(updated below)

Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) Holt seems to really likes libraries. According to the NJ Home News Tribune, Holt has visited several of them during the current Congressional recess to talk about various pieces of federal legislation he is promoting that he thinks will strengthen libraries and their role in the communities they serve.

One of them is the Workforce Investment through Local Libraries (WILL) Act, which would allow libraries access to Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funds for job-search support services, and amend WIA to include library representation on state and local workforce investment boards.

I don’t know much about how this would play out in other parts of the country, but I do think here in the District of Columbia, mandating D.C. Public Library representation on the D.C. Workforce Investment Council might be a good idea. If nothing else, the D.C. Public Library plays a large role here in adult literacy, so their participation would likely add an important voice for adult literacy into the mix.

You can read more about Rep. Holt’s thoughts on this bill and other library-related legislation here.

UPDATE (1/16/12): Here is another article on Rep. Holt’s visit to the East Brunswick Public Library last week.