ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


294 / C&RL News ■ A p ril 2002

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n e Lynne E. Bradley

IM LS a n d  N C LIS  te s tify
O n February 28, Robert Martin, director of the 
Institute for M useum  a n d  Library Services 
(IMLS), testified before the House Labor, Health 
and Human Services and Education Appropria­
tio n s  S u b c o m m itte e  o n  th e  FY2003 
Administration’s budget request. Martin lauded 
the increased funding request of $181.7 mil­
lion for library programs and $29 million for 
museums, and highlighted the $10 million ini­
tiative announced by Laura Bush to stimulate 
and support education for new  librarians. He 
said statistics show  there will soon be a large 
drop in the num ber of practicing librarians b e ­
cause of retirement. He also m entioned the 
need for m ore library professionals to teach in 
graduate library programs.

Martin said IMLS was refocusing the opera­
tion support for museums. He said 85 percent 
of m useum s are meeting standards, but IMLS 
can only fund 19 percent of applications for 
grants. In answer to questions from Rep. Ralph 
Regula (D-OH) about technology affecting the 
role of m useum  and library professions, Mar­
tin said that technology dramatically enhances 
the reach of m useums and libraries, acting as a 
billboard. He said technology has not replaced 
the traditional services, but that all have in­
creased. Regula said he w ould like to see more 
programs like the community library in his dis­
trict that has set up a reading room  for seniors 
w h o  are mentoring children from the elem en­
tary school next door.

The National Commission on Libraries and 
Inform ation Science (NCLIS) next testified on 
the FY2003 budget. Commission Chair Martha 
G ould w as in tro d u c e d  by R epresentative 
Jam es Gibbons, (R-NV), w h o  claimed h er as 
a longstanding friend and his librarian. Gould 
said that the stated rationale for zeroing out 
the NCLIS account w as totally unsubstanti­
ated.

She th an k ed  Regula for funding the Lit­
eracy Through School Libraries program  and 
cited the NCLIS hearing o n  school libraries 
held in Cincinnati, Ohio, last spring as con­

Lynne E. Bradley is Office o f Government Relations director 
o f ALA's Washington Office; e-mail: leb@alawash.org

vincing NCLIS to support the legislation. Also 
testifying was Commissioner Jack Hightower, 
w ho discussed the role of libraries in the com ­
m unity and an NCLIS project that focuses on 
the im portance of libraries as dissem inators 
of com m unity inform ation in times of crisis.

E ld r e d  v. A s h c r o f t — U.S. S u p re m e  
C o u rt d e c id e s  to  h e a r a p p e a l
The Suprem e Court an n o u n ced  o n  February 
19 that it has granted the petition for certio­
rari filed last fall in a case challenging the 
constitutionality of the Sonny Bono Copyright 
Term  Extension Act. The appeal asked the 
court to agree to h ear (and to overturn) a 
decision by the federal appeals court for the 
D. C. Circuit. In February 2001, in a 2-1 deci­
sion, that court rejected the argum ent that 
the Sonny Bono Copyright Term  Extension 
Act is unconstitutional, holding that retroac­
tive term  extensions are w ithin C ongress’ 
authority under the Copyright Clause, and that 
the 20-year term  extensions did not violate 
the First Am endm ent. The act extends copy­
right protection for an additional 20 years (for 
an ordinary w ork, that term  is n o w  “life of 
the au th o r” plus 70 years).

O n Decem ber 13, 2001, ALA, American As­
sociation of Law Libraries, Association of Re­
se arc h  Libraries, Digital Future Coalition, 
Medical Library Association, and Society of 
Am erican Archivists filed an a m ic i curiae 
(friend of the court) brief in support of the 
request that the U.S. Suprem e Court exercise 
its discretion to take the case. Visit h ttp :// 
w w w .ala.org/w ashoff/eldred.htm l for m ore 
information.

The case will p resen t a great opportunity 
for libraries to explain o u r view  on the im­
portan ce of th e public dom ain a n d  the harm  
that flows from  k eep in g  w orks alm ost p er­
petually locked up. A m ic u s curiae briefs in 
su p p o rt of Eric Eldred, th e plaintiff w h o  is 
challenging th e  law , will hav e to b e  filed 
by April 5- T he oral a rg u m e n t b e fo re  th e 
S uprem e C ourt w ill n o t tak e  p lac e  until 
n e x t fall. More a b o u t the case can b e  fo u n d  
a t h ttp ://e o n .la w .h a r v a r d .e d u /o p e n l a w /  
eldredvashcroft/. ■

mailto:leb@alawash.org
http://www.ala.org/washoff/eldred.html
http://eon.law.harvard.edu/openlaw/


C&RL News ■ A p ril 2002 / 295