GODORT (Government Documents Round Table)

Earlier this week, H.R. 5305 was introduced in Congress. The FDLP Modernization Act of 2018 would make changes to the Federal Depository Library Program and other GPO public access programs. 

ALA Washington Office has posted an H.R. 5305 overview, including the letter of support co-signed by ALA, AALL, and ARL [PDF]. A summary of key provisions, also from Washington Office, is attached to this post. 

GODORT will host a virtual meeting and discussion, open to all ALA members, about this legislation. The meeting will be recorded for those who are not able to attend. 

• Date: Tuesday, March 27th, noon EDT / 9am PDT 


• Virtual Meeting Room: http://ala.adobeconnect.com/godort/


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  Or, join by phone: (844) 801-7777, access code: 738241
  
  

For questions about the meeting, or to request a link to the recording, please contact Shari Laster (shari@alumni.rice.edu). 

Attachment(s)

FDLP Modernization Act summary.docx   22 KB 1 version

Thanks for posting this information Shari. This bill language does provide much of what we have requested over the years.  I look forward to the discussion on Tuesday.  Many thanks to Gavin for his tireless work on this issue.

A full bill summary is now available from AALL: https://www.aallnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018-Analysis-FDLP-Modernization-Act-of-2018.pdf

CHA has scheduled the bill markup for Wednesday, March 21st: http://docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=108066 

Due to DC weather, markup has been rescheduled to mid-April.

Hi folks. FGI has done some analysis on the bill if you're interested. I'm glad that the committee split out the unpalatable GPO sections (chapters 1 and 3 of the previous draft bill) from the FDLP section (chapter 5) for this new bill. This allowed library lobbying arms (ALA WO, AALL, ARL) to support the bill publicly. This kind of support from a community impacted by a bill goes a long way toward greasing its passage through the House and Senate. 

I remain worried that the chapter 1&3 poison pills -- which I and others have noted could potentially slash GPO’s budget and operations and make them unable to support the FDLP reforms — will be introduced in some sort of “GPO modernization act” or perhaps tipped into an unrelated bill at a later date. The community and our lobbying arms should all be on high alert for this possibility. 

Tuesday's meeting will be limited to the first 100 participants; if you can't enter the room, try again in a few minutes. Or, email me after the event and I will share the recording.