Government Relations Committee Report
Ann-Marie Wills

CoALL Policy Regarding Support of Library Legislation At the request of Georgia Briscoe, CoALL President, I notify the membership that at this time the CoALL Board takes a neutral policy regarding support of library legislation in our state as well as at the national level. Therefore, discussion in this column of pending bills affecting libraries is not an endorsement of any bill by the CoALL Board unless clearly stated otherwise.

State Grants for Libraries Bill - 2000

The Colorado Library Association's Legislative Committee has been meeting,regularly to discuss various initiatives for the state's 2000 legislative session. There is progress being made by CLA's lobbyists and certain members of the CLA Legislative Committee to find language acceptable to the Governor regarding control of Internet usage of minors in public libraries with the goal of reintroducing the State Grants for Libraries Bill from 1999. Adding this new language may foster its passage by the legislature and approval by the Governor in the upcoming session. If approved this bill makes available 2 million dollars yearly to be shared by Colorado's public, school, and academic libraries.

In reference to the above, and this is no surprise, there is hot debate across the country on the issue of minors and their access to the Internet in public and school libraries. In anticipation of the above bill being reintroduced, you may be interested in some news articles recently appearing in the Denver Post. At their web site, http://www.denvetpost.com, you can locate an article by Mike Soraghan on November 8, titled, "Pitfalls of Cyber-World Spark Debate on Filters." An article on December 12 from the AP wire service (click on "nation, world" at the Denver Post's web site) titled, "Libraries Pressured on Web Filters," indicates that many libraries across the nation are struggling with these issues and in one instance Internet access was discontinued altogether. Also check out the American Library Association's site at http://www.ala.org/aasl/filtering.html,which includes advice to parents and ALA's official stand on the issue.

I believe a worthwhile article with a broad scope that also touches on the above issue is by Laverna M. Saunders, "The Human Element in the Virtual Library," Library Trends, Volume 47, Issue 4. This article has numerous cogently written sections on topics facing libraries today such as a definition of the virtual library, user's expectations, democratization of access, a section on human issues which discusses Internet access, "technostress," and more. The last two sections focus on "whether the virtual library is a positive good to society," and on measures to take to insure the success and survival of libraries.

Legislative Network -- Support Libraries in the State

You may use the form that follows this article to place your name on the CLA's Legislative Network. This in no way obligates you to respond to requests to support any bill.

If you are interested in being a part of the network, please complete the form and return it to my attention, Ann-Marie Wills, Otten, Johnson, Robinson, Neff & Ragonetti, P.C., 950 17th Street, Ste. 1600, Denver, CO 80202, 303-575-7592, awills@ojrnr.com.

Brave Souls Needed ---- At a Moment's Notice ---­To Testify before Legislative Committees This Session You may nominate yourself or others for this important volunteer job. The CLA Legislative Committee wants to add names to its roster for well­spoken individuals, (not intimidated by elected officials), interested in supporting library legislation this session. The Committee is seeking individuals who are on library boards, professionals of all stripes, lawyers, judges, and librarians, business people, upstanding citizens from all walks of life, as well as those lucky retired folk, to testify before legislative committees considering bills affecting libraries at this upcoming session.

If you believe you or your contact would be a good spokesperson for the CLA's legislative causes, please notify me (see section above) with the person's name and phone number and I will give the information to the appropriate committee member for follow-up. If you have questions or concerns before volunteering don't hesitate to contact me and I will locate the right person to talk with you,.

REMINDER: Mark your Calendars for Legislative Day on Feb. 24, 2000, at DPL.