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C&RL News June 2014 346

Jazzy Wright is press officer of the ALA Washington 
Office, e-mail: jwright@alawash.org

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n eJazzy Wright

Washington Office hosts press briefing 
at National Press Club
On May 6, 2014, ALA hosted “Responding to 
the Second Digital Divide,” a National Press 
Club briefing that explored the ways that 
governments, schools, and communities can 
better support libraries in bridging the grow-
ing skills-based digital divide. Panel leaders 
detailed effective tactics to sustain and improve 
Internet accessibility in libraries and discuss fu-
ture directions for public access to information. 

Libraries matter: Use videos to 
advocate for libraries 
Weeks before the start of National Library 
Legislative Day, ALA’s Washington Office 
launched “Libraries Matter,” a series of videos 
showcasing the ways libraries use federal 
funding to support early literacy, high-speed 
Internet access, small business owners, and 
new citizens. Library supporters can use the 
videos to demonstrate the value of federal 
funding programs, such as the Library Services 
and Technology Act, to legislators, decision-
makers, and community leaders.

Washington Office welcomes Eisgrau
On April 28, a former Washington Office col-
league, Adam Eisgrau, returned to ALA. He 
is a veteran intellectual property and privacy 
policy lobbyist and joined the ALA’s copyright 
and cybersecurity advocacy efforts to increase 
visibility for library issues on a national level. 
As Congress takes renewed interest in copy-
right law, cybersecurity measures, and surveil-
lance reform, Eisgrau will use his extensive 
background on copyright and privacy issues 
to increase the association’s presence in Wash-
ington and educate lawmakers on the issues 
libraries face in championing the information 
rights and needs of the public. 

Hundreds gather for 40th annual 
National Library Legislative Day
Hundreds of library supporters from across the 
country met with their members of Congress 
from May 5–6, 2014, to advocate for library fund-
ing during ALA’s 40th annual National Library 
Legislative Day. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) 
jumpstarted the event by addressing library 
advocates at the opening briefing, which took 
place on Monday, May 5, 2014, at the Liaison 
Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Washington Office submits comments 
on IAL
On April 1, 2014, the ALA Washington Office 
submitted comments to the U.S. Department 
of Education on the Innovative Approaches to 
Literacy (IAL) grant program. IAL was funded 
in FY 2014 at $25 million and is a competitive 
grant program where, by law, a minimum of 
half of this money must go to low-income 
schools to update and maintain their school li-
braries. The rest of the money goes to national 
nonprofits that work for childhood literacy.

Neal represents libraries at copyright 
hearing 
In early April, the U.S. House Judiciary Subcom-
mittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the 
Internet held a hearing entitled, “Preservation 
and Reuse of Copyrighted Works.” The hearing 
convened a panel of witnesses representing 
both the content and user communities to 
discuss a variety of copyright issues, including 
orphan works, mass digitization, and specific 
provisions of the Copyright Act that concern 
preservation and deteriorating works. Neal’s 
statement discussed fair use in the context of 
library preservation, the relationship between 
fair use and the library exceptions language of 
Section 108 of the Copyright Act, and the issue 
of orphan works. His statement was endorsed 
by the Library Copyright Alliance (LCA), which 
includes ALA, Association of Research Librar-
ies, and ACRL. LCA also submitted a statement 
to the subcommittee.