Tag Archives: Library Services and Technology Act

Federal Funding, ODL News, Oklahoma Public Libraries, State Aid

Accountability and Advocacy on the Hill, and at 23rd and Lincoln

Oklahoma Librarians in Senator Tom Cole's Office
Oklahoma librarians and fellow library advocates presented U.S. Representative Tom Cole with an Oklahoma Library Association Resolution, thanking him for his support of the federal Library Services and Technology Act. The presentation was made in May during National Library Legislative Day. Left to right: Paul Gazzolo with the Corporate Committee for Library Investment; Kathryn Lewis, Director of Media Services and Instructional Technology at Norman Public Schools; Representative Cole; Lisa Wells, Director of the Pioneer Library System; Kim Johnson, Director of the Tulsa City-County Library System; Oklahoma Department of Libraries Director Susan McVey; Gavin Brooks, American Library Association Washington Office; and Tim Miller, Director of the Western Plains Library System.

Every January or February, ODL Director Susan McVey and Deputy Director Vicki Sullivan head to the State Capitol Building to meet with the Oklahoma Senate and House appropriations committees to report on past agency accomplishments and to answer questions about the ODL Budget Request, which was submitted the previous October.

During the hearing, we share our successes and expenditures in a way to demonstrate the agency’s accountability to our lawmakers and the state’s taxpayers. Some of the information we put together is used by Oklahoma Library Association members for advocacy purposes as they visit with their legislators.

Later in the spring (usually in May), Director McVey heads to Washington, DC with a group of Oklahoma librarians for National Library Legislative Day to talk about library funding and policies with our U.S. Reps and Senators.

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