july08c.indd


Andy Bridges W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n e  

National Library Legislative Day 2008 
On May 13 and 14, more than 400 librarians and 
library supporters converged on Washington, 
D.C., for the 34th annual National Library Legis­
lative Day (NLLD). They came from as far away 
as Hawaii and from every library discipline you 
can think of, to lobby their Members of Congress 
on such issues as copyright, telecommunica­
tions, and funding. “Vote for Libraries!” was the 
message of the day and the enthusiastic crowd 
set out to bring that message to their Senators 
and Representatives. 

NLLD is actually a two­day event. The fi rst 
day is called Briefing Day, which is designed 
to bring participants up to speed on the wide 
variety of federal issues that are important to 
libraries. Attendees spent this year’s Briefi ng 
Day in the Liaison Capitol Hill hotel, where 
they were treated to speakers from the ALA 
Washington Office, the Center for National 
Security Studies, the lobbying firm of Van 
Scoyoc Associates, and several ALA consul­
tants. The guest speaker was Nancy Tate, 
executive director of the League of Women of 
the United States and the League of Women 
Voters Education Fund. 

The day after Briefing Day was National 
Library Legislative Day itself. Attendees gath­
ered together by state and visited as many of 
their legislators as the day allowed. Armed 
with the information from Briefing Day, a 
half­dozen Issue Briefs prepared by the ALA 
Washington Office, and state­specifi c materials 
and testimonials, the library advocates were 
well­equipped to talk shop with Congressional 
Members and staffers. 

NLLD events came to a close with the 
annual reception, an end­of­day soiree with 
food and drinks, where attendees swapped 
stories and mingled with Members of Con­
gress. This year’s reception attracted several 
members, including Sens. Jack Reed (Rhode 
Island) and Mike Enzi (Wyoming) and Rep. 

Andy Bridges is communications director at ALA’s 
Washington Offi  ce, e-mail: abridges@alawash.org 

Chris Van Hollen (Maryland). The reception 
took place in the Caucus Room in the Russell 
Senate Office Building, the oldest and one of 
the largest assembly rooms built for the Senate 
outside the Capitol. 

Those who couldn’t make it to Washing­
ton, D.C., but still wanted to communicate 
the needs of libraries to Capitol Hill partici­
pated in Virtual Library Legislative Day, during 
which library supporters all over the country 
e­mailed, called, and faxed their Members of 
Congress. This year, 604 unique activists sent 
1,817 messages to their legislators. 

2008 also marked a signifi cant fi rst for 
Virtual Library Legislative Day, as the event 
made its way into the online environment 
Second Life. 

ALA/WHCLIST Legislative Day Award 
presented 
At the Briefing Day events, Frances E. Wielin 
was honored with the ALA/White House Con­
ference on Library and Information Services 
Taskforce (ALA/WHCLIST) National Library 
Legislative Day Award. Wielin received $300 to 
help pay for her trip to Legislative Day. 

Wielin has been an active library supporter 
for more than a decade, having volunteered 
more than 3,000 hours at her local library, and 
simultaneously serving on her local library 
community Board of Directors for eight years. 
She is now a trustee in the Palos Verdes (Cali­
fornia) Library District, where she continuously 
demonstrates a long­term commitment to public 
libraries on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. 

Rep. Vernon Ehlers given FOLUSA 
Award at Legislative Day Reception 
At the annual reception that brings Legislative 
Day events to a close, Friends of Libraries 
USA (FOLUSA) Executive Director Sally Reed 
presented Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R­Michigan) 
with the FOLUSA Public Service Award, an 
award that honors a legislator who has been 
especially supportive of libraries. Ehlers is one 
of the sponsors of the SKILLs Act. 

C&RL News July/August 2008  414 

mailto:abridges@alawash.org