July/August 2020 359 C&RL News

S h a w n d a  H i n e s  i s  a s s i s t a n t  d i re c t o r  o f  A L A’s 
Communications, Public Policy and Advocacy Office, 
email: shines@alawash.org

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n eShawnda Hines

Federal funding for libraries
Under normal circumstances, ALA would 
be reporting progress on the Fiscal Year 
(FY) 2021 #FundLibraries campaign as fed-
eral spending bills move through the full 
House and Senate. Now, ALA is both moni-
toring the annual appropriations cycle and 
advocating for resources libraries need to 
emerge from the pandemic and phase in 
the reopening of their facilities. Congress 
has completed four relief funding bills 
(three of them narrow in focus), is work-
ing on a fifth, and may consider additional 
measures in the coming months.  

The House approved their proposal for a 
fourth large-scale COVID-19 relief package, 
the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus 
Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES, H.R. 
6800). The bill includes more than $3 trillion 
in federal aid to respond to COVID-19, includ-
ing several education- and workforce-related 
funding provisions. However, the package 
includes a nominal $5 million for IMLS. 

The HEROES Act has moved on to the 
Senate, which indicated it will neither pass the 
package at the House levels nor act with any 
urgency on new legislation. ALA continues 
to engage library advocates and work with 
Senate supporters to secure library funding in 
any final spending package. As the campaign 
proceeds, it will be vital to share library im-
pact stories to prove to the Senate that fund-
ing for libraries is a worthwhile investment 
in recovery for communities. 

In preparation for future relief efforts, 
ALA led a broad library trade coalition letter 
calling for $2 billion in library stabilization 
funding. This letter was signed by 35 organi-

zations, including the American Federation of 
Teachers, Association of Research Libraries, 
COSLA, National League of Cities, and U.S. 
Conference of Mayors.  

Publishers sue the Internet Archive 
(IA)
On June 1, John Wiley & Sons, Hachette 
Book Group, Penguin Random House, and 
HarperCollins, members of the American 
Association of Publishers (AAP), filed suit 
against IA arguing that it is engaging in 
copyright infringement by making digitized 
copies of its print books to lend to the pub-
lic. This case is the latest installment in the 
eBook saga that extends back to 2004, with 
more recent activities including ALA engage-
ments with the Macmillan Publishers em-
bargo and the House Judiciary Committee 
investigation, under the leadership of Rep. 
David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island). 

As ALA President Wanda Brown told the 
Washington Post, “The complaint of the Plain-
tiffs against the Internet Archive is strongly 
indicative that the current system of library 
eBook lending is broken. Libraries often pay 
$60 for one copy of an eBook as compared 
to typical price of $14 for consumer retail and 
the library gets only two years of access—and 
then libraries must pay again for an additional 
two years, and so on. The unfairness of the 
current inequitable system opens the door for 
organizations, such as the Internet Archive, 
to develop alternatives that provide afford-
able access to libraries. The American Library 
Association encourages a parallel track of 1) 
engagement and negotiation with publishers 
and distributors, 2) innovation, and 3) public 
policy developed by legislative, judicial, and 
regulatory entities, to lead to a fair system 
for authors, publishers, distributors, retailers, 
libraries, and the general public.” 

mailto:shines@alawash.org