SCLA - - 2003 Annual Report

2003 Annual Report of the Legislative Committee

Committee Members in 2003

David Heisser, Reference/Documents Librarian, Daniel Library, The Citadel (chair)
William (Bill) Sudduth, Head, Government Publications & Microforms, Thomas Cooper Library, University of South Carolina-Columbia
Faith Line, Director, Sumter County Library
Martha Taylor, Media Specialist, McCants Middle School, Anderson, and President, South Carolina Association of School Librarians
David Weeks, Reference Librarian and Library Instruction Coordinator, Dacus Library, Winthrop University
Chris Rogers, Woodruff Branch Librarian, Spartanburg County Public Libraries
Jim Johnson, South Carolina State Librarian, South Carolina State Library (ex officio)

Committee Activities:

During the year the Committee continued efforts to inform SCLA members about legislative issues. The Committee Chair also served as Federal Relations Coordinator and South Carolina state coordinator for National Library Legislative Day. Chris Rogers contributed an excellent article, “USA Patriot Act, “ to the April 2003 issue of News from the South Carolina Library Association.

The July 2003 issue of the SCLA newsletter featured a report on National Library Legislative Day by David Heisser; and an article on library advocacy, “Using Your Powers for Good: Advocacy for Information Issues,” co-authored by Rebekah Maxwell, Reference Librarian, Coleman Karesh Law Library, USC School of Law, and David Heisser.

At the March 2003 meeting of the SCLA Board, the Committee Chair introduced a motion, adopted unanimously, for a resolution by SCLA urging Congress to amend the USA PATRIOT Act, so as to remove features that threaten citizens’ right to privacy and free speech. SCLA joined with many regional and national associations in calling for reform of this law.

The Committee communicated to the SCLA membership via email information about national legislative issues published on several national listservs.

The Chair served as SCLA liaison to the national ACRL Legislative Committee.

Conference Program:

At the SCLA Annual Conference held in Columbia, on October 23, the Legislative Committee was a co-sponsor of a well-received presentation on “The Patriot Act and Libraries, and Other Legal Issues,” given by Steven D. Hinckley, Associate Dean for Library and Information Technology and Professor of Law, Coleman Karesh Library, USC School of Law. The program was co-sponsored with the SCLA Intellectual Freedom Committee and the SCLA Resource Sharing Interest Group.
Planning for the Future:

On August 21, the Committee met at the State Library for discussion of future actions. Participants were: Jim Johnson, South Carolina State Librarian; Marilyn Tsirigotis, SCLA First Vice President and Present-Elect; Legislative Committee Chair David Heisser; SCLA Intellectual Freedom Chair Steve Johnson; and Committee members Faith Line, Chris Rogers and Bill Sudduth.

Participants reviewed efforts of the Committee to communicate with the membership about legislative issues. It was agreed that, in future, only messages about critical legislative issues should be sent via the SCLA listserv to members, so as not to deluge busy people with too much information.

Jim Johnson pointed out, and the Committee agreed, that the most effective way to encourage people to lobby state and federal legislators would be use of a telephone tree, and that telephone calls to legislators’ offices are more effective than letters.

Responding to a renewed interest on the part of SCLA officers and members to involve the organization more in lobbying at the state level, and to combine the efforts of people working in different kinds of libraries (public, school, academic), Jim Johnson announced a plan to develop a calendar with dates when different actions are needed by different groups of librarians. He reported that he plans to call meetings of representatives of presidents and legislative chairs of SCLA, APLA and SCASL for planning strategy in the coming years.

The Committee Chair is optimistic that a very productive and successful period of coordinated activity to promote library interests lies ahead.

David Heisser, Chair, SCLA Legislative Committee

2 December 2003

Welcome to the South Carolina Library Association Renew Your SCLA Membership Today! Home Edit
News Calendar Membership Your Association Governance Jobs Legislation SC Libraries Contacts Awards Resources Updates Executive Secretary Gabrielle Barnes South Carolina Library Association PO Box 1763 Columbia, SC 29202 803–252–1087 scla@capconsc.com Light Blue Gold Green Seagreen Silverblue White Transparent powered by PmWiki	2003 Annual Report 2003 Annual Report of the Legislative Committee Committee Members in 2003 David Heisser, Reference/Documents Librarian, Daniel Library, The Citadel (chair) William (Bill) Sudduth, Head, Government Publications & Microforms, Thomas Cooper Library, University of South Carolina-Columbia Faith Line, Director, Sumter County Library Martha Taylor, Media Specialist, McCants Middle School, Anderson, and President, South Carolina Association of School Librarians David Weeks, Reference Librarian and Library Instruction Coordinator, Dacus Library, Winthrop University Chris Rogers, Woodruff Branch Librarian, Spartanburg County Public Libraries Jim Johnson, South Carolina State Librarian, South Carolina State Library (ex officio) Committee Activities: During the year the Committee continued efforts to inform SCLA members about legislative issues. The Committee Chair also served as Federal Relations Coordinator and South Carolina state coordinator for National Library Legislative Day. Chris Rogers contributed an excellent article, “USA Patriot Act, “ to the April 2003 issue of News from the South Carolina Library Association. The July 2003 issue of the SCLA newsletter featured a report on National Library Legislative Day by David Heisser; and an article on library advocacy, “Using Your Powers for Good: Advocacy for Information Issues,” co-authored by Rebekah Maxwell, Reference Librarian, Coleman Karesh Law Library, USC School of Law, and David Heisser. At the March 2003 meeting of the SCLA Board, the Committee Chair introduced a motion, adopted unanimously, for a resolution by SCLA urging Congress to amend the USA PATRIOT Act, so as to remove features that threaten citizens’ right to privacy and free speech. SCLA joined with many regional and national associations in calling for reform of this law. The Committee communicated to the SCLA membership via email information about national legislative issues published on several national listservs. The Chair served as SCLA liaison to the national ACRL Legislative Committee. Conference Program: At the SCLA Annual Conference held in Columbia, on October 23, the Legislative Committee was a co-sponsor of a well-received presentation on “The Patriot Act and Libraries, and Other Legal Issues,” given by Steven D. Hinckley, Associate Dean for Library and Information Technology and Professor of Law, Coleman Karesh Library, USC School of Law. The program was co-sponsored with the SCLA Intellectual Freedom Committee and the SCLA Resource Sharing Interest Group. Planning for the Future: On August 21, the Committee met at the State Library for discussion of future actions. Participants were: Jim Johnson, South Carolina State Librarian; Marilyn Tsirigotis, SCLA First Vice President and Present-Elect; Legislative Committee Chair David Heisser; SCLA Intellectual Freedom Chair Steve Johnson; and Committee members Faith Line, Chris Rogers and Bill Sudduth. Participants reviewed efforts of the Committee to communicate with the membership about legislative issues. It was agreed that, in future, only messages about critical legislative issues should be sent via the SCLA listserv to members, so as not to deluge busy people with too much information. Jim Johnson pointed out, and the Committee agreed, that the most effective way to encourage people to lobby state and federal legislators would be use of a telephone tree, and that telephone calls to legislators’ offices are more effective than letters. Responding to a renewed interest on the part of SCLA officers and members to involve the organization more in lobbying at the state level, and to combine the efforts of people working in different kinds of libraries (public, school, academic), Jim Johnson announced a plan to develop a calendar with dates when different actions are needed by different groups of librarians. He reported that he plans to call meetings of representatives of presidents and legislative chairs of SCLA, APLA and SCASL for planning strategy in the coming years. The Committee Chair is optimistic that a very productive and successful period of coordinated activity to promote library interests lies ahead. David Heisser, Chair, SCLA Legislative Committee 2 December 2003 Edit Page History Source Attach File Backlinks List Group Page last modified on January 22, 2005, at 02:45 PM