Thanks to Flickr user noyava for use of this image

On Thursday, June 30th the Oregon Legislative Assembly adjourned its 2011 regular session. Interim meeting dates for the remainder of 2011 and 2012 haven’t yet been formalized, but a tentative calendar (pdf) of these dates has been published. If you want to find documents that were part of the 2011 regular session, you can do so in their publications archive.

So what did our state legislature accomplish during this session? The state Senate Democrats released their 2011 Accomplishments (pdf) was an interesting session and the Senate Republican Office offered a press release (pdf) with their version of accomplishments and work to continue.

This year the House of Representatives was evenly divided 30/30 with Republicans and Democrats. Co-Speaker of the House Arnie Roblan (D- Coos Bay) released a statement about the House accomplishments during the session.

The recap is pretty much that the parties worked together on health care issues, as well as tax and housing issues. Budget issues were, as always, contentious issues between state Republicans and Democrats

If you’re looking to find more detailed information about what happened, a great place to find what the parties and individuals are saying is by reading the State Legislature Press Releases.

Other news to note at this time, and of particular import to librarians, is the new and improved Oregon State Legislature Measure Search. Give it a whirl to see what you think. (Try looking for 2011 Senate Bill 41, which pertains to public records…)

We’ll see what any interim session holds in store for the state. In the meantime, keep looking to this blog for more information about state and federal legislative issues of interest to ACRL-Oregon.

The title National Library Legislative Day is a bit misleading, because it’s not one day, but two! On Monday, May 9th the ALA Washington Office hosted a briefing day, wherein NLLD participants receive the most up to date information about what’s happening on the hill.

This year, the briefing day consisted mainly of presentations about the issues, but was prefaced by a fantastic presentation called Divided Congress: Surveying the Landscape of the 112th Congress. Panelists included the moderator, Emily Sheketoff, Executive Director of the ALA Washington Office; Vic Klatt, former Chief of staff for Representative John Boehner and current partner at Penn Hill Group; Danica Petroshius, former chief of staff for the late Senator Ted Kennedy and partner at Penn Hill Group. I found this panel to be most interesting, because panelist gave a great overview of what is happening in congress.

Namely, panelists discussed the “weird” place in which libraries find themselves in the 112th Congress. Petroshius stressed that since appropriations and other budgetary items are the biggest item, that none of the budget cuts seem to be backed by any philosophy, they are just about “political expediency.”  And to paraphrase Klatt, “No one will say anything bad about libraries” but the weird place for them is that they aren’t anyone one thing. They aren’t treated like education or like social services. Library advocates should “find a place for libraries in every bill that goes forward.” Essentially, libraries and library advocates need to frame arguments for libraries in every forum and every avenue possible. Just hearing this perspective from panelists was eye-opening to me.

Following the day of briefing, we were off to legislative office appointments on Tuesday. The team from Oregon divvied up the meetings so that we Oregonians visited every Oregon Representative’s and Senator’s office.

I had the pleasure of joining some team members to chat with an aides from Representative Walden’s office; Representative Blumenauer’s office, and Senator Wyden’s office.  For each of these visits the team concentrated on appropriations and funding, since that is what was currently the issue in Congress. We advocated to keep LSTA funding levels as promised, and provided information about what LSTA funds in the state. Team members were even successful in getting Representative Blumenauer to sign onto a “dear colleague letter” in support of LSTA funding!

Although funding was at the foremost of most everyone’s mind we also did discuss other issues pertaining to libraries. Privacy and surveillance had active legislation in the Senate while library advocates from all over were on the hill. Since then, President Obama has signed the legislation that extended the USA PATRIOT Act; against which library advocates were lobbying. The issue is that the USA PATRIOT Act extension does not provide the necessary privacy reforms that provide protection to library patrons. For more information about this issue, read more over at ALA’s District Dispatch.

There were many issue briefs in the packets we presented to legislators, but funding and privacy took the forefront during our visits. For a complete list of issues included in NLLD, take a peek at my previous blog post for links to issues and resources.

All you need to do is call or write your legislators. It is the power of many voices that make library issues resonate with our elected officials. We voted them into office and we can hold them accountable for representing our interests. Legislative Day will be a bigger success with your help.

Don’t know who are your legislators? Find out here!

Don’t know the issues? ACRL National has posted its current legislative agenda for your reading pleasure, and ALA has numerous download-able issue briefs on the National Library Legislative Day web page (scroll all the way to the bottom). It is not out of order to include issue briefs in your communications with legislators.

When you write or call your legislators, make it clear that you are a constituent and that these issues are important to you. If you have a personal story that supports an issue, include it! Invite your legislators to contact you with further questions, and lastly, thank them for their time.

I’ll be attending the event in Washington, DC with the other Oregon delegates. Please add your voice to our delegation and help us spread the message to support libraries and library issues!

Arriving on time for the tour, our schedule immediately changed because Governor Kitzhaber and State Treasurer Ted Wheeler were testifying in a public hearing regarding the state’s “kicker.”  What an opportunity to see our Governor and Treasurer testifying in front of the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee, chaired by Senator Ginny Burdick!

You can read a press release about Treasurer Wheeler’s remarks (pdf), and here’s a brief news story on their joint testimony.

Then resuming our agenda for the day we toured the Capitol building to see the house and senate floors, get a sense of the dorm-like halls of representative and senate offices, and to find the cafe in the building’s basement.

Finally, we discussed current issues in the state legislature. School libraries, county law libraries, and public records are still hot issues. Newly introduced has been the House Joint Resolution 34 & 35.

“HJR 34 addresses providing ;sexually explicit; material to minors and HJR 35 replaces Oregon’s free speech provision with the federal Constitution’s provision…OLA will testify in opposition to both. Action needed: If the measures move to the Senate and vote, contact your Senator.” –OLA Issues Handout

The end of the pre-conference workshop was not it for the Legislative Committee at OLA Annual, however. On Thursday, the committee hosted a program that offered conference attendees the opportunity to chat with state legislators.  Representatives Julie Parrish and Mike McLane talked about their experiences as freshmen representatives, and offered their perspectives on hearing from constituents. Additionally, Representative Phil Barnhart, a veteran of the Oregon House of Representatives, provided his views and ideas from his tenure in service.

It was a great way to end the day on Thursday, by hearing three distinct perspectives on serving in the state legislature. I resolved to be more active than I already am.

There will be more legislative updates to come, especially after I head to Washington D.C. for National Library Legislative Day!

Use the e-mail template that was posted on Friday to write to your legislators directly. (Find your legislator)

For those who are visiting legislators in Salem, we’ll see you there!

• Use the following e-mail template to address the issues facing libraries in our state. (The e-mail template appears after the cut.) If you don’t know who are your state legislature representatives, find out by using the Oregon State Legislature’s Find Your Legislator tool.
• Use your social networking tools and savvy to drum up support from your friends and colleagues. Get them to participate virtually, too!
• Post a message of support on Facebook.
• Write a Tweet.
• Use the day to send a reminder to our representatives in Washington, DC, too. Send them a note of thanks for supporting us, and let them know what we’re doing locally!

Additional information about the issues for 2011 OLA Legislative Day can be retrieved from any of the issue briefs posted to the wiki.

The schedule for OLA Legislative Day is on the wiki, and if you’re planning an office visit, or a virtual visit to your representatives, please track this information on the wiki’s Appointments page.

You might also consider posting a status on Facebook in honor of legislative day to encourage your librarian Facebook friends to participate, or send out a tweet calling for action.

February 7, 2011

Dear [Representative],

I am writing as part of a delegation for Oregon Library Legislative Day, which is today, February 7^th, 2011. I am a librarian at [institution name] and I wanted to let you know about some of the issues facing libraries in Oregon and in [name of town].

As a librarian I support continued funding of the Ready to Read Grant program at $1 per child to support library efforts to advance early childhood literacy. Funding this program means that children who receive their elementary and secondary education in Oregon are more successful when they enter college and are better prepared for the rigors of studying at [name of institution] where I work.

I also support the formation of a task force examining  how to shape strong school libraries. I am asking you to [endorse HB 2649/ oppose SB 560]. The task force proposed by Representative Buckley would address the following:

• Evaluate the current status of school libraries in relationship to staffing, instruction, programming, funding, and available materials/resources/equipment.
• Study, assess and evaluate best practices for instruction and programming based on content standards, staffing, funding and available materials/resources/equipment in school libraries.
• Develop recommendations based on evaluated best practice to improve instruction, programming based on content standards, staffing, funding and available materials/resources/equipment.
• Undertake any other strategy designed to increase and improve school library services.

Investing in school libraries is a proven and efficient way to increase student achievement and improve education for all Oregon students. Research in 15 states, including Oregon, shows that the school library programs contribute to academic achievement. In Oregon, we only have 319 librarians serving 1,308 schools. Fewer than 1/3 of school-age Oregonians benefit from a strong school library program with a licensed librarian and an adequate budget for books and materials.

Without strong school libraries students come to [name of institution] less prepared than their out-of-state peers who had stronger library programs in their school systems. Examining school libraries will enable us to improve schools and literacy levels in children and increase success for students pursuing higher education.

I support county law libraries and I urge you to oppose further reduction in the percentage of court filing fees that fund their services. Please monitor HB 2367 and HB 2710 and consider how those bills would effect law libraries. County law libraries make legal information resources and research services available to every Oregonian. They serve attorneys, litigants, judges, court staff, county officials and the general public. They vary from one another in their funding levels and therefore in staffing and service levels. In over half of the counties, library services are virtually non-existent.

Since the Legislature authorized them in 1907, county law libraries have been funded by a percentage of court filing fees. Although use of law libraries has increased, the Legislature has cut the percentage from 40% in 1997 to 28% currently.  Consequently, we need a more efficient service model that provides equitable access to all Oregonians.

At [name of institution] we refer patrons to the county law libraries when our collections and resources do not meet their needs for legal research.

Finally, I support a continued exemption for library records, such as patron names, addresses, and circulation records, from public record. Please monitor SB 41, which deals with the public records issue. The privacy of library records is a long-held professional value and one that directly impacts individuals’ freedom to access information without “fear of intimidation or retaliation.”

Thank you for taking the time to learn about the issues facing libraries in Oregon. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions regarding the issues I mentioned in this letter.

Sincerely,

[name]

[contact info]

Some of my favorite resources are How an Idea Becomes a Law (pdf) and the Citizen’s Guide to the Oregon Legislative Process.

This session will be interesting.  It is the first session after Oregon voters approved Measure 71, to require the legislature to meet annually.  The demographics of the legislature have also changed slightly. The Oregon State House of Representatives now has 30 Democrats and 30 Republican representatives– a majority loss for the Democrats. The landscape of the Senate
also changed. It now has 16 Democrats and 14 Republicans serving legislative terms. We’ll soon see what this session has in store for Oregon.

Details about Legislative Day’s schedule are posted to the OLA Legislative Network Wiki.

There will be a briefing on legislative issues and documents you can take with you during your office visits, so any worries you might have about not being up to date on issues should be alleviated. Representatives want to hear from constituents and Legislative Day is a great way to make that connection.

What you can do right now in preparation for Legislative Day:

• Plan to be out of the office or schedule some time on February 7th to make phone calls and send e-mails to your representatives.
• Find out who are your representatives, if you don’t already know.
• Find out on the OLA Legislative Day Office Visit wiki page what appointments and/or contacts have already been made. If someone has already contacted your representative for an appointment you can try to go with them to that appointment.
• If no one’s made an appointment with your representative, go ahead and make one. (Be sure to update the appointment information on the wiki page!) You can also put down your name without a time to indicate that you’d like to go with someone.

I’m in the process of compiling information to share about the issues we’d like to discuss with our representatives and will post more information soon. However, if you have any questions about legislative day feel free to contact me. You can reach me via e-mail: fordem@ohsu.edu or phone 503-494-3915.

As a reminder you can check out the the current funded LSTA projects that support academic libraries in Oregon from the Oregon State Library’s web site.

Take action to encourage your representatives to support the MLSA from the ALA Action Center here.