ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


1012 /  C&RL News ■ November 2001

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

New  developments since September 11 
The tragic events o f Septem ber 11 have 
changed our lives in so many ways. Certainly 

here in Washington, as it is likely in your 

libraries and on your campuses, we have 
hardly begun to appreciate fully how our daily 
lives have changed, but we have already seen 
major changes in the library legislative agenda.

For example, before September 11, ALA 
was monitoring the slow progress o f many 

diverse privacy bills on financial, medical, and 

other personal information records. It was not 
fully clear to the privacy coalitions with which 
we work just where privacy legislation was 
moving, especially regarding federal preemp­
tion of state laws.

After September 11 we have major anti­
terrorism legislation, including provisions af­
fecting personal privacy. As we go to press, 
there are bills in the House and Senate, H.R. 
2975 and S. 1510, likely the first set of many 
anti-terrorism bills. These bills include provi­
sions expanding wiretapping to Internet com­
munications and lowering many o f the stan­
dards to apply trap and trace, pen registers, 
or other devices for tapping electronic com­
munications.

A provision sought by the Bush A dm in­

istration to ease access to student records 
has been rem oved, but a sim ilar provision 
on “business records” is very broad sw eep­
in g an d p o te n tia lly  affe c ts lib ra ry  and 
school records. ALA has been working with 
sister library associations and a broad coa­
litio n now  called the In D efense o f Free­
dom  Coalition. A jo in t statem ent from  ALA 
and two o f our sister library associations is 

on the Web at http://www.ala.org/washoff/ 
terrorismletter. pdf.

Before September 11, the issues surround­
ing FY2002 appropriations bills were conten­
tious. Several o f the 13 appropriations bills 
had passed, but key ones, such as education 
funding, were and are still pending. At this 
writing, Congress has passed CRs or continu­

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

ing resolutions to fund the federal govern­
ment through mid-October. These CRs may 
continue into the near future rather than 

have Congress revisit som e o f the more 
difficult disputes on appropriations issues. 
A CR continues funding at last y e a r’s lev­
els, w h ich  fo r key lib ra ry  p ro g ram s is 
higher than w hat Bush and others had been 
advocating for FY2002 (http://www.ala.org/ 
washoff/ funding, html).

Before September 11, we were working 
on S. 803, the E-government Act o f 2001, an­
ticipating further work this fall on issues of 
permanent public access to government in­
formation and the pros and cons of estab­

lishing a government-wide chief information 
officer. After September 11, work on S. 803 
was postponed until at least early next year 
in the second session o f the 107th Congress 
(http://www. ala. org/washoff/ governmentinfo. 
html).

Reauthorization of the Library Services and 
Technology Act (LSTA) remains an extremely 
important issue that needs grassroots support 

now. LSTA affects all types o f libraries, in­

cluding academic, public, and school librar­
ies, and is the only federal legislation that 
funds libraries exclusively. To assure reau­
thorization by September 30, 2002, library ad­
vocates are encouraged to start letting their 
senators and representatives know now about 

the importance of LSTA and press for it to be 

reauthorized in a timely fashion.
The proposed bill encourages all types of 

libraries to make use o f this funding, and 
would raise the authorization to $500 million. 
This means that more funds will be available 
for state-based grants and local programs, 

National Leadership Grants, and grants to 

Native American libraries.
For more information about LSTA and to 

get a brochure about how you can assist in 
this effort, visit the new LSTA Web site at 
http://www.ala.org/washoff/lsta.html.

During this challenging period, legislative 
and political concerns remain very fluid. It is 
especially important for the library commu­
nity to maintain our advocacy efforts. Call our 
office if you have any questions. ■

http://www.ala.org/washoff/
mailto:leb@alawash.org
http://www.ala.org/
http://www.ala.org/washoff/lsta.html