ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


C&RL News ■ September 2003 / 549

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n e L y n n e  E. B ra d le y

LSTA passed Senate, o th e r action  in 
fin a l w e e k  b e fo re  recess
On August 1, the Senate voted by unanimous con­
sent to pass the Museum and Library Services 
Act o f 2003, which includes reauthorization o f 
the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). 
When the Senate brought up S. 888, its version 
o f the act, they am ended the bill to reflect a 
“pre-conference” agreement worked out by the 
House and Senate on several differences between 
the bills (H.R. 13 and S. 888, respectively).

The agreem ent that was reached accepted 
nearly all o f the Senate language, which included 
several minor differences from the House ver­
sion o f the bill. The amendment also changed 
the funding authorization level for library pro­
grams to $232 million. After changes were made 
to S. 888, the Senate incorporated S. 888 into 
H.R. 13 and passed H.R. 13 (in lieu o f S. 888).

Now, the Senate-passed version o f H.R. 13 
goes to the House, where it will hopefully be voted 
on and passed as soon as Congress returns in early 
September. If the House passes the Senate ver­
sion o f the bill without making any changes, the 
bill heads to the president for his signature.

Grassroots advocates are asked to say “thank 
you” to their Senators for passage o f this impor­
tant library legislation and to indicate that the 
libraiy community will be seeking enhanced fund­
ing for the many needs addressed by state-based 
LSTA projects, as well as leadership and collabo­
rative programs with museums.

Library supporters should seek out their mem­
bers o f the House o f Representatives and ask 
for passage o f the Museum and Library Services 
Act, H.R. 13, as referred by the Senate. The Sen­
ate and House bills are essentially identical so 
this should be a pro forma vote for House mem­
bers, but they need to hear from constituents.

Many thanks to all in the academic library com­
munity for your sustained support for this legisla­
tion. The process towards passage has taken com­
bined efforts o f all in the greater libraiy world, 
but it was particularly helpful to receive letters of 
support for the legislation from heads of major 
universities in various parts o f the country.

Lynne E. Bradley is Office o f Government Relations director 
o f A LA’s W ashington Office, e-mail: leb@alawash.org

“L ib rary, B ookseller, and Personal 
Records Privacy A c t”
O n July 31, Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wiscon
sin) introduced the “Library, Bookseller, and 
Personal Records Privacy Act.” The bill would 
restore pre-PATRIOT Act safeguards on  the 
F B I ’s lic e n s e  to o b tain  c itiz e n s ’ p erson al 
records. By limiting the scope o f the FBI’s abil­
ity to obtain library, bookstore, medical and 
financial records, the Feingold bill would pro­
tect U.S. citizens from unnecessary monitoring 
by the federal government.

For more information about this and similar 
bills, subscribe to ALAWON.

A g r e e m e n t nam es GPO an d  IMARA 
a ff ilia te d  archives
The following is an excerp t from a press release 
published August 12 by the Government Print­
ing Office and the National Archives:

Washington, D.C.— Archivist of the United 
States Jo h n  W. Carlin and United States 
Public Printer Bruce R. Jam es announced 
today an agreement whereby the Govern­
ment Printing Office (G PO ) and the Na­
tional Archives and Records Administra­
tion (NARA) will ensure the documents 
you s ee today on GPO A ccess (http:// 
www.gpoaccess.gov), the GPO Web site 
that provides free online public access to 
more than 250,000 federal governm ent 
titles, will remain available permanently.

“GPO is committed to providing perma­
nent public access to the online versions of 
the most important government publica­
tions. That is why w e are honored that 
NARA has recognized our commitment to 
making this information available today and 
to preserving it for future generations by 
making us an archival affiliate,” said Public 
Printer James.

Archivist Carlin said, “Preserving the 
essential evidence o f our governm ent’s 
w ork is a serious responsibility and we 
feel confident that working together with 
GPO will enable us to ensure that these 
records will continue to b e available for 
all to u s e .” ■

http://www.gpoaccess.gov
mailto:leb@alawash.org


550 /C&RL News ■ September 2003