Rush Holt To Visit East Brunswick Library

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) will join Susan Hildreth, the director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, will stop by the as part of a series of events with librarians and school children throughout Central New Jersey.

Rep. Holt’s visit will take place at 12:15 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 12. His stop will be to highlight a recent Broadband Technology Opportunity Program grant to expand services to the unemployed and underemployed.  Rep. Holt will also announce the Workforce Investments through Local Libraries (WILL) Act, which would integrate libraries into job-training efforts such as State and Local Workforce Investment Boards.

The “tour” is designed to highlight legislation by Rep. Holt that is designed to strengthen school libraries and to help libraries better serve job-seekers. Other stops include Oak Tree Elementary School in Monroe and the
State Library and Museum in Trenton.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums.  Hildreth’s nomination as director of the IMLS was confirmed by the US Senate on Dec. 22, 2010.  She began her career at the Edison Township
Public Library in New Jersey, and later served as the California state
librarian and the president of the Public Library Association.  Among her degrees is a master’s in business administration from Rutgers University.

Rep. Holt’s visit to Oak Tree school in Monroe will take place at 11:15 a.m. and focus on ways school libraries can better engage students.  Rep. Holt will also announce the Strengthening Kids’ Interest in Learning and Libraries (SKILLs) Act, which he will introduce into the House this month, which would strengthen support for school libraries in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

Rep. Holt’s visit to the New Jersey State Library will be at 3 p.m. He and Hildreth will join Norma E. Blake, the New Jersey State Librarian, to tour the New Jersey State Library and to meet with representatives of libraries that have received federal support from IMLS.  IMLS grants have been especially crucial in enabling libraries to maintain services to job-seekers and students during the recent economic downturn.