Public Library Trustees and Directors Current Topics
NMRLS, MLA, and MBLC had to postpone our session on "Public Library Trustees and Directors Current Topics--Intellectual Freedom, Advocacy, & Trustees' Roles." Registration was too low to justify bringing out the six scheduled presenters.
It was suggested that we offer this information to library trustees and friends on site at member libraries. If you are interested in arranging for an on-site presentation/discussion of these topics, please contact Greg Pronevitz, 888-326-7772 x15, greg@nmrls.org.
Possible topics: Intellectual freedom issues, such as the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), the USA Patriot Act, and legislation related to parents' access to children's library records. Advocacy topics, e.g., an introduction to online advocacy tools and the roles of the library trustee and director. We can add other topics appropriate for your library.
Library Budgetary News
The latest budget news from the State House has the line that funds NMRLS, other regions and the Library of Last Recourse level funded. The Governor's House One Budget also level funded this line item, 7000-9401.
The MBLC office funding has been reduced by about three percent in both budgets. State Aid to Public Libraries and Library Technology and Resource Sharing are increased significantly in the House budget. We await the Senate budget which is due out soon.
Visit http://www.nmrls.org/legislative-update/ for further information and a chart of historical funding for libraries.
Visit MLA's Legislative Alerts page for the latest news and to identify elected officials for your address and zip code: capwiz.com/masslib/officials/state/?state=MA.
The Massachusetts Library Association sponsors a number of events to promote library advocacy. The MLA calendar is available at: www.eventkeeper.com/code/events.cfm?curOrg=MLA.
