I’m passing along information shared last week from the American Library Association (ALA) regarding the 2020 budget proposal that would eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which provides the main source of federal support for US libraries and museums. It’s the third year in a row that the current administration has proposed this option and (with hope) will be the third year Congress rejects the proposal. However, we can’t rely on hope, so I’m helping to spread the advocacy campaign materials provided by the ALA:
“ALA is calling on library advocates in every congressional district to contact their representative and ask them to support federal funding for libraries by cosigning “Dear Appropriator” letters to fund the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and the Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) program. The more signatures ALA gets on these letters, the more likely it is that funding for LSTA and IAL will be restored. The deadline for signatures is March 28.”