Left to Right-Abby Beaver, Cristine Braddy, and Cass Kvenild pose in front of the “Portrait Monument to Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony” statue located in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
Three Wyoming librarians including Abby Beaver, Wyoming State Librarian; Cass Kvenild, University of Wyoming Dean of Libraries; and Cristine Braddy, Goshen County Library Director, recently represented our state at the “Voices for Libraries” event in Washington, D.C. Held annually by COSLA (Chief Officers of State Library Agencies), “Voices for Libraries” was held March 4, 5, and 6 this year and included training and updates on federal funding for libraries, networking opportunities with librarians from all 50 states, and a visit to Capitol Hill to meet with Wyoming Senators and Representative to discuss the importance of Wyoming libraries.
Tuesday, the first day of the COSLA event, was spent working on strategic planning and meeting with IMLS to discuss federal funding, while Wednesday, the second day, was Briefing Day. Some of the topics addressed were “Setting the Stage: The Federal Budget Process and the Road Ahead,” “Navigating the Roadmap: Federal Funding for Libraries,” “The Economic Impact of Libraries: A Panel Discussion” with representatives from EBSCO, GALE, OverDrive, and Clarivate, and “Checking the Forecast: Outlook on the Hill.
Also on Wednesday, Abby, Cass, and Cristine attended the Wyoming representatives’ Wyoming Wednesday event, where all Wyoming constituents are invited to meet with the Wyoming Congress members over coffee and donuts and to have their pictures taken. At this event, the three Wyoming librarians were able to briefly meet with Senator Barrasso and Congresswoman Hageman. Shortly after this event, they met with Mattie Harris, Senator Lummis’ Legislative Aide, and Tiffany Mortimore, Senator Barrasso’s Legislative Assistant, to talk about Wyoming libraries and how the Wyoming State Library uses our Grants to States funds and about the Wyoming Library AI Summit.
On Thursday, Abby, Cass, and Cristine had a meeting with Laura Lee, Congresswoman Hageman’s Legislative Correspondent, to discuss the same topics. Later that day, they had a tour of the Capitol building led by one of Senator Lummis’ interns from Riverton.
In addition to this important work, Abby, Cass, and Cristine were able to take in some of the local sites while in the nation’s capitol city.
“We walked from the Washington Monument, along the Reflecting Pool, to the Lincoln Memorial at night,” said Abby. “We also visited the Smithsonian National Zoological Park to see pandas, red pandas, sand cats, and gorillas. Of course, we enjoyed some delicious food, too.”
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