jan13_b.indd


January 2013 49 C&RL News

Corey Williams is associate director, ALA Office of 
Government Relations, e-mail: cwilliams@alawash.org

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n eCorey Williams

Happy New Year and 113th Congress
Happy New Year! It is now 2013, and the 
newly minted 113th Congress has been ush-
ered in. As this column is “put to bed” nearly 
a month in advance, we do not yet know 
which members of Congress were appointed 
to key leadership positions on Congressional 
committees and subcommittees. However, 
tracking of committee appointments of indi-
vidual congressional members may be done 
at the following Web sites: for the U.S. Sen-
ate, visit www.senate.gov/general/committee 
_assignments/assignments.htm and for the 
U.S. House of Representatives, see www.
house.gov/committees/. 

Connecting with the New Congress
The Washington Office held a Webinar 
November 19, 2012, titled Election Update 
and Connecting with the New Congress. 
The one-hour session recapped the election 
results and what they mean for libraries. Ad-
vocacy consultant Stephanie Vance led the 
Webinar and previewed the makeup of the 
new Congress. 

Vance outlined a list of issues with library 
implications that may come up in the 113th 
Congress. The list included the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act, the Workforce 
Investment Act, and Cybersecurity and Copy-
right legislation, among others. 

Vance also gave library supporters tips 
on communicating with new legislators and 
suggestions on how to start the conversation. 
On the District Dispatch blog (www.district-
dispatch.org) you can find archived video of 
the Webinar, along with Vance’s “Legislator 
Intel Worksheet” and her “Yearly Advocacy 
Planning Worksheet” free for download. Sim-
ply type the word “Webinar” into the search 
box to find this Webinar and many others 
from the Washington Office. 

E-book toolkit
E-book library lending, particularly around ma-
jor publishers that refuse to offer their titles by 
selling or leasing to libraries, have dramatically 
raised prices or have introduced new restric-
tions. To assist libraries in informing the public 
about e-book lending practices, ALA recently 
released the “ALA E-book Media & Communica-
tions Toolkit,” a set of materials that will support 
librarians in taking action in their communities, 
available at www.ala.org/transforminglibraries 
/ebooktoolkit. 

The toolkit, developed by the ALA’s Digital 
Content and Libraries Working Group, com-
prised of librarians from all types of libraries, 
includes op-ed and press release templates, 
ALA talking points and answers to frequently 
asked questions about e-books (an invaluable 
resource), and helpful e-book data.  

Looking ahead 
If only we had a crystal ball and we could 
look into the future to know whether we 
“fell” off the financial fiscal cliff and invoked 
sequestration (see the December 2012 Wash-
ington Hotline for additional information).
In addition, perhaps the new year will bring 
about library-patron favorable e-book lending 
practices. 

serendipity (from the Persian tale “The Three 
Princes of Serendip,” who were always making 
accidental discoveries.)

• Jousting is the official state sport of Mary-
land. The official state team sport is lacrosse.

• The Library of Congress’s collection, as the 
largest in the world, fills an estimated 838 miles 
of bookshelves.

• Bison can jump 6 feet vertically into the 
air from a standstill.

• Delaware is the only state without a na-
tional parks. 

• A blood pressure device is called a sphyg-
momanometer. 

(“Wall of fun facts,” cont.  from page 37)