“TITLE IV-LIBRARY TRAINING INSTITUTES "APPROPRIATIONS AUTHORIZED "SEC. 401. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated $7,500,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1963, and $10,000,000 for each of the four succeeding fiscal years, to enable the Commissioner to arrange, by contracts with institutions of higher education, for the operation by them of short-term or regular session institutes for the provision of training to improve the qualifications of librarians, or individuals preparing to engage in library work. Each individual, engaged, or preparing to engage in library work, who attends an institute operated under the provisions of this title shall be eligible (after application therefor) to receive a stipend at the rate of $75 per week for the period of his attendance at such institute, and each such individual with one or more dependents shall receive an additional stipend at the rate of $15 per week for each such dependent for the period of such attendance." Mr. BAILEY. And now we welcome as our first witness the Honorable Wilbur Cohen, Assistant Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Honorable Sterling M. McMurrin, Commissioner of Education. Mr. Cohen, you may further identify yourself to the reporter and proceed with your testimony. STATEMENT OF HON. WILBUR J. COHEN, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR LEGISLATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE; ACCOMPANIED BY PHILIP H. DES MARAIS, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY, HEW; RALPH C. M. FLYNT, ASSOCIATE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT; PETER M. MUIRHEAD, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION FOR PROGRAM AND LEGISLATIVE PLANNING; JOHN G. LORENZ, DIRECTOR, LIBRARY SERVICES BRANCH; CHARLES W. RADCLIFFE, CHIEF, LEGISLATIVE SERVICES BRANCH; SAMUEL HALPERIN, LEGISLATIVE SPECIALIST Mr. COHEN. I am Wilbur J. Cohen, Assistant Secretary for Legislation, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, we in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare are gratified that you are conducting hearings on H.R. 11823, introduced by your chairman, Mr. Bailey, and a large number of companion bills which would amend and expand the Library Services Act. We are pleased, first of all, because this act, as you have said, has been highly successful in operation and we view it with pride. Moreover, the bills you are now considering relate to an important concern of our Department in the field of education-the improvement of educational quality and opportunity for all Americans. This concern springs from the firm conviction that our national strength, as well as the vitality of our free institutions in these times of challenge, depends upon the capacity of individual citizens to contribute in full measure the highest degree of understanding, thought, and skill of which they are capable. President Kennedy voiced this concern in his very first message to the Congress on education when he said: The human mind is our fundamental resource. A balanced Federal program must go well beyond incentives for investment in plant and equipment. It must include equally determined measures to invest in human beings, both in their basic education and training and in their more advanced preparation for professional work. In brief outline, each of these bills would authorize the following 5-year program: Remove the present Library Services Act population limitation of 10,000 or less and increase the annual appropriation authorization from $7.5 to $20 million. Authorize $30 million annually for grants to State educational agencies (to be matched after the first year) to assist in the provision of library services in public elementary and secondary schools. Authorize $10 million annually for matching grants to colleges and universities for the acquisition of books (other than textbooks), periodicals, documents, audiovisual, and other library materials. Authorize $7.5 million the first year and $10 million annually for the remaining 4 years to enable colleges and universities to operate short-term or regular session institutes to improve the qualifications of librarians and individuals preparing to engage in library work (these would be similar to institutes now conducted for teachers of science, mathematics, and modern foreign languages). The increased authorizations provided in this bill total $302 million for the 5-year period. It is clear that additional Federal assistance for library programs is necessary. In the limited time available to us since the introduction of these bills we have not reached a conclusion as to the exact scope and character of the provisions that should be included in an expanded Library Services Act, nor the size of appropriations required to fund an adequate program. The Nation's investment in public libraries is a most direct and effective investment in our vital intellectual resources. The modern public library is not a musty sanctuary for a few people with scholarly interests; it serves not only those interests but many, many others. Increasingly, the well-stocked library is a source of books and materials required to keep abreast of technological and professional advances in a wide range of essential occupations. The stepped-up national interest in manpower training and retraining, for example, has already created new demands upon public libraries. In several economically depressed areas, a substantial contribution to manpower retraining programs is being made through library services supported under the Library Services Act. Actually, good, modern public libraries play an important role in the whole spectrum of adult and continuing education, with tangible benefits to business, industry, and the professions. In short, the library is widely recognized as an important social and economic resource, as well as a fundamental educational institution of our society. In view of the importance of public libraries, our investment in library services has been so low that it can only be characterized as shortsighted. Various studies made in the last decade indicated that municipal tax revenues devoted to public libraries averaged only about 2 percent and that the operation costs of public libraries represented less than one-sixth of 1 percent of all public expenditures. In 1945, for example, the total operating budget for all public libraries in the Nation was $66 million, whereas the reasonable minimum expenditure estimated at that time would have necessitated an additional sum of about $130 million. The inevitable result of this was that a substantial part of our population had extremely inadequate library services or none at all.) It was this recognition which I believe enabled Congress to take action in 1956 in passing the Library Services Act to help develop services in rural areas where nearly 26 million rural residents had no access to a public library and an even larger number had very inadequate library service. As a direct result of the Library Services Act: Thirty-six million rural residents now have available new or improved public library services. More than 8 million books and other informational materials have been added to the resources of rural communities, and over 300 bookmobiles have been placed in operation to serve outlying areas. State library extension services have been greatly expanded, and the States have added about 115 field consultants to assist local libraries in this program. Significantly, State appropriations in the last 6 years for rural library services have increased $6 million, or 92 percent, and local expenditures have increased $23 million, or 73 percent; and a number of States have instituted grant-in-aid programs for local libraries, while others have markedly increased existing grant programs. In fact, largely under the stimulus of the Library Services Act, overall State expenditures for all public library services have doubled-increasing from $12.3 to $25 million. I think this point of bringing out through the Federal grants-inaid increased State and local money vastly beyond what is required by the matching provisions is so important that I have included two tables showing State by State, Mr. Chairman, the increased State and local efforts in this field for the last 6 years. We would ask that they be put in the record for your consideration. Mr. BAILEY. Without objection, they will be accepted for the record. (The tables referred to follow :) 88630-62- -2 |