MBLC Celebrates 125 Years

1990s IMLS logo¹

In October 1996, the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) was signed into law. As reported by MBLC Notes, "the federal program will no longer be administered by the U.S. Department of Education, but by a yet-to-be-formed Institute of Museum and Library Services."¹

TODAY: The MBLC uses LSTA funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to fund the following: statewide summer reading, statewide databases, the statewide consumer portal, preservation and digitization, and support for small library participation in automated library networks.

The MBLC also uses LSTA funds in direct grants to libraries. Last year, $608,100 in 46 direct LSTA grants went to public, academic, school, and special libraries and library networks across the Commonwealth.

What else happened in 1996?

• The rock musical Rent opened on Broadway. It told the story of a group of impoverished young adults struggling to survive and create a life in New York City's East Village in the heyday of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.²
• Dolly the sheep was the first mammal to successfully be cloned from an adult cell.³
• December 5: President Clinton appointed Madeleine Albright as the first female U.S. secretary of state.⁴

References:
1. MBLC Notes, 1996.
2. Rent - Wikipedia entry [link].
3. www.sciencedaily.com [link].
4. www.infoplease.com [link].