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GREAT JOB to everyone who went and fought for the right to read! I know we had some great conversations at Legislative Day yesterday. Like Julius said, “it begins at the local level.” 

Lis Ann Morehart
Tennessee Library Association
Advocacy Division Representative 
Legislative Committee, Co-Chair
Intellectual Freedom Committee, Co-Chair

On Mar 11, 2020, at 6:08 PM, Jill Rael <[log in to unmask]> wrote:



[External Email]

Members and Supporters,
It is with extreme delight that I share with you that the House Cities and Counties subcommittee killed the Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act this afternoon. This should mean that the Senate companion bill dies as well. However, given the lessons learned over the past few weeks, we are keeping a close eye and librarians, board members and supporters made serious rounds today to help ensure it does not make a comeback. 

This has been a long and rough road, and I cannot thank you enough for all the engagement you’ve had with your boards and legislators. If you had direct contact with someone on the House subcommittee, I hope you will take a moment to send a note of thanks to those reps. Chairman Moon, in my opinion, is a hero today for taking a stand and blocking the bill’s arrival to the floor. From my experience and what I heard from you all is that legislators were responsive to your requests for their time and attentive to your concerns. This is certainly something to be thankful for. I also know that we had several new attendees at Leg Day and several librarians newly involved in state level advocacy during this endeavor. I have been so excited to see you take this on with passion and courage—so much so that it has at times moved me to tears. When I accidentally landed in a public library in 2013, I quickly realized that you all are my people. And, these past weeks I’ve gained so many examples of why I know this is the absolute truth. I love you all and everything our libraries (and librarians) do every single day to provide our communities with service and information. 

We will continue to keep updates coming if the bill arises again in the Senate. Thank you all again, and a special shoutout to every single person who took the time and miles to attend hearings. We had a good showing today and a final advocacy push! 

Sincerely,
Jill Rael
TLA President