Thursday, April 12, 2007

Support Loan Forgiveness for Librarians

From the ALA Website:
Next week, to celebrate National Library Week, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) plans to introduce the Librarian Act of 2007. The Librarian Act of 2007 amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for Perkins student loan forgiveness to encourage individuals to become and remain librarians in low-income schools and public libraries. Specifically, the Librarian Act of 2007 allows for Perkins loan cancellation for full-time librarians with a master's degree in library science that are employed in:

* a public library that serves a geographic area that contains one or more schools eligible for assistance under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965; or
* an elementary or secondary school library that is eligible for assistance under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965.

Please contact your Senators, especially if you have a Republican Senator, and urge them to show their support by co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation. It is important that the bill have Republican support. We have not been able to get a Republican to agree to co-sponsor this in the Senate. Constituents will have a much better chance of getting some support.

Click here to find out more and send a letter to your Senators