Hunger, Homelessness & Poverty Task Force – SRRT/ALA
Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association
The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) provides a variety of fact sheets and stats on child poverty through its Family Income & Jobs initiative. In order to provide our children with a fair start in life, CDF’s Family Income & Jobs Division creates and sustains American communities that work to strengthen every family’s capacity to provide … Continue reading “Defining Poverty and Why It Matters for Children”
The Institute on Assets and Social Policy “is dedicated to the economic and social mobility of individuals and families, particularly those traditionally left out of the economic mainstream, and to the expansion of the middle class.” While the United States is an affluent country, millions of individuals and working families are asset poor, a condition … Continue reading “Solving Poverty with Asset Policies”
The following resources are provided in conjunction with the Metropolitan Library System program “Library Service to the Homeless,” taking place today in Burr Ridge, Illinois. Featured speakers include Mary Minow, Tracie Hall, and others. Please feel free to print and distribute this resource list. Economic, Legal, and Human Rights Issues Center for Law and Social … Continue reading “Library Service to the Homeless”
ALA Midwinter Meeting 2006 Announcement Two ALA units are sponsoring an open discussion of library service to excluded groups, including low-income families and homeless people. Midwinter Meeting participants are invited to attend and to share program-planning ideas for the 2007 ALA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The program will be coordinated by the Office for … Continue reading “Open Doors: Library Service to Excluded Groups”
When Congress recently threatened to cut support for food stamp programs, the Food Research and Action Center responded. FRAC prepared a 117-page document, “Editorials, Columns, and Op-Ed Pieces in Opposition to Food Stamp Program Cuts,” which compiles nearly 80 articles from dozens of newspapers across the country. The clippings treat a variety of issues, ranging … Continue reading “In Defense of Food Stamp Programs”
Members of Congress recently passed a pay increase for themselves to the tune of $3,100. Approved by President Bush and effective January 1, 2006, their base salary will be $165,200. Congress’ annual pay bump stands in stark contrast to the federal minimum wage, which has not been raised for eight years … since September 1, … Continue reading “Congress Gets Pay Raise; Minimum Wage Unchanged”
Annelise Orleck, a professor of history at Dartmouth College, has published a book titled Storming Caesars Palace: How Black Mothers Fought Their Own War on Poverty. It was a spring day on the Las Vegas strip in 1971 when Ruby Duncan, a former cotton picker turned hotel maid, the mother of seven, led a procession. … Continue reading “Storming Caesars Palace”
The North American Street Newspaper Association and Alternet.org have jointly launched the Street News Service. SNS is a gateway to the best articles, essays and features written by and about homeless and low-income people. These articles are collected from the pages of street newspapers—enterprising publications produced by low-income communities in over 40 cities across North … Continue reading “Street News Service”
Issued in 2000, this document originally appeared in Library Juice vol. 3, no. 10 (March 8, 2000) and later in Progressive Librarian no. 18 (Summer 2001) p. 74-76. ALA/SRRT’s Hunger, Homelessness, and Poverty Task Force is making the following RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION IN IMPLEMENTING ALA’S “LIBRARY SERVICES FOR THE POOR” RESOLUTION (aka ALA’s “POOR PEOPLE’S … Continue reading “Implementing ALA's Poor People's Policy”
The National Center for Children in Poverty has just published a new report in its Child Poverty in 21st Century America Series. “Who Are America’s Poor Children?” notes the following: Twelve million children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level—which is about $16,000 for a family of three and $19,000 for a … Continue reading “Who Are America's Poor Children?”