C&RL News September 2017 464

Kathi Kromer is associate executive director, ALA’s 
Washington Office, email: kkromer@alawash.org

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n eKathi Kromer

A greeting from Kathi Kromer, 
associate executive director, ALA 
Washington Office
Since joining ALA’s Washington Office in 
June, one of my top priorities has been 
learning from leaders of ALA divisions and 
investigating the relationships each one has 
with the Washington Office. I have been 
referring to my first months at ALA as my 
listening tour. It has been my time to gather 
information and input about what you care 
about—to collect the insights and ideas on 
a wide range of policy issues from ACRL 
and your peers. 

While federal funding for libraries has 
risen to the fore in past months, there have 
been significant developments in federal 
policies that call for more attention: 

Network neutrality: After the Federal 
Communications Commission (FCC) pro-
posed rolling back rules to protect network 
neutrality in May, more than 10 million 
people and organizations—including ALA 
and ACRL —filed comments opposing the 
changes. We are watching and prepared to 
act if legislation results and leads to actions 
by the FCC.

Privacy: Bipartisan legislation to modern-
ize the Electronic Communications Privacy 
Act of 1986 was introduced in the Senate 
(S.1657) in July. A similar House bill, though 
not as far-reaching, was overwhelmingly ap-
proved in February. Reconciling these bills 
will take time, but ALA and our coalition 
partners are pushing hard for adoption of 
this possible landmark legislation. 

Government information: There may be 
a light at the end of the tunnel for nearly 20 
years’ worth of efforts to ensure taxpayers’ 
fair access to federally funded research. In 
July, both House and Senate appropriators 

approved language to provide public access 
to Congressional Research Service (CRS) 
reports. This development, combined with 
the recent re-introduction of the bipartisan 
Fair Access to Science and Technology Re-
search Act in the House (H.R. 3427), gets us 
closer than ever to free sharing and public 
dissemination of CRS reports. 

What I have discovered so far in my first 
three months at the helm of the Washington 
Office is this: ACRL members can offer valu-
able insight into how these and many other 
issues impact access to information and in-
tellectual innovation in particular. While the 
Washington Office is here to amplify your 
voice on policy issues, we are only as effec-
tive as our members are engaged. Without 
a doubt, college and research librarians are 
well-positioned public leaders in commu-
nities across the country. The Washington 
Office is counting on ACRL members to lend 
your viewpoints and your influence as we 
shape future information policy. 

I look forward to working with you on 
those changes, learning more from you, and 
suggesting ways for ACRL members to act 
in future Washington Hotline columns. 

District Dispatch
Keep current with trending legislative is-
sues and library policy news, take action 
for libraries, and learn more about the ac-
tivities of ALA’s Washington Office through 
the District Dispatch blog.

Recent post topics include privacy 
and surveillance, telecommunications, 
digital literacy, government information, 
copyright, and more.

District Dispatch is freely available 
online at www.districtdispatch.org.

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