit well with a significant 
and bipartisan segment of Representatives. 
The campaign now carries over to the Senate, 
where similar LSTA and IAL letters will soon 

begin circulating for senators’ signatures. ALA 
will again mount an overwhelming grassroots 
campaign to secure a significant increase in 
Senate signatures over last year’s level of 
support for these critical programs. 

Our actions are making a difference. To 
continue the progress made so far, however, 
library professionals and other advocates 
should be ready to respond to the ALA call 
to action when the “Dear Appropriator” let-
ters begin to circulate in the Senate. Calls, 
emails, and letters to both of your senators 
will be essential motivators for them to sign 
the letters. Stay informed on developments in 
the congressional appropriations process by 
signing up to receive action alerts and District 
Dispatch, the ALA Washington Office blog. 
Visit the Fight for Libraries! page on ALA’s 
website to learn other ways you can help 
protect federal funding for libraries.   

 
LIS faculty to get librarians ready to code 
On April 7, ALA announced the LIS faculty 
selected to participate in Phase II of the Li-
braries Ready to Code project. The newly 
selected Ready to Code faculty cohort will 
develop graduate-level course models that 
equip MLS students to deliver coding pro-
grams through public and school libraries. 
The seven fellows will collaborate in re-
designing select media/technology courses 
from their respective institutions to embed 
Ready to Code concepts.  

Launched in 2016, Libraries Ready to Code 
is an initiative of ALA in partnership with 
Google, Inc. It focuses on the role of school 
and public libraries in providing opportunities 
for the nation’s youth to develop computa-
tional thinking skills through coding activi-
ties and other computer science education 
programs. Stay tuned for more information 
about the pilot project. It will be evaluated 
for impact and effectiveness, and findings will 
be broadly disseminated. 

mailto:shines%40alawash.org?subject=