Kansas libraries advocacy efforts master post

Here’s a master post, pulling together all the posts I’ve written and/or curated over the last week. Many of these posts link to numerous other posts, including news articles, social media, and more. More posts will be written and shared in the coming days and weeks. I’ll add those links here when they’re put online.

Additionally the Kansas Legislature continues to meet, as the 2016 session continues; the Kansas Library community will monitor any additional library-related legislation’s status. Watch for messages on the KANLIB-L Listserv, the KLA website, and social media of action needs to be taken.

We have much to be proud of. Good job Kansas librarian community, and library advocates.

HB2719 will be worked in Taxation Committee tomorrow

Kansas HB2719 will be worked in a House Taxation Committee meeting tomorrow morning (Friday), at 8am in 582-N.

Word came mid-afternoon about the bill being worked today or tomorrow, during the committee’s meeting. Laura DeBaun and I came to Topeka, as our office is 25 minutes from the Statehouse.

As the hearing started, the KLA Govt. Affairs chair sent this message out on the statewide librarian listserv, as well as on the KLA website, asking people to contact the members of the House taxation committee.

Here’s my tweets from the committee hearing that are relevant:

What happens tomorrow morning?

HB2719 is moving forward and will be worked in Taxation Committee tomorrow morning at 8am. “Worked” means that amendments may be introduced and voted on which means the bill could be edited before it is voted on to be passed out of committee. I’ll be at that hearing, as will others.

Word has it that all mentions of libraries (not just regional library systems) will stripped out of the bill by amendment — but that amendment then still has to be passed within the committee; hence the need still to contact the members of the Taxation committee. Who knew we were all going to get intimate legislative process lesson over the last 10 days? That’s not necessarily a bad thing!

Here’s some further thoughts from me on the situation, if you’re interested.

Why does this situation matter?

I was reminded of the below quote right before word came about the committee hearing, and had shared it (not kidding), a minute before we learned there was movement on this bill. What a fortuitous reminder! It’s a reminder of why we are advocating so hard against this bill. There’s so many other reasons, but this one was timely this afternoon.

Kansas HB2719 post-hearing reflections

TL;DR :

  1. Legislative Update HB2719 from Kansas Library Association
  2. Storify of yesterday’s social media posts and news coverage [because, what do librarians do along with everything else that we provide to our communities through our services? We curate and repackage information for public consumption] [Update 12/2/18: Storify is now defunct, and even Wayback Machine won’t pull up the entire Storify. Before the site shut down, I exported the document as a PDF. It isn’t perfect, but it gets the job done enough, for archival purposes.]

Personal reflections follow (and it gets lengthy…I captured these for my own thoughts and archive; if anyone else is interested, that’s great; if not, I completely understand if you don’t make it all the way through!).

Note: those foam fingers have been around for months. They were not created or designed for Monday’s advocacy efforts. 

Continue reading “Kansas HB2719 post-hearing reflections”

Kansas library advocacy reflections (so far)

Q: When was the last time 95% of Americans agreed any anything?

A: In 2013, when 95% of Americans agreed that: 

  • the materials and resources available at public libraries play an important role in giving everyone a chance to succeed
  • 95% say that public libraries are important because they promote literacy and a love of reading
  • Source: A December 2013 study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project)

On Thursday night after I had worked with Laura DeBaun (NEKLS System Director) to craft this very message over the phone in my hotel room in Philadelphia (as a work conference I was attending was ending), after afternoon virtual meetings with Kansas librarians who are on the Kansas Library Association governmental affairs committee, and sent this initial post out…. Exhaustion hit.

Continue reading “Kansas library advocacy reflections (so far)”

Kansas library advocacy efforts roundup

Note: Link List Updated March 15, 2016, 10am

Update: HB2719 hearing was yesterday, Monday, March 14, 2016. A fiscal note has been added for the bill (a plain English explanation of the bill) The links have been updated to reflect a few media stories from that day, as well as adding in a Storify link from social media posts of the day. 

I thought it might be a good idea to link to many of the advocacy efforts and links being shared online, against Kansas HB2719 — here’s a brief explanation from my own regional library system, the Northeast Kansas Library System.

I’m floored at the number of posts I’m seeing shared through Facebook — and those are the only ones I can see publicly. I’m pretty sure there’s much more being shared. Please keep sharing, calling, and writing the House Taxation Committee and your own House representative (look up here) about this bill of unintended consequences Continue reading “Kansas library advocacy efforts roundup”