The Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) was established November 29, 1973 by a committee of the State Library Agency Division (SLAD) with the purpose of providing a continuing mechanism for dealing with the problems faced by the heads of those state agencies which are responsible for statewide library development in the United States, Canada and related territories. [1]
The Chief Officers of State Library Agencies was formed at the annual ASLA conference held in Las Vegas in 1973. The meeting was called by ASLA President Lyle Eberhart, to focus on the impact of federal library legislation and its impact on state organizations. This was in response to the Nixon administration’s threat to cut funding to the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) which provided resources to the states. Since that time the COSLA has been a major influence on national library policy. [2] COSLA procedures were modeled on those of the Council of Chief State School Officers.
COSLA's mission is to provide leadership on issues of common concern and national interest, to further state library agency relationships with the federal government and national organizations, and to initiate, maintain and support cooperative action for the improvement of library services. [3]
Membership includes the chief officer of each of the fifty state library programs in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, as well as the ten provinces and three territories of Canada. Each member may designate an alternate, but each has only one vote.
The board consists of seven individuals including President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Past President and two directors. [4]
2016 - Measures That Matter. [6] A joint project of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and COSLA to develop a public library data and outcomes action plan. [7]
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering 193 million acres (780,000 km2) of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's Office, National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, Business Operations, as well as Research and Development. The agency manages about 25% of federal lands and is the sole major national land management agency not part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The United States order of precedence is an advisory document maintained by the Ceremonials Division of the Office of the Chief of Protocol of the United States which lists the ceremonial order, or relative preeminence, for domestic and foreign government officials at diplomatic, ceremonial, and social events within the United States and abroad. The list is used to mitigate miscommunication and embarrassment in diplomacy, and offer a distinct and concrete spectrum of preeminence for ceremonies. Often the document is used to advise diplomatic and ceremonial event planners on seating charts and order of introduction. Former presidents, vice presidents, first ladies, second ladies, and secretaries of state and retired Supreme Court justices are also included in the list.
LA County Library is one of the largest public library systems in the United States which serves residents living in 49 of the 88 incorporated cities of Los Angeles County, California. United States, and those living in unincorporated areas resulting in a service area extending over 3,000 square miles (7,800 km2). The LA County Library system provides local libraries to several unincorporated areas and cities across Los Angeles County, and is not to be confused with the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) system, which serves areas within the city of Los Angeles.
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Elonnie J. Josey was an African-American activist and librarian. Josey was the first chair of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, having been instrumental in its formation in 1970; served as president of the American Library Association from 1984 to 1985; and was the author of over 400 books and other publications.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is an independent agency of the United States federal government established in 1996. It is the main source of federal support for libraries and museums within the United States, having the mission to advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development.” In fiscal year 2023, IMLS had a budget of $313.58 million. As of 2023, IMLS currently has 70 full-time employees, many of whom still work remotely. In 2022, the employees voted to unionize, joining hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have joined the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to “build power and have a voice at work.”
United States President Bill Clinton signed the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) on October 1, 1996. LSTA is a United States federal library grant program. Its roots come from the Library Services Act, first enacted in 1956. LSTA replaced the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), first enacted in 1962. The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science held two White House Conferences that generated discussion and support.
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The Oklahoma Department of Corrections is an agency of the state of Oklahoma. DOC is responsible for the administration of the state prison system. It has its headquarters in Oklahoma City, across the street from the headquarters of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. The Board of Corrections are appointees: five members are appointed by the Governor; two members are appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate; and two members are appointed by the Speaker of the house of Representatives. The board is responsible for setting the policies of the Department, approving the annual budget request, and working with the Director of Corrections on material matters of the agency. T. Hastings Siegfried is the current chairman of the board. The director, who serves at the pleasure of the governor, is the chief executive of the department. The current director of Corrections is Scott Crow, who was appointed after Director Joe Allbaugh resigned his post on June 13, 2019. Crow was confirmed by the Oklahoma State Senate as director in May 2020.
The Oklahoma Department of Libraries (ODL) is a department of the state of Oklahoma and serves as the official state library for the state of Oklahoma. ODL provides information services and management to the state, assists local public libraries, and coordinates statewide library and information technology projects.
In the United States, tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) are a category of higher education, minority-serving institutions defined in the Higher Education Act of 1965. Each qualifies for funding under the Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act of 1978 or the Navajo Community College Act ; or is cited in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994.
In the United States, the state police is a police body unique to each U.S. state, having statewide authority to conduct law enforcement activities and criminal investigations. In general, state police officers or highway patrol officers, known as state troopers, perform functions that do not fall within the jurisdiction of a county’s sheriff, such as enforcing traffic laws on state highways and interstates, overseeing security of state capitol complexes, protecting governors, training new officers for local police forces too small to operate an academy and providing technological and scientific services. They also support local police and help to coordinate multi-jurisdictional task force activity in serious or complicated cases in states that grant full police powers statewide.
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