The American Library Association (ALA) has sent an alert to library workers to tell their representatives to fund libraries. The House Appropriations Committee has approved its budget, which includes a 15% cut to the only federal library funding agency. This devastating budget will soon be presented to the full House, so now is the time to act.
We must urge our Representatives to reject this 'defund libraries' budget and ask our Senators to take a strong stand against it. The final budget decisions won't be made until the end of the year - but unless we speak up now we'll be easy to cut in the ensuing negotiations.
We urge Congress to provide at least level-funding of $211 million for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and $30 million for Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL). Tell Congress to stop the cuts to libraries!