ALA Washington Office

The ALA Washington Office consists of two branches, and is mainly there to represent libraries to Congress. Among some of the happenings an Capitol Hill:

• Senate Bill (S.1328) aka the SKILL act is an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education, in which libraries are included as an important part of the education experience. Its sponsor is Senator John Reed, from Rhode Island. (our neighbor to the south)
  
• House Bill (HR 1891) aka the Setting New Priorities in Education Spending Act repeals 42 education programs that the sponsors of the bill deem unnecessary.
  
• House Bill (HR 1616) aka the WILL act is an amendment to the Workforce Investment Act to include public libraries.
• ALA is stressing the importance of including school libraries in the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary School Act. (aka the No Child Left Behind act) The senate committee voted on changes without ensuring that school libraries are included. Read more about it or sign the petition, if you would like. Having access to school libraries can strengthen children's information literacy skills, which includes the ability to do research, evaluate information, and to use any type of library. Learning these skills makes them better information consumers as well as better library users.