Newsletter of the Maine Library Association and the Maine State Library

Volume 20, No. 12 ~ December 1998

 Editors Note: The Main Memo comes out during the first week of each month. If you have would like to send information to be put on the Main Memo, you can e-mail me at: aweigle@warren.lib.me.us. If you have attachments, then e-mail me at: weigle@javanet.com. If you have a change of address, please contact: Joan Kiszely, Maine Municipal Association, 60 Community Drive, August, Maine 04330

TABLE OF CONTENTS
December's Calendar of Events
ALA News
Here's an F.Y.I.
Education/Training/Workshops
Job Opportunities
ALAWON
DECEMBER'S CALENDAR OF EVENTS

ALA NEWS: Federal mandate for billions of dollars for school, library technology materializes; librarians applaud progress. Washington, D.C. - The American Library Association (ALA) welcomed today's announcement by the Schools and Libraries Corporation (SLC) that the first applicants for more than $2 billion in telecommunications discounts, or the e-rate, have started to receive "commitment" letters, promises of funding for technology in their institutions. The SLC reported this morning at the Martin Luther King Memorial Library that a series of mailings to all 30,000 applicants started last week and would be completed by the end of December. ALA President Ann K. Symons hailed SLC's progress , saying the funds will help the nation's libraries meet their original mission of providing equal access for all Americans. "In both public and school libraries, we know that this is a giant step forward in closing the digital divide," Symons said. "Whether at the high school library where I work in Alaska or in Washington, D.C. at the Martin Luther King Memorial Library, library users across the country are realizing an important benefit from the Telecom. Act." She added, "The e-rate provides huge savings for most libraries. That means more public access terminals in all libraries. It means improved access to the Internet and other electronic information services for which public libraries are the only source in most communities. And, it means the full range of World Wide Web access is affordable in every community." Mary "Molly" Raphael, director the District of Columbia Public Library, said the 26 libraries within the system would collectively realize savings of $350,000 the first year. "Now we can afford to deliver Internet services in every neighborhood, in every branch," Raphael said.   Today's letters represent the first round of letters from the SLC committing funds for the e-rate, which was established in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The program has come under periodic challenge by parts of the telecommunications industry and some Congressional critics, making SLC's announcement all the more welcome. The discounts provide libraries and K-12 public and private schools with discounts ranging from 20 to 90 percent on telecommunications and related services as part of the longstanding universal service program. The deepest discounts go to libraries and schools in communities with higher poverty levels as demonstrated by eligibility for the federal free/reduced school lunch program. Some of the neediest library systems and school districts will receive additional discounts on internal connections , which will allow classrooms and more reference areas to be wired for the new technologies.   The Chicago-based American Library Association, with nearly 57,000 members, has worked toward obtaining the e-rate for schools and libraries since the discounts were first mandated by the Federal Communications Commission.   For up to date information on ALA press release, click here.

HERE'S AN F.Y.I.

NEW BOOKS, NEW READERS. Announcing an opportunity for Maine libraries to serve their communities by connecting with under served audiences. National Connections will be offered in the spring and fall of 1999 at 40 libraries nationwide. These book discussion series for adult new readers will be offered,usually in libraries, by a coalition that consists of the library, the Maine Humanities Council, a literacy organization, and a scholar. The library and the Humanities Council will work together to create the coalition. Each selected site will offer two programs, one in the spring of 1999 and one in the fall, using two different themes. National Connections will provide multiple copies of the books. Participants will be able to keep the books for their own home libraries. The participating literacy organization will be