H.R 12006

To help State and local governments and public and nonprofit institutions of higher learning to extend and improve their library services, I recently introduced H.R. 12006. This measure authorizes appropriations of $20 million a year for 5 years for grants to States on a matching basis for extension of public library services in areas having no service, or inadequate service, and $30 million a year for 5 years for similar grants for library services in public elementary and secondary schools. Appropriations of $10 million a year for 5 years are authorized to enable the Commissioner of Education to make grants to institutions of higher education to assist and encourage them to enlarge their library collections. An appropriation of $7,500,000 is authorized for fiscal 1963, and $10 million for each of the 4 succeeding years to enable the Commissioner to contract with such institutions for library training institutes.

As a safeguard against any possible danger of Federal control, the bill expressly stipulates that nothing therein contained shall be deemed to authorize any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction or control over any public library or the library of any institution of higher education which is not a library administered by a department or agency of the United States, or the personnel of any such library or the selection of books for it.

Today, more than ever, adequate libraries staffed by well-trained librarians are indispensable for every level of education-elementary, high school, college, and adult. To make sure that this service is provided, the Federal Government must cooperate with the State and local governments and with institutions of higher education. H.R. 12006 provides for an extension of the type of cooperation which has already proved so successful under the Library Services Act.

TESTIMONY OF HON. GEORGE P. MILLER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

The influx of people into California has been a striking phenomenon of recent years. California has taken mighty strides in many fields toward meeting the challenge of this population explosion. One of these fields has been education. Library development has advanced in rural areas with the help and stimulation of the present Library Services Act, but it has not reached the stage where it can be said to meet adequately the problems presented by California's population boom. Our troubles lie not just in our rural areas but in our cities and their suburbs, not just in our public libraries but in school and college libraries as well.

Through the proposed amendment to the Library Services Act, it would be possible to make an attack on some of our most critical library problems in metropolitan areas, because the legislation currently under consideration lifts the population restriction of the present act and would make more money available. It would be possible, also, to make a good beginning on the nearly overwhelming problems of library service to children and young people, both by school and public libraries.

As for school, college, and university libraries, many of the school and college libraries, particularly, are extremely lacking in sufficient library materials to meet the needs of students. H.R. 11823, H.R. 11824, and related bills would be a great stimulus to their acquiring many more of the books and related library materials that are needed.

College, secondary, and elementary students go from library to library seeking, often vainly, to find the library materials needed for their studies. In many communities, students have deluged the public libraries after school hours, making it literally impossible for adults to find room to be served. Schools and colleges very commendably require wide reading of many different materials, rather than single textbooks, but the materials required by this change in teaching practice have not been supplied, either in the schools, colleges, or public libraries. The need is acute for many more books in all of these libraries.

Acute shortages of librarians further intensify California's problems. For this reason the provisions for financial assistance to recruitment and training of librarians are an important aspect of the legislation.

As chairman of the Science and Astronautics Committee of the House of Representatives, I am quite conscious of the need to expand the educational resources for our youth, so that they may face the dynamic challenges of the scientific and technical world of tomorrow. The space program of the United States vividly reveals the need for full development of the potentiality of our young men and women with talent in the sciences. For good citizenship in these complicated times the need is equally great in other fields of learning. This full development of young people and adults cannot occur unless there are enough tools of learning to go around.

A second consideration that the space age brings about is the need to properly conserve the extensive volumes of research material that are being continuously developed on a variety of technical subjects. Also, numerous new journals and periodicals are being published on scientific matters. These advances certainly place a great burden on the librarian while at the same time making it imperative that assistance be given to libraries to meet the ever changing situations that confront them.

Bills currently under consideration will not banish overnight California's shortages in library materials and trained personnel but the legislation can act effectively, as has the present Library Services Act within its limited area, to stimulate this State, as well as all other States, to remedy the critical deficiency in this service so essential to the Nation.

STATEMENT OF HON. ABRAHAM J. MULTER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS

FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to appear before this subcommittee to support a legislative measure which I have introduced to further extend the scope of Federal financial assistance to the States for library services. My bill, H.R. 11948, would amend the present Library Services Act to include areas of our Nation lacking public libraries or with inadequate public libraries, and to help expand public elementary and secondary school libraries and certain college and university libraries. The bill would also stimulate education programs for the training of persons in the field of library science.

The declaration of policy as stated in the bill is a summation of my feelings about the need for an expanded program of Federal financial assistance for library services. As the declaration points out, there is a growing need for information and education for all our people. Today's rapidly expanding body of knowledge makes good libraries essential at all levels of education from elementary school through adult education in order to provide maximum opportunities for study and research and to produce well-informed citizens who are capable of exercising sound judgment and engaging in profitable employment. I might also call attention to the fact that the modernization of our society and current technological developments have reduced the work hours of the day and week and given the average worker considerable leisure. It is reasonable to assume that citizens will read good books as an important phase of wise leisure and recreation. There is evidence, therefore, of an increasing demand and need for adequate library services for the public and for our schools.

As every member of this subcommittee knows, the present deficiencies of public libraries, school libraries, and college and university libraries are critical. In my opinion there is an undisputable need for a coordinated program of library development to help bring about maximum availability and utilization of library resources and services.

The legislation I propose would help the States accomplish this purpose through several programs of financial assistance. Title I of the bill is concerned with public libraries. Under this title an appropriation of $20 million will be authorized for each of 5 years beginning with the fiscal year ending June 30, 1963, to be used for payments to States which have an approved plan for the further extension of public library services to areas within the State without such services, or with inadequate services. The title authorizes the appropriation of specific sums for the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Canal Zone, and provides that the remainder of the appropriations for the title be divided among the States according to the population of the State to the population of the United States. A provision is made for State matching funds in accordance with the ability of the State to match Federal funds, as determined by per capita income within the State.

Title II of the bill provides assistance to library programs in public elementary and secondary schools through an authorized appropriation of $30 million for 5 years beginning with the fiscal year ending June 30, 1963. Funds under this title are to be allotted to the States according to their ratio of the State's school-age population (5-17) to the school-age population of all the States. The title also contains a matching provision which is based upon State per capita income.

Mr. Chairman, it is appalling to me to note that in many elementary and secondary schools the library is only a table in the back of the classroom where some few children of high motivation might wish to sit and read. All too often the classroom teacher has had little or no training in the selection of reading materials for elementary and secondary age children. Thus at an early age when they are developing an appreciation for books and the world of knowledge to be found therein, many of our schoolchildren are left out of this important adventure. Current statistics report that more than 10 million children go to public schools where there are no school libraries and more than 40,000 or nearly half of all our public schools have no libraries. There is certainly a need for a forceful echo of the ideas of Leslie W. Dunlap who in a discussion of the history of libraries has pointed out:

***As the objectives of the schools broadened to include training for living in a democracy in addition to instruction in traditional subjects, the role of school libraries became increasingly more important. Libraries now are widely recognized as an integral part of schools, and the future of school library services depends directly on the place of the school in contemporary society.":

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The third title of my proposal to amend the Library Services Act is concerned with the library services of our colleges and universities. Title III authorizes library grants to institutions of higher education to assist and encourage such institutions in the acquisition for library purposes of books (other than textbooks), periodicals, documents, and other related materials. The grants authorized under this title are graduated in amount according to the level of higher education offered by the school. For example, the grant would be $1,000 for schools offering a 2-year educational program; $2,500 for an institution offering an educational program for which it awards a bachelor's degree or a more advanced degree, or $5,000 if the institution provides an educational program for which it awards both bachelor's and advanced degrees.

I hardly need mention to this subcommittee the importance of library services to our institutions of higher education which have the responsibility for the education and training of our most qualified students. To envision higher education without adequate accompanying library facilities for research and study is to propose a race without a course: You may well have people going somewhere but the starting place would have been missed. I say this because the thoughts and theories of past scholars as recorded in books provides a starting place for newer directions, interpretations, and, in fact, contradictions by those of this era who would seek true understanding and knowledge. It has been said by many people in many different ways:

"More than any other instrument of society the library is custodian and disseminator of the world's knowledge. Libraries preserve and make available the results of previous human experience; they are the instruments which make possible the enrichment and extension of that experience."

The challenges to higher education in these special times are tremendous; they relate to the basics of human sufferings and hunger; of freedom and selfgovernment; of progress and more abundant life; of free thought and expanding horizons. If it still holds that from research comes the truth then we must be concerned indeed that those who are seekers of the truth through the academic disciplines of higher education have available to them adequate facilities for research of which the library is a fundamental part.

It

A fourth title of the bill also relates to instiutions of higher education. would make available to participating institutions funds for the operation by them of short-term or regular session institutes for training to improve the

1 Dunlap, Leslie W.: "The Story of Our Libraries." Prepared for Collier's Encyclopedia. Library and Education Division, Collier's Encyclopedia. New York. N.Y.

2 U.S. Office of Education. "The State and Publicly Supported Libraries." Introduction Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1956.

qualifications of librarians or individuals engaged in library work. The institute participant would be entitled to receive a stipend of $75 per week plus a $15 for each dependent for the duration of the institute.

I believe that the value of institute training programs has been firmly established as a sound educational method. The institute training program has certainly been effectively promoted by the National Defense Education Act which was enacted by the 85th Congress. That same act, as you perhaps know, provided some assistance to libraries. However the assistance was restricted to an emphasis upon books and materials related to the study of science, mathematics, and modern foreign languages. I believe that the current Rural Library Services Act is the appropriate measure to incorporate the purposes embraced by my bill.

I should like to conclude with these thoughts: Ours is a free society. Our children may read according to their own dictates and are limited only by their abilities. We hope that the exposures which books afford will broaden their perspectives and stimulate thought. We hope that they will read even those works with which we are not in agreement, for this is a part of the challenge of the quest for truth.

We know that many societies are not free. The youth of one generation may well not know the events of yesterday or the thoughts of others if those ideas are not in keeping with the current "party line." All too often the records of the past are closed-thereby offering little guidance for a better tomorrow. Let us maintain our compassion for those who are not free and encourage them to seek liberty. Let us take care to guard our own freedoms and our democratic way of life. In so doing, let us promote the expansion of those institutions which are important parts of our free society-let us assist in the expansion of the scope and services of the library.

STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES MCC. MATHIAS, JR., A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MARYLAND

Mr. Chairman, this legislation is designed to extend the benefits of the Library Services Act to areas lacking public libraries or with inadequate public libraries, public elementary and secondary school libraries, and certain college and university libraries.

In today's world, with a rapidly expanding body of knowledge, better libraries are necessary at all levels of education. Libraries act as pipelines, making the knowledge of the lengthening past available to the present. As the body of facts accumulated year by year increases in size, we must provide more adequate means for making this information available. This is required in order to provide maximum opportunity for study and research and to produce well-informed citizens who are capable of exercising sound judgment and engaging in profitable employment. Further, the present deficiencies of public libraries, school libraries, and college and university libraries are critical, and, therefore, a coordinated program of library development is needed in order to bring about maximum availability and utilization of library resources and services.

The bill provides for a 5-year authorization of $310 million, an increase of $52.5 million per year over existing appropriations. Another major feature of the bill removes the present limitation which restricts aid to areas having a population of 10,000 or less. Funds would be used to assist State public libraries and the facilities of our educational institutions at all levels. A further aspect of the bill provides Federal money for the operation by higher educational institutions of institutes for the training of librarians. Programs would be administered by State and institutional bodies receiving matching Federal grants.

I need not emphasize that communities in the Sixth Congressional District of Maryland would become eligible for some of the funds that would be allocated to Maryland each year. I believe that this program, if efficiently administered, will provide the proper national stimulus to revive our lagging library facilities.

Hon. CLEVELAND M. BAILEY,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Washington, D.C., July 20, 1962.

Chairman, General Education Subcommittee, Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

MY DEAR MR. BAILEY: I am enclosing a letter which I recently received from Mr. Edwin Castagna, director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. In it, he refers to the library's interest in H.R. 11823, the Library Services Act which you introduced on May 21, 1962. I hope that you will be able to make this letter a part of the subcommittee's report.

I want also to advise you of my very great interest in and support for this legislation. I hope the committee gives it quick approval.

With kindest regards, I am,

Sincerely yours,

DANIEL B. BREWSTER, Member of Congress.

ENOCH PRATT FREE LIBRARY,
Baltimore, Md., July 18, 1962.

Hon. DANIEL BAUGH BREWSTER,
U.S. House of Representatives,
Washington, D.C.

DEAR SIR: May I urge you to support H.R. 11823 (and identical bills) to amend the Library Services Act?

The Pratt Library is a major public library in a large metropolitan area, and of particular interest to this library are the provisions of title 1 of the proposed bill. Under these provisions the population limitation of 10,000 or less would be dropped from the qualifications for funds. And for the first time large public libraries could benefit from the Federal program.

The intent of title 1 is to encourage the extension of public library services to areas without such services or with inadequate services. The Pratt Library is a well-established library system, but it is facing problems much publicized in the metropolitan areas throughout the country. Baltimore has the multiproblem, culturally disadvantaged, disorganized persons and families resulting from the inmigrant waves and the core of the lowest socioeconomic groups remaining within the city. Taken as a group these people are receiving inadequate library services; but the potential is tremendous for more effectual service.

We have proposed new ways to encourage the use of the library among these problem people, but funds have not been available. Consider the impact of a program which would permit our staff to serve as visiting librarians (based in branches in depressed areas of the city) who would actively engage in seeking out the children, young adults, and adults who can benefit from our services. Low reading levels are repeatedly cited as one of the major handicaps in the advancement of the problem person. With sufficient funds the library could literally establish centers with easy reading materials heavily duplicated and personal attention given to individual problems. We are at present unable to provide adequately for the study materials essential in the upgrading skills and trades. The library can play a much greater role in the educational program of these people for their economic betterment and for that of the city as a whole. And we need a parallel program to keep the general citizens of Baltimore knowledgeable and interested in the problems of their neighbors and to elicit their support in helping tackle the problems. What better resource do we have than in a systemwide library program which serves all of Baltimore, but can adapt to immediate community needs through our branch libraries?

We share with other city agencies, schools, welfare, police, etc., the common problems of human redevelopment. The library can play a unique role. The social worker, health officer reach people for brief periods at intervals, and, if successful, get them started. Reading is the means for a regular development over a long period. The Pratt Library might serve as the continuing agency in redevelopment, thereby correcting the shortcomings that many rehabilitation programs have exhibited-brief sporadic efforts that leave little effect.

I have pointed out in some detail the practical applications which this library could foresee from the use of library services funds. These projected programs would offer a new scope to the dimensions of library service here on a scale which is not possible under our present program.