Late Bulletins

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has given the Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act, which had passed the House Judiciary Committee, an "unfavorable" recommendation. In opposing the legislation, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) echoed librarians' concerns, saying the bill could "put a chill on the use of information because of the fear of litigation." Stearns and 18 cosponsors then introduced a narrower rival bill, the Consumer Access to Information Act of 2004. It would only cover a select range of publishers, such as those publishing highly time-sensitive information, and would leave enforcement to the Federal Trade Commission.

Responding to the effects of war on Iraqi libraries, the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science and the Harvard University library system will help train Iraqi librarians and archivists, assist in modernizing Iraqi libraries, and address the country's serious shortage of librarians. The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded Simmons and Harvard $100,000 for two years. In May, a team of Simmons faculty and Harvard librarians will meet with Iraqi librarians in Amman, Jordan, for a curriculum planning retreat. Subsequently, Simmons faculty will teach graduate library courses for Iraqi librarians and with Harvard librarians will collaborate on special projects and serve as long-term mentors via the Internet.

Utah has become the first state to pass a state filtering bill modeled on the federal Children's Internet Protection Act (see News, LJ 3/15/04 , p. 16ff.). The bill, originally covering all computers, was amended, at the behest of librarians, to encompass "publicly accessible computers," thus exempting staff computers, which in one county are on a different network. H.B. 341 allows the filter to be disabled by library staff at the request of an adult patron to enable access "for research or other lawful purposes"—a standard higher than the federal law, which, as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, does not require a reason for a disabling request. The bill, which contains no funding for implementation, goes into effect May 3.

The Allied Professional Association of the American Library Association (ALA-APA) will sponsor the first-ever National Library Workers Day on Tuesday, April 20, during National Library Week (April 18–24). The purpose is to recognize all library workers, including librarians, support staff, and others who make library service possible. This year the event coincides with Equal Pay Day, established by the National Committee on Pay Equity, a coalition of national organizations of which ALA is a member. The message of National Library Workers Day is "Libraries Work Because We Do."

The Rust Library, a branch of the Loudoun County Public Library, Leesburg, VA, will receive more than $4 million from the estate of Valeria Harris Symington, who died in August 2003 at 87. The library will receive 25 percent of a $10 million bequest, plus 25 percent from a residual estate totaling at least another $7 million. The bequest is to be used for building improvements and/or purchase of books, services, and equipment for Rust. Symington actively farmed a 286-acre property from 1940 until the mid-1980s, when she gave the land plus an endowment to the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority.