After a lengthy late-night caucus, just before midnight Senator Steinberg then called for the vote on three key Budget bills and could not gain the necessary two-thirds vote required for passage. At a press conference held shortly after midnight, visibly troubled, the Senate President pro Tem stated, "It is the most irresponsible act I have seen in my 15 years in office. The Governor was apparently out to prove a point and he proved his point. I know for me and my Democratic colleagues, we did everything we could to avert this crisis. In the end, the Governor wanted things his way."

Meanwhile, across the hall, the Assembly adjourned for the night some time around 10 p.m. Both houses have been in caucus today in an attempt to forge a compromise. The State Controller has announced that he will begin issuing IOUs on July 2.

In other breaking news, the Governor held a press conference at 11:30 today to address the Budget stalemate. He tersely stated, "Four weeks ago, I warned that swift action was necessary...The sad story is the legislature refused to deal with the $24 billion problem." He added that he has issued an Executive Order to require a 3rd furlough day for state employees, he is invoking his Proposition 58 authority to call the legislature back into emergency special session to deal with the Budget, and he is vowing to veto any bill that is sent to his desk that does not pertain to the Budget or is not an "urgency" measure. Lastly, the Governor noted that the legislature's failure to act last night has created an additional $2 billion whole in the Budget deficit, moving the number to $26.3 billion.

CLA members should be advised that the Governor has put back on the table the concept of borrowing from local governments under Proposition 1A, and the Senate leader said that he would have a dialogue with the Governor about the issue. It is important to note that the longer the Budget impasse continues, the greater the risk of the Governor and the legislature borrowing property taxes from cities, counties, and special districts.

Submitted by Michael Dillon and Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists

In order to vote online, visit http://rsmart.ca/VoteCLA, and log in with your CLA Member ID and Password.

Once you log in, you will be able to vote. Links to the candidate biographies are provided on the ballot, but if you'd like to look at them in advance, their information is available on our website. If you wish to vote by paper ballot, please contact the CLA office no later than July 2.

Join us in thanking the CLA Nominations Committee, chaired by Monique le Conge, Immediate Past President, for all their hard work. Thank you also to the candidates, Kim Bui-Burton and Julie Farnsworth, for their willingness to step forward and be considered for this important leadership position in CLA.

Please exercise your membership privilege, and VOTE in this election! With the resignation of our former President-elect, this election is so very important to the progression of CLA leadership. Your participation in this effort will help shape the direction of CLA during the next year.

Thank you for taking time to cast your vote in this special election. Our regular annual election will be held in September.

VOTE NOW!

The CLA Executive Committee (EC) conducts a minimum of four meetings per year and one leadership-training meeting. EC Highlights are provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered official actions of the EC. Approved EC minutes can be obtained by requesting a copy from Richard Berta at rberta@cla-net.org. The EC highlights are produced within one week of each meeting and are made available to help keep our members and the public informed of EC actions and policy discussions.

The following summarizes the meeting:

President's Report

CLA President Barbara Roberts reported that Cindy Mediavilla accepted the permanent editorship of the Clarion. In keeping with the CLA theme of "going green," CLA will, in the future, be offering an electronic version of the magazine to members and limited paper copies. The next issue will be dedicated to the "New CLA."

She also reported on her involvement in the ALA National Legislative Day, noting that California had over 40 members attending. Meetings, stressing continuation of LSTA funding, were held with the staff of Senators Boxer and Feinstein as well as each person's Representative.

She advised members that over the past month, CLA and the CLA lobbyists were working to insure that we had a representative appointed to the California ICT Digital Literacy Leadership Council and ICT Literacy Advisory Committee. She reported that the Governor’s office has added CLA representation to both bodies. A letter recommending Stephanie Sterling Brasley, Manager of Information Literacy Initiatives, CSU Office of the Chancellor, was forwarded to Joe Camicia, the Chief of Staff to the Chief Information Officer, who will be handling the processing of appointment requests.

Consent Agenda

The EC approved Minutes for meetings and/or mail ballots of April 14, May 5 and May 22nd and the Treasurers report for the first quarter and through May 2009.

Action Items

Nominations for VP/President Elect: In the absence of the Immediate Past President Monique le Conge, Barbara Roberts reported that the Nominations Committee has selected two candidates to run for the 2009 VP/President elect: Kim Bui-Burton, Monterey Public Library and Julie Farnsworth, Pleasanton Public Library. The election will run from approximately June 22 to July 13, 2009. Barbara Roberts advised that she will spend time with the VP/President Elect to help orient her to the position. No action was necessary.

Resolution for Judith Krug: The EC approved a resolution recognizing Judith Krug for her contribution to the library community. The resolution will be forwarded by Les Kong to ALA for inclusion in a national recognition of her contributions.

Association Management Company RFP proposal: The committee discussed and approved the RFP to obtain an Association Management Company to manage CLA operations, noting that it was complete in content, direction and timeline. They gave further direction to the Interim Executive Director on suggested outreach, including the search for nationally certified California Association Management firms. The Interim Executive Director advised the committee that she would provide electronic copies of the document and attachments to interested parties and have them distributed starting Monday June 15, 2009.

Program Updates and Reports

Cindy Mediavilla, Chair of the Conference committee provided a report by telephone. She advised that the committee is adhering to their timeline, highlighted the things that will make this a greener conference and the strategies for obtaining sponsorships.

The committee discussed the recommendations of the ROI Task Force and agreed that the report should be provided to the new ED with direction to meet with the State Librarian to determine if there is value in developing this further as part of the library statistical measurements. The Interim Executive Director will include this report in the Executive Director briefing binder with a notation to report his/her findings to the EC.

Les Kong gave a brief ALA update and agreed to complete and return the ALA Assessment Survey completed by the President and Interim Executive Director and include his Chapter/Councilor input. He will also forward the Resolution on Judith Krug to ALA.

Executive Director Interviews

The EC continued their interviews of potential Executive Director Candidates.

Final Announcements

Executive Director Search: The committee announced that it has placed the search for an Executive Director on hold until CLA has successfully contracted with an Association Management Company.

E-newsletter update: Richard Berta, Membership and Marketing Associate provided a report on the status of the development of a monthly E-Newsletter. He presented the EC with an issue memo that identified the work completed to date in evaluating numerous software companies and obtaining satisfaction information from three associations. Based on his review, he recommended that CLA use MailChimp. With the consensus of the EC, he will continue development over the next month with a planned launch date of mid July 2009.

The next Executive Committee Meeting Date is set for October 30, 2009, Pasadena. This will be the last meeting of the Executive Committee. At the conclusion of the 2009 Conference, the new CLA Board of Directors will become operational.

CLA plays a major role in the state in providing representation in the Capitol to protect library funding and critical programs. In addition, CLA provides extensive leadership opportunities, educational workshops, communication network, products and services as well as professional development through its annual conference, its midyear local Spring Fling education programs, and through its interest groups.

CLA's vision is to capitalize on its current position in the state, and provide more extensive education, services and products to the library community to ensure that libraries continue to be the lifeblood within the community. By aligning itself with a fully staffed company, CLA will be in a position to use cutting edge technology to deliver its products and services.

Transition is planned for late fall or early winter.

For information and a copy of the "Request for Proposal" with accompanying documentation, please contact:

Claudia Foutz, Interim Executive Director at cfoutz@cla-net.org.

All applications must be submitted electronically by July 13, 2009.

The powerful Budget Conference Committee, consisting of 10 members (5 from the Senate and 5 from the Assembly) has been meeting daily, wrestling with how to close the massive $24 billion budget deficit. At this point in time, there are no direct cuts proposed to the library programs under the State Library, such as the Public Library Foundation, Transaction Based Reimbursement, or adult literacy, etc. As you have been hearing in the media, time is of the essence for the Legislature to act so that the state does not run out of cash at the end of July. We have learned that several of the urban legislators in the Assembly Democrat caucus are very concerned with the large cuts proposed to CalWORKs, In-Home Health services, mental health programs, battered women's shelters, etc. and they are not supportive of authorizing the Conference Committee members in the Assembly to make deep cuts. The Sacramento Bee is reporting today that Assembly Speaker Karen Bass "said Wednesday that her caucus is deciding among numerous revenue-raising options because the $24.3 billion shortfall is too large to bridge without an infusion." Meanwhile, the Senate Conferees have authorized sizeable cuts in sensitive programs - albeit very unwillingly, but all the while recognizing the General Fund cash flow crisis. This perceived divide in the Conference Committee has led to rumors that there is growing dissention between the Assembly and the Senate Democrats.

Also, in the last 48 hours, Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg indicated that he does not support the Governor's proposal to borrow $2 billion in property taxes from local government. CLA and the other local government organizations have been actively lobbying against the Governor's property tax borrowing proposal. When the Mayors of several cities, including Los Angeles, Sacramento and Fresno, met with Governor Schwarzenegger this week on the issue, the Governor continued to embrace his $2 billion borrowing proposal. For the last several days, the Conference Committee has been addressing the severe cuts proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger in his May Revision as they pertain to health and human services, corrections, and resources. They were scheduled to address local government issues yesterday, but time ran short and the discussion was deferred until late this afternoon, or tomorrow (Friday). The Conference Committee is not scheduled to meet over the weekend. However, Committee Chair Noreen Evans said she is optimistic the Conference Committee will wrap up its deliberations late Monday. Based on our observations thus far, we anticipate that Democrats will vote for the Conference Report and Republicans will oppose it. What happens next is anyone’s guess.

STATE CONTROLLER WARNS: "WE ARE LESS THAN 50 DAYS AWAY FROM A MELTDOWN OF STATE GOVERNMENT"

In late May, the State Controller, John Chiang, sent a letter to legislative leaders and the Governor, warning that the state would run out of cash at the end of the fiscal year (June 30). The Controller stated, "Our latest projections show that beginning on July 29, California will not have the cash needed to meet all of its payment obligations. On that date, the state will be in the red by $317.1 million; two days later, on July 31, our cash deficit increases to a negative $1.02 billion." To meet immediate cash flow needs, the Controller stated before the Budget Conference Committee two weeks ago, "As a precautionary measure, I am preparing to sell Revenue Anticipation Warrants (RAWs) to address part of the cash shortage." The Controller added, "Without credible budget and cash flow solutions in place, the rating agencies and potential investors who will be evaluating the credit risk of these securities will be highly skeptical about investing in California." Also of interest were his comments, "that the state has not had a positive cash balance since July 12, 2007."

Yesterday the State Controller indicated that when the state closed its books for the month of May, revenues were down an additional $827 million from the Governor's May Revision estimate. All areas of tax receipts lagged for the month of May - personal income tax, sales taxes, and corporate taxes, with personal income tax declining the most, by $475 million or 23 percent below estimates.

Controller Chiang goes on to warn, "Without immediate solutions from the Governor and the Legislature, we are less than 50 days away from a meltdown of state government. A truly balanced budget is the only responsible way out of the worst cash crisis since the Great Depression."

We have heard that at least one house of the legislature is potentially planning to force a Budget vote by June 15, while some legislative insiders say that June 30th is more realistic. We will continue to keep you posted as details emerge.

Submitted by Michael Dillon & Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists

In an unprecedented move, today Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger released his annual "May Revision" of the Budget, and proposed two different versions of the "Revise," which are based on the possible outcomes of the May 19th statewide special election. Version #1 of the May Revision assumes that the ballot measures pass, but the so-called "contingency" May Revise assumes that the ballot measures do not pass, thus leaving a $21.3 billion hole in the state Budget. In his afternoon press event, the Governor stated that the state needs to "plan for either proposal." He added that since the enactment of the February Budget package, the revenue numbers have "changed dramatically" and noted that for the first time since 1938, there has been a drop in personal income taxes. The Director of the Department of Finance, Mike Genest, echoed the Governor's statements noting, "Disturbingly, we will close this year (2008-09) $5 billion in the hole."

Most significant is the proposal in the Governor's "contingency" May Revise to borrow $2 billion from local governments if the May 19th ballot initiatives fail. You will recall that we alerted you to this possibility last week. The Governor's "contingency" May Revise reads:

"$1.982 billion - Borrowing from Local Government. The May Revision contingency plan proposes to borrow eight percent of the property tax revenues received by cities, counties, and special districts in 2008-09 as authorized in Article XIII of Section 25.5 of the Constitution. Repayment must be made within the next three years. Legislation is also proposed to create a joint powers authority to allow local agencies to borrow against the state repayment as a group."

When asked about the proposal to borrow from local government, the Governor stated, "I absolutely despise taking from local government. This is the worst case scenario. It affects our services to police, fire, parks and libraries." Later in the press conference the Governor added, "There is no other way out. We have to pay it back in three years and we hope the economy improves." Please note: This proposal, and all other May Revise proposals by the Governor, will be subject to extensive discussion in the legislature in the coming weeks. When this issue is set in its appropriate Budget subcommittee for hearing, we will alert you and you will have the opportunity to write the members to encourage them to reject the Governor's proposal to borrow from local government. In addition, you may continue writing the four legislative leaders and the Governor to express your concerns.

The press asked the Governor if releasing the so-called "contingency version" of the May Revise was merely a "scare tactic" to encourage voters to vote for the ballot initiatives on May 19th. The Governor stated, "It is important to let the people know what the numbers are and the choices ahead." The Governor was also asked if he anticipated looking at new revenues as a solution, to which the Governor responded, "Looking for new revenues is out of the question. We have to do this with cuts and borrowing. Anyone who has a problem with this approach needs to come forward with a pencil and paper and tell us how to do this...Everyone is very clear in this Capitol. I won't sign a Budget with taxes or even a majority vote Budget."

Other major areas impacted by the Governor's proposals are: proposed deep cuts to K-12 education and higher education, cuts to Medi-cal and to programs benefitting the aged, blind, and disabled, and prison programs. The Governor is also suggesting the elimination of several boards and commissions, the imposition of various new fees, and some fund shifts. It is important to note that, at this point, it does not appear that the Governor - in either May Revise document - proposes any additional cuts to library programs under the State Library (such as PLF, TBR, literacy, etc.)

Submitted by Mike Dillon & Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists

Speakers at this press conference include:

Barbara Roberts, President, California Library Association
Senator Lois Wolk (D-Linden)
Senator Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro)
Connie Williams, President, California School Library Association
Richard Moore, President, California Association of Library Trustees and Commissioners

Please note that the YouTube video is split into five sections, one for each speaker. We hope you enjoy the footage, let us know what you think!

This morning the state's Legislative Analyst released a new report entitled, "California's Cash Flow Crisis: May 2009 Update." In the report, the LAO cautions: "The General Fund's 'cash cushion' - the monies available to pay state bills at any given time - currently is projected to end 2008-09 at a much lower level than normal. Without additional legislative measures to address the state's fiscal difficulties or unprecedented amounts of borrowing from the short-term credit markets, the state will not be able to pay many of its bills on time for much of its 2009-2010 fiscal year." The LAO goes on to state, "In our opinion, the greatest near-term threat to state cash flows would be an inability by state leaders to quickly address California's Budget imbalance."

The LAO remarks that the state has a cash cushion of $6.9 billion to take them through to June 30, but that amount is "roughly one-half of the cash cushion the state had one year before." Another complicating factor will be the success or failure of the ballot initiatives on the May 19th ballot. For example, should the ballot measures fail, the state's borrowing requirement from private investors in 2009-10 would "swell to around $23 billion." The LAO cautions that "major financial institutions reportedly have indicated to state officials that California will have difficulty borrowing $13 billion from the short-term markets based on its own credit in 2009-10 - let alone the much larger amount of around $23 billion..." and recommends that borrowing for cash flow purposes should not exceed $10 billion. (e.g. This means more cuts.)

The LAO suggests that some options to address the widening Budget gap and subsequent cash flow issue would be: increase state revenues, decrease expenditures, defer payments to schools yet again, and accelerate the issuance of lottery securitization bonds.

Interestingly, today Assembly Speaker Karen Bass is in Washington D.C., speaking to federal officials about California's problematic state finances. However, the LAO warns in today's report that the legislature should "be cautious about accepting any strings that might be attached to federal assistance. Strings attached to recent corporate bailouts - as well as federal loan guarantees provided to New York City during its fiscal crisis three decades ago - have included measures to remove financial and operational autonomy from executives. We recommend that the Legislature agree to no substantial diminishment in the role of California's elected state leaders. In our opinion, the difficult decisions to balance the state's budget now are preferable to Californians losing some control over the state's finances and priorities to federal officials for years to come."

II. ACA 9-HUFFMAN: 55% VOTE FOR BONDS AND LOCAL TAXES PASSES FIRST COMMITTEE

Yesterday, the Assembly Local Government Committee heard ACA 9 by Assemblyman Jared Huffman which lowers the vote threshold for local bonded indebtedness projects from the current two-thirds vote to a 55% vote. It would also change the two-thirds voter approval requirement for special taxes to 55% of the voters voting on a tax. In his opening remarks, Assemblyman Huffman noted that "Proposition 13 sharply constrained local government's ability to raise revenues... The current situation is pretty bleak for local government. The federal stimulus will help, but it is a drop in the bucket and it doesn't address infrastructure needs. The state is running out of credit. How revenues are raised are the most acute and tangible at the local level." Assemblyman Huffman presented several examples of bond or tax campaigns that received 62% of the vote of the local electorate, yet still fell short of the required two-thirds majority. He argued, thus, that a "small majority of voters thwart the will of the majority."

Support for ACA 9 consisted of representatives from police, fire, water and wastewater, transit, parks and recreation, the League of Cities, the California State Association of Counties, and CLA. The measure was opposed by the California Association of Realtors and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Several committee members expressed their support of the measure by noting that it is "important to give communities a choice on what they wish to do." The measure passed on a partisan vote of 5 to 2 to the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee for a second policy committee hearing. If ACA 9 eventually makes it to the Assembly Floor for a vote, it will require a two-thirds vote for passage, which will be very difficult to obtain, in light of traditional Republican opposition to similar measures.

III. CLA EXPLORES AVAILABILITY OF FEDERAL ARRA FUNDS FOR LIBRARIES

For the last several months, the legislature has engaged in preliminary discussions regarding how the state will implement portions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Some policy areas, such as K-12 education, water, and transportation have been more active than others, as early deadlines to apply for federal money in those segments are in full swing. Overall, however, the process has been relatively slow, confusing, and extremely detailed in nature, as California is guarding against just "throwing money" at projects, and stresses the need for accountability and reporting for how the money is spent.

With regard to libraries and ARRA, there has been some confusion. Rumors circulated early on that public libraries would be able to draw down ARRA dollars for construction of new facilities or possibly renovation of existing facilities. There is no language contained in the ARRA California plan that indicates that libraries specifically, or even schools, are eligible for the construction or rehabilitation funding, and this has been confirmed at several different levels at the Capitol. Second, while other states' public libraries may be benefitting from ARRA dollars for infrastructure, California is unique in that they have chosen to use a good portion of an undesignated $1.1 billion set-aside to backfill the state Budget deficit. CLA continues to work very hard on your behalf to see if we can identify other emerging funds to benefit public libraries. For weeks, we have been actively engaged with a key Senate Committee that has requested detailed information from CLA and the State Library relative to statewide broadband needs. Additionally, a representative from the CLA Legislative Committee, Deborah Doyle, recently appeared before the Public Utilities Commission on behalf of CLA to stress the need to provide broadband services to the underserved and to provide increased bandwidth to libraries with slow speed capabilities. Lastly, we continue to pursue available ARRA dollars for public libraries in the workforce investment arena. We will keep you posted as details emerge.

IV. ASSEMBLY REPUBLICAN LEADER VILLINES STEPS DOWN - SUCCESSOR IS NAMED

Yesterday afternoon the lobbying corps received surprising news - that the affable and always approachable Assemblyman Mike Villines was stepping down from his post as Assembly Republican Leader. You may recall that Assemblyman Villines had served as Republican Leader for two and a half years, but most recently was involved in the high level negotiations for the difficult and protracted Budget debate in February and March. His job to help facilitate an agreement was made very difficult, as almost every member of his caucus signed a "no new taxes" pledge, and conservative radio stations threatened to recall any Republican who supported the Budget.

When Assemblyman Villines stepped down from his post today he noted that "it has been a privilege for me to lead Assembly Republicans over these past two and a half years and achieve so many positive changes for our state. California still faces many significant challenges and now, more than ever, we must stand unified as Republicans and work hard to get California back on track." Following this announcement, the Assembly Republican Caucus elected Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee (R-33) as their new leader. He represents the communities of Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Morrow Bay, etc. Dr. Sam Blakeslee served in the leadership team of Assemblyman Villines and is a published research scientist and president of an investment firm. Not unlike Assemblyman Villines, Blakeslee is well liked by his colleagues and the lobbying community, and is considered to be a thoughtful problem solver.

Submitted by Mike Dillon & Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists

Yesterday, the State Department of Finance informed several local government organizations that, with the possibility that the May 19th ballot initiatives may not be successful, one of the options to address the potential Budget shortfall would be to borrow approximately $2 billion in property taxes from local governments.

The background paper provided during the briefing by the Department of Finance states:

"The constitution allows that up to 8% of local governments' property tax revenues can be borrowed by the state and repaid within three budget years with interest. The amount that can be borrowed is determined by the amount of property taxes received by cities, counties, and special districts in the preceding year. Borrowing from local government in the 2009-10 fiscal year would provide $2.006 billion in solutions.

Local governments could borrow against the state's constitutional obligation to repay, thereby mitigating the impact of this reduction. However, in the current economic landscape, local governments are not easily finding available short term financing and could face difficulties borrowing these funds from the market. If they borrow, local government will incur substantial borrowing costs."

The Department of Finance also acknowledges that there would be varying affects on local governments as it "will, in part, depend on the ability of local government to obtain borrowing from the market. This reduction could result in cuts to locally funded services such as police and fire, waste collection, road maintenance, libraries and other services."

As you will recall, Proposition 1A in 2004, provided certain protections for cities, counties, and special districts against future raids of their property taxes, for the purpose of balancing the state Budget. However, contained in Proposition 1A was a caveat, which allows the state, beginning in 2008-09, to "suspend" the prohibition on taking local property taxes if the Governor proclaims a "significant State fiscal hardship” and gets the Legislature to agree by a 2/3rds vote. If you are interested, the legislation spelling out the terms of Proposition 1A is contained in SCA 4 (2004) and SB 1096 - a Budget trailer bill from 2004.

Last year, during the very difficult and protracted Budget deliberations, there was an ongoing threat that the Budget deal would include borrowing property taxes from cities, counties, and special districts. Thanks to opposition from affected groups, the proposal was not included in the final Budget agreement. As you may be reading, and it is particularly indicative in early polling data, there is a strong likelihood that several, if not all of the ballot measures will fail on May 19th, resulting in a $6 billion loss in revenue, primarily from the loss of $5 billion in lottery securitization funds (Proposition 1C). Coupled with the $8 billion shortfall already projected by the Legislative Analyst's Office, there will be an immediate $14 billion hole in the state Budget. Some Republican members of the legislature have stressed that "taxes will not be an option this time around" and thus, the legislature will be looking to solutions such as cuts, borrowing, and increased fees.

Please take a moment today to write the Governor and the four legislative leaders, as well as your own Senator and Assemblymember(s) to encourage their opposition to any proposal that would borrow property taxes from cities, counties, and special districts. In your letters, please indicate how your Budgets are already stretched thin, and that you could not endure a deep and significant cut, such as the one the Governor's Department of Finance is suggesting.

The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor, State of California
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814

The Honorable Darrell Steinberg
Senate President pro Tempore
Room 205
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814

The Honorable Dennis Hollingsworth
Senate Republican Leader
Room 305
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814

The Honorable Karen Bass
Speaker of the California Assembly
Room 219
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814

The Honorable Mike Villines
Assembly Republican Leader
Room 3104
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814

Submitted by Mike Dillon and Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists

This survey will take about 15-20 minutes, and is available at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=l2y9vQxaMRF6OSNMyjdJTQ_3d_3d

For additional information about the Emerging Leaders Program, please visit http://wikis.ala.org/emergingleaders/index.php/Main_Page.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

We were pleased to have a great turnout for our media event on the Capitol steps, and to have coverage by the Gannett News Service and Capitol Weekly. Your local media may also be interested in this story, so we have prepared a draft media release for use by your library jurisdiction if appropriate. The draft release can be found here. Please feel free to customize the release to reflect your library services and the needs of your community.

If you elect to use the release and as a result, receive media coverage, CLA would love to hear about it. Please send any relevant information to Richard Berta at rberta@cla-net.org.

Again, thank you for your participation.

Kathy Gould
Chair, CLA Legislative Committee

Our company page contains detailed event descriptions, photos, contact information, discussion boards and will be updated regularly. Fans can post questions on our wall, discuss topics in multiple discussion boards, as well as add photos to upcoming or past events. We hope to provide you with not only great way to keep in touch with the Association, but also stay in contact with your fellow members.

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In the current issue of Library Journal, the magazine has named CLA Member Lisa Rosenblum to its list of Movers & Shakers in the library industry.

Movers & Shakers, launched by Library Journal in 2002 to identify librarians, vendors, and others who are "shaping the future of libraries," is now over 400 innovators strong, with the addition of the 51 members of the Class of 2009. Together, these individuals comprise the coming generation of library leadership. They've embraced library technology, particularly library 2.0, "to provide exceptional service and kick-ass collections that respond to the real interest of patrons," as one of this year's Movers so aptly phrased it.

CLA congratulates Lisa as she represents a Who's Who of creativity and library trends in the field.

For more about Lisa's accomplishments, please visit her page on the Library Journal website.