Federal: The Library Copyright Alliance (LCA), of which ALA, ACRL, and ARL are the representative bodies, has submitted comments to the U.S. Copyright Office on the mandatory deposit policy of electronic resources to the Library of Congress. In 2010, an interim rule was established that addressed the mandatory deposit of electronic serial publications. The current…
Category: Legislation
For news about legislative activity relevant to librarianship. Not for news about or from the HSLI Legislative Committee.
Legislative Update, 8/17/2016
Federal: Gathering in Washington, DC in late June 2016, the Joint MLA/AAHSL Legislative Task Force met with representatives. Key talking points included requesting: an increase in 2017 appropriations (at least $395.1M for NLM and $34.5B for NIH), delay of action on proposed copyright law legislation until the new Librarian of Congress has been confirmed, and…
Legislative Update, 7/27/2016
Federal: On July 13, the Senate confirmed Carla Hayden to be the next Librarian of Congress. Hayden’s nomination was endorsed by both the MLA and AAHSL. Read the press release on the event from the Library of Congress. You may also view how your state representatives voted on the nomination, which received 74 votes of support. Congress has adjourned for the…
Legislative Update, 7/11/2016
Federal: Congress recently updated the Freedom of Information Act with the passage of the FOIA Improvement Act. Among the amendments, the new law: requires disclosable documents be made available in electronic format; includes a Presumption of Openness clause; limits FOIA exemption to select records created in the past 25 years; establishes a Council to make…
Legislative Update, 6/27/2016
Federal: The ALA 2016 Annual Conference and Exhibition is currently underway in Orlando, Florida, running June 23-28. Find programming relevant to medical libraries on the ALA conference website. State: The Illinois General Assembly is scheduled to be in session again Wednesday, June 29th, to work on a stopgap budget for the new year starting Friday….
Legislative Update, 6/14/2016
Federal: Earlier this month, the MLA Board of Directors endorsed a statement by the LGBT Librarians SIG, with concern for health impacts resulting from discrimination against transgender and gender variant people. Instead, they “affirm laws and regulations that decrease stigma and discrimination against citizens and colleagues”. Federal library funding for FY17 got a boost on June 9….
Legislative Updates, 5/16/2016
Federal: The National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., has announced that Patricia Flatley Brennan, R.N., Ph.D., will be the new director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in August 2016. Dr. Brennan is the first female director and non-physician to lead the National Library of Medicine. For more information, see…
Legislative Updates, 4/25/2016
Federal: The confirmation hearing for Carla Hayden, President Obama’s nominee for the open Librarian of Congress position, was held on April 20th. Multiple senators spoke on her behalf and Hayden testified to her qualifications and experiences. You can view the full event on C-SPAN and you can read more about the confirmation process at the District Dispatch. State:…
Legislative Updates, 4/4/2016
Federal: Federal library advocates pushed for strong advocacy efforts to Congress to show support for federal appropriations for libraries and library programs. Advocacy efforts were on par with last year, with over 14,000 e-mails and over 740 tweets to legislators. However, the House Budget Committee released it’s first FY 2017 Resolution on the budget on March 23…
Legislative Updates, 3/23/2016
Federal: Registration is open for National Library Legislative Day – the advocacy event runs May 2-3 and registration is due by April 22. The event includes: an advocacy training session preconference; a briefing day with sessions on issues affecting libraries and appearances by Congressional staff, legal experts, lobbyists, and ALA staff; a Congressional reception; and meetings with…