02.10.09
President Obama Says It Again
You probably heard it for yourself, but last night President Barack Obama did it again. He said “libraries.” At his first prime-time press conference since taking office, he addressed a nervous nation about unemployment, emphasizing that “the single most important part of this Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan is the fact that it will save or create up to 4 million jobs, because that’s what America needs most right now.”
More than 90% of the jobs created in the plan will be in the private sector, he said, and “they’re not going to be make-work jobs but jobs doing the work that America desperately needs done, jobs rebuilding our crumbling bridges, repairing our dangerously deficient dams and levees, so that we don’t face another Katrina.” And then he added, “They’ll be jobs creating the 21st-century classrooms, libraries, and labs for millions of children across America.”
“He hears us,” I thought to myself, and he hears ALA. His people are listening. Asked later in the press conference about bipartisanship, Obama took it back to education: “The suggestion is, why should the federal government be involved in school construction? Well. I visited a school down in South Carolina that was built in the 1850s. Kids are still learning in that school—as best they can…. It’s right next to a railroad, and when the train runs by the whole building shakes and the teacher has to top teaching for a while. The auditorium is completely broken down and they can’t use it. So why wouldn’t we want to build state-of-the-art schools with science labs that are teaching our kids the skills they need for the 21st century, that will enhance our economy and, by the way, right now will create jobs?”
Indeed, why wouldn’t we? Every once in a while, it’s good for all of us inside ALA to remind ourselves that we are a 501(c)3 organization—noprofit educational—and that we are in the knowledge business more than the information business. It’s going to take more than the dissemination of information to play a key role in the nation’s economic recovery. The new ALA Office for Library Advocacy and the Washington Office are redoubling their efforts to reach the new administration with our education message. It seems they are listening.
George A. Cefil said,
February 10, 2009 at 3:21 pm
You are kidding, right? Libraries are virtually ignored by Obama and the Democrats in their so-called “stimulus” package! So he gives lip-service to libraries by using the word a time or two. Big deal! Where’s the money? Where’s the actual *support* for what libraries do?
You may think “he hears us” but if that’s true, then the facts show that he’s ignoring what he hears. The stimulus package is a nearly complete snub of libraries, and a total failure by Obama and the Democrats to back up their rhetoric with action. (And it doesn’t say much for ALA/WO’s “influence” with either the transition team or Congress.)
Leonard Kniffel said,
February 10, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Don’t you think it’s a tad premature to call the stimulus package a total failure?
Ray Andrade said,
February 12, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Just got this from an ACRL listserv, folks:
ACRL OnPoint Chat: The New Congress, Library Issues, and You
Posted: 12 Feb 2009 09:57 AM CST
The next installment in the free ACRL OnPoint chat series - The New Congress, Library Issues, and You - will be held at 12 p.m. Central on Friday, February 13, 2009. The 111th Congress began work on January 6th with the promise of change but also plenty of continuity with previous Congresses. President Obama took office on January 20th and has discussed appointing the country’s first Chief Technology Officer. Get a preview of the ACRL legislative agenda for 2009 and spend an hour chatting with your colleagues about the federal library and information policy priorities during the 111th Congress and how you can contribute. Jonathan Miller, library director at Rollins College and the current chair of the ACRL Government Relations Committee will convene this month’s chat.
Visit the ACRL OnPoint Web page for complete details and login information.
Judith L. Fisher said,
February 13, 2009 at 12:28 pm
I have heard of general coverage for schools but:
I keep listening for what the stimulus package will do directly for Michigan Libraries. Let me break it down for you. Public libraries, highschool libraries,
Medical libraries in hospitals, College libraries. Any or all jobs connected
to hopeful graduates from a Library Tech program who is it at Oakland Community College in Michigan. We have other degrees as well to add to our resume packages. There are so many of us who love this field and can’t wait to get a start. OCC, by the way has wonderful teachers who make sure we are up to snuff.