The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy is pleased to announce the 2008 national grant competition. The Foundation's grant-making program seeks to develop or expand projects that are designed to support the development of literacy skills for adult primary care givers and their children. A total of approximately $650,000 will be awarded; no grant request should exceed $65,000. To download the application, please click here.
Should you have questions, please call Kiev Richardson at (202) 955-6183 between the hours of 1:00-5:00 p.m. EDT or e-mail your questions to krichardson@cfncr.org. Please include your telephone number. We look forward to receiving your application and learning about your proposed family literacy project.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Benita Somerfield202.955.6183
Friday, August 24, 2007
John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award competition open for 2008
Competition is open now for the 2008 John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award contest, sponsored by the H. W. Wilson Company, the H. W. Wilson Foundation and the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The deadline for entries is December 6, 2007. Inaugurated in 1946, the John Cotton Dana Award honors effective strategic communication: the art and craft of getting the right message to the right audience at the right time and getting the right results. Entries may represent any library public relations program that supports a specific project, goal, activity or a sustained ongoing program (e.g. the promotion of a summer reading program, a year-long centennial celebration, fundraising for a new college library, an awareness campaign or an innovative partnership in the community). Entries are judged on the quality of their strategic communication campaign as presented in a clear, concise visual display and narrative. Details, tips, evaluation guidelines, downloadable entry forms, entry checklists and examples of previous winning entries are available online at www.hwwilson.com/jcdawards/nw_jcd.htm. The contest is open to all libraries and agencies that promote library service. Entries can be for calendar year 2007 (January-December), school year 2006-2007 (Fall-Spring) or any special project that ends in 2007. A committee of the LAMA Public Relations and Marketing Section judges the completed entries at the 2008 American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting. The awards and $3,000 cash grants will be presented during the 2008 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif. For more information, visit www.ala.org/lama and click on navigation item "Awards,” or contact Fred Reuland, LAMA marketing specialist, at 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; phone 1-800-545-2433 x5032; e-mail freuland@ala.org; fax:(312)280-2169. The mission of the Library Administration and Management Association (www.ala.org/lama) is to encourage and nurture current and future library leaders, and to develop and promote outstanding leadership and management practices. LAMA is a division of the American Library Association. An icon in the library community for 108 years, H.W. Wilson (www.hwwilson.com) is dedicated to providing the highest-quality web and print resources in the world. H.W. Wilson products are familiar to generations of library users as standard tools in college, public and professional libraries worldwide.
Library Card Sign-up Month
The American Library Association (ALA) announces the release of five new radio public service announcements (PSAs) that are now available to help libraries promote Library Card Sign-up Month in September and the library card as the “smartest card in your wallet.”
The PSAs can be downloaded for free at www.ala.org/librarycardsignup and are available in 10, 15 and 30-second MP3 formats. Libraries are encouraged to share the PSAs with local radio stations.
Other free tools include sample press materials, a list of “52 Ways to Use Your Library Card” and “Smartest Card” logos. Press materials and “Smartest Card” logos are available in both English and Spanish. Examples from libraries that have used giant “Smartest Cards” in photo opportunities also appear on the Web page.
Libraries are encouraged to let the ALA Public Information Office know how they are celebrating Library Card Sign-up Month. Visit www.ala.org/librarycardsignup and click on “Share your story.” The strongest examples will be shared with the press as part of ALA’s national media relations efforts.
Observed in the month of September since 1987, Library Card Sign-up Month is a time when ALA and libraries across the county remind parents and kids that a library card is the most important school supply of all.
The PSAs can be downloaded for free at www.ala.org/librarycardsignup and are available in 10, 15 and 30-second MP3 formats. Libraries are encouraged to share the PSAs with local radio stations.
Other free tools include sample press materials, a list of “52 Ways to Use Your Library Card” and “Smartest Card” logos. Press materials and “Smartest Card” logos are available in both English and Spanish. Examples from libraries that have used giant “Smartest Cards” in photo opportunities also appear on the Web page.
Libraries are encouraged to let the ALA Public Information Office know how they are celebrating Library Card Sign-up Month. Visit www.ala.org/librarycardsignup and click on “Share your story.” The strongest examples will be shared with the press as part of ALA’s national media relations efforts.
Observed in the month of September since 1987, Library Card Sign-up Month is a time when ALA and libraries across the county remind parents and kids that a library card is the most important school supply of all.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
National Security Letters Act Introduced
Council passed a resolution on National Security Letters (NSLs) during Annual Conference in June. The Colorado Association of Libraries (CAL) Board voted to endorse the resolution on July 26th. Many other state organizations have done the same. I wanted to pass on some additional information that was highlighted in the latest weekly American Libraries Direct.
Designed to counter Justice Department abuse of National Security Letters (NSLs) as reported in an internal FBI audit in March, the National Security Letters Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 3189) was introduced July 26 by a bipartisan group that included Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), William Delahunt (D-Mass.), and Ron Paul (R-Tex.).
The Justice Department’s handling of NSLs in libraries has been controversial, most notably in the case of the Connecticut “John Does”. The proposed legislation would give an NSL recipient the right to challenge the letter and its nondisclosure requirement, place a time limit on NSL gag orders, give notice to an NSL recipient if the records obtained are to be used in a subsequent proceeding, and grant an NSL recipient the right to legal counsel and to challenge the use of obtained records.
“We need to bring the NSL authority in line with the Constitution, enhance checks and balances, and, in doing so, better protect our national security,” Rep. Nadler said at the bill’s introduction.
“The American Library Association applauds Congress’s effort to reform National Security Letters to minimize this unconstitutional intrusion into library patrons’ records,” said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the ALA Washington Office. “On June 27, ALA’s governing body unanimously passed a resolution condemning the use of NSLs to obtain library records.”
Nine days after the NSL bill was referred to several committees, Pres. Bush signed into law a revision to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that enables the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on foreign communications, including e-mail exchanges and phone calls between someone “reasonably believed to be outside the United States” and a person on U.S. soil, whether or not the latter is a U.S. citizen. The revision will be due for reconsideration in six months. “Congress needs to take its time before it implements another piece of antiterrorism legislation it will regret, like the Patriot Act,” Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, had cautioned in the August 1 New York Times. “The Bush administration clearly has abused the FISA powers it already has and clearly wants to go back to the good old days of warrantless wiretapping and domestic spying. Congress must stop this bill in its tracks.”
Designed to counter Justice Department abuse of National Security Letters (NSLs) as reported in an internal FBI audit in March, the National Security Letters Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 3189) was introduced July 26 by a bipartisan group that included Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), William Delahunt (D-Mass.), and Ron Paul (R-Tex.).
The Justice Department’s handling of NSLs in libraries has been controversial, most notably in the case of the Connecticut “John Does”. The proposed legislation would give an NSL recipient the right to challenge the letter and its nondisclosure requirement, place a time limit on NSL gag orders, give notice to an NSL recipient if the records obtained are to be used in a subsequent proceeding, and grant an NSL recipient the right to legal counsel and to challenge the use of obtained records.
“We need to bring the NSL authority in line with the Constitution, enhance checks and balances, and, in doing so, better protect our national security,” Rep. Nadler said at the bill’s introduction.
“The American Library Association applauds Congress’s effort to reform National Security Letters to minimize this unconstitutional intrusion into library patrons’ records,” said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the ALA Washington Office. “On June 27, ALA’s governing body unanimously passed a resolution condemning the use of NSLs to obtain library records.”
Nine days after the NSL bill was referred to several committees, Pres. Bush signed into law a revision to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that enables the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on foreign communications, including e-mail exchanges and phone calls between someone “reasonably believed to be outside the United States” and a person on U.S. soil, whether or not the latter is a U.S. citizen. The revision will be due for reconsideration in six months. “Congress needs to take its time before it implements another piece of antiterrorism legislation it will regret, like the Patriot Act,” Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, had cautioned in the August 1 New York Times. “The Bush administration clearly has abused the FISA powers it already has and clearly wants to go back to the good old days of warrantless wiretapping and domestic spying. Congress must stop this bill in its tracks.”
Friday, July 20, 2007
Did You Miss ALA?
If you didn't make it to ALA, here's a great 3 1/2 minute video from American Libraries that gives a nice overview of the conference. If you have a slow connection, give it time to load and then come back to it!
http://alfocus.ala.org/videos/5-days-3-1-2-minutes-annual-2007-wrap
http://alfocus.ala.org/videos/5-days-3-1-2-minutes-annual-2007-wrap
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
ALA Speaks Out on National Security Letters
American Library Association urges Congress to reform laws governing the FBI's use of National Security Letters http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/july2007/nsl07.htm
Contact: Macey Morales
Media Relations, ALA
312-280-4303
For Immediate Release
July 11, 2007
American Library Association urges Congress to reform laws governing the FBI's use of National Security Letters
CHICAGO - The American Library Association's governing body has unanimously
passed a resolution condemning the use of National Security Letters (NSLs)
to obtain library records and urging Congress to pursue immediate reforms of NSL procedures.
The resolution, adopted at the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., arose out of the ALA's concerns over the misuse and abuse of National Security Letters detailed in the March, 2007 report submitted to Congress by the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General. The report describes how the FBI engaged in widespread and serious abuses of its authority to use NSLs, including significantly understating the number of NSLs used by the FBI in the classified reports given to Congress; using NSLs to collect consumer information, a practice prohibited by statute; and circumventing the requirements of the NSL statute to obtain information in the absence of any duly authorized investigation.
The resolution also supports George Christian's appeal to Congress to reconsider the NSL authorities that allow the FBI to subject innocent people to fishing expeditions of their personal information with no judicial review. Christian, executive director of the Library Connection in Windsor, Connecticut, testified before Congress on behalf of himself and his colleagues, librarians Janet Nocek, Barbara Bailey, and Peter Chase, about their experience in being served with an NSL to obtain library users'
records and being gagged from discussing it. In his testimony, Christian asked the Senators "to take special note of the uses and abuses of NSLs in libraries and bookstores and other places where higher First Amendment
standards should be considered." The four - known as the "Connecticut
John Does"- were presented with the ALA Paul Howard Award for Courage at the conference.
Among the legislative reforms ALA urges are:
Judicial oversight of National Security Letters (NSLs) requiring a showing of individualized suspicion and demonstrating a factual connection between the individual whose records are sought by the FBI and an actual investigation;
Elimination of the automatic and permanent imposition of a nondisclosure or "gag" order whenever an NSL is served on an individual or institution;
Allowing recipients of NSLs to receive meaningful judicial review of a challenge to their NSL without deferring to the government's claims;
Increased oversight by Congress and the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice over NSLs and FBI activities that implicate the First Amendment; and
Providing for the management, handling, dissemination and destruction of personally identifiable information obtained through NSLs ALA has sent letters communicating the resolution to the Offices of the President and Vice President as well as to every member of Congress. ALA further asked its members, state chapters, and all library advocates to ask Congress to restore civil liberties and correct the abuse and misuse of National Security Letters.
"Resolution on the Use and Abuse of National Security Letters" can be found online at http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/statementspols/ifresolutions/nationalsecuritylett
ers.htm
The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 65,000 members.
Contact: Macey Morales
Media Relations, ALA
312-280-4303
For Immediate Release
July 11, 2007
American Library Association urges Congress to reform laws governing the FBI's use of National Security Letters
CHICAGO - The American Library Association's governing body has unanimously
passed a resolution condemning the use of National Security Letters (NSLs)
to obtain library records and urging Congress to pursue immediate reforms of NSL procedures.
The resolution, adopted at the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., arose out of the ALA's concerns over the misuse and abuse of National Security Letters detailed in the March, 2007 report submitted to Congress by the Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General. The report describes how the FBI engaged in widespread and serious abuses of its authority to use NSLs, including significantly understating the number of NSLs used by the FBI in the classified reports given to Congress; using NSLs to collect consumer information, a practice prohibited by statute; and circumventing the requirements of the NSL statute to obtain information in the absence of any duly authorized investigation.
The resolution also supports George Christian's appeal to Congress to reconsider the NSL authorities that allow the FBI to subject innocent people to fishing expeditions of their personal information with no judicial review. Christian, executive director of the Library Connection in Windsor, Connecticut, testified before Congress on behalf of himself and his colleagues, librarians Janet Nocek, Barbara Bailey, and Peter Chase, about their experience in being served with an NSL to obtain library users'
records and being gagged from discussing it. In his testimony, Christian asked the Senators "to take special note of the uses and abuses of NSLs in libraries and bookstores and other places where higher First Amendment
standards should be considered." The four - known as the "Connecticut
John Does"- were presented with the ALA Paul Howard Award for Courage at the conference.
Among the legislative reforms ALA urges are:
Judicial oversight of National Security Letters (NSLs) requiring a showing of individualized suspicion and demonstrating a factual connection between the individual whose records are sought by the FBI and an actual investigation;
Elimination of the automatic and permanent imposition of a nondisclosure or "gag" order whenever an NSL is served on an individual or institution;
Allowing recipients of NSLs to receive meaningful judicial review of a challenge to their NSL without deferring to the government's claims;
Increased oversight by Congress and the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice over NSLs and FBI activities that implicate the First Amendment; and
Providing for the management, handling, dissemination and destruction of personally identifiable information obtained through NSLs ALA has sent letters communicating the resolution to the Offices of the President and Vice President as well as to every member of Congress. ALA further asked its members, state chapters, and all library advocates to ask Congress to restore civil liberties and correct the abuse and misuse of National Security Letters.
"Resolution on the Use and Abuse of National Security Letters" can be found online at http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/statementspols/ifresolutions/nationalsecuritylett
ers.htm
The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 65,000 members.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Latest on EPA Libraries
From American Libraries Direct...
Senate Committee asks EPA to reopen its librariesAfter nearly a year of controversy over Environmental Protection Agency library closings and consolidations, the Senate Appropriations Committee June 26 recommended that the agency restore the network of libraries to its former capacity. The committee report on the FY2008 Interior Appropriations Bill (S. 1696) directs the EPA to submit by December 31 a plan on how to use $2 million—the same amount cut from the agency’s FY2007 budget—to accomplish the restoration and “maintain a robust collection of environmental data and resources in each region.”...
Senate Committee asks EPA to reopen its librariesAfter nearly a year of controversy over Environmental Protection Agency library closings and consolidations, the Senate Appropriations Committee June 26 recommended that the agency restore the network of libraries to its former capacity. The committee report on the FY2008 Interior Appropriations Bill (S. 1696) directs the EPA to submit by December 31 a plan on how to use $2 million—the same amount cut from the agency’s FY2007 budget—to accomplish the restoration and “maintain a robust collection of environmental data and resources in each region.”...
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