The acceleration of the expenditure of large amounts of money including such Federal programs as the Elementary and Secondary Act for school library resources and other printed and published materials has created an enormous demand for many more school librarians than are available.

PERSONNEL SHORTAGE

Even though commendable progress is being made in increasing the number of qualified school librarians, there still remains an acute shortage of personnel. Not more than 25 percent of the school libraries are staffed with trained librarians, and of those librarians many need additional institute-type training to meet the demands placed on today's school libraries. Lack of adequately trained professional school librarians is the most serious handicap in providing efficient school libraries that support every facet of the elementary and secondary programs of instruction.

SECTION 225, HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965

In view of the overwhelming need for school library personnel, we were distressed by the provision in the Higher Education Act of 1965 (sec. 225) which repealed the provisions for institutes for the training of school library personnel and school library supervisors as authorized under title XI, of the National Defense Education Act. We were heartened, however, by the language in Senate Report 673 (89th Cong., 1st sess.) on the Higher Education Act which states, and I quote:

CONGRESSIONAL DIRECTIVE

The committee was pleased to learn of the great enthusiasm that has been shown by persons interested in being trained or continuing their training in the field of library science and librarianship. This is evidenced this year by the large number of applicants for the 26 institutes that were conducted during the summer of 1965 under the authority of Title XI of the National Defense Education Act. Unfortunately, out of 5,509 applicants, only 966 applications could be accepted due to lack of sufficient facilities and resources. This serves as a

prime indication that the desire of persons in the field of librarianship to improve their qualifications is not lacking. What is lacking are sufficient resources to train the many interested persons. Title II, part B, of the present bill will offer not only an expanded program of summer library institutes but also regular sessions and short-term programs, fellowships, and traineeships.

It is our expectation, therefore, that this congressional directive will insure an increasing number of institutes for the training of school librarians to meet clearly identified needs and that the regulations governing the administration of this part of title II, part B on library training and research with its emphasis upon "the improvement of training in librarianship" will be interpreted as supporting not only traditional schools and academic programs, but also the institutes, short-term programs, fellowships, and traineeships in school librarianship. We should like to recommend also that the Commissioner be urged to add at least one school librarian of national stature to the special advisory committee authorized by the act.

Again I should like to express our appreciation for this opportunity to express our views on matters so essential to our mutual concern with the attainment of excellence in education.

You can see that my biggest concern is that this congressional directive will insure that the institutes and short-term programs and fellowships and traineeships will be in school librarianship as well as in training for all types of libraries.

I thank you very much for this opportunity to appear in support of this concern.

Senator KENNEDY of Massachusetts. I want to thank you very much for your presentation, Miss Whitenack. Certainly your experience in this field gives extraordinary weight to the points which you have raised in your testimony, and I know it will certainly be considered in that light by the members of the committee.

I think that the points you raised are valid. I think that it is important that we receive the comments of the Office of Education, particularly with regard to the various points that have been suggested by your testimony, the institute report, and others. And I think it will be extremely worthwhile. So I want to certainly express the appreciation of the members of the subcommittee on this.

(The memorandum requested follows:)

MEMORANDUM FROM OFFICE OF EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE ON THE CONTINUATION OF SCHOOL LIBRARIAN INSTITUTES UNDER TITLE II OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT

The Office of Education is aware of the Congressional intent and direction given in the committee reports last year relative to the continuation of school librarian institutes under Title II of the Higher Education Act. The Commissioner of Education has assured the school librarians that these institutes will be continued under funds appropriated for Title II when the present authority for financing library institutes under Title XI of the NDEA expires at the beginning of fiscal year 1968.

ENCOURAGEMENT OF FUTURE LIBRARIANS

Do you find, yourself, it is kind of a vocation as far as taking library training now, and certainly it is a vocation or avocation, it is something which can really be stimulated and developed to attract the kind of people which are necessary to fulfill the void which is quite clear from your statement?

Miss WHITENACK. You have identified one of our key problems, Senator. It is the problem of recruitment.

Senator KENNEDY of Massachusetts.

Yes.

Miss WHITENACK. And we are making a national effort. We have recrutiment offices nationally and in every State to recruit young people and to bring back into the educational force people who would like to return to some form of work. Some of these represent housewives who now have their children in the schools and would like to have an opportunity to serve in an educational role again. And we are fortunate at Purdue to have a fellowship which permits us to at least have one person like this in a fellowship program next year. Manpower is a key problem. We are all working on this. This will be the focus of ALA in the 1966-67 year. We do not have any great answers to this. This is improving all the time, and I think the Federal fellowships and institute-type programs and the assistance to people to return to school has been most helpful.

This summer at Purdue we have 60 people. These 60 people were chosen from 621. And of these some people are back in school after 20

years, partly because-well, 1 man has 11 children and with 11 children you cannot return to school on a schoolteacher's salary. So this is a real opportunity for some people who would have loved additional training but who were not able to get it and can now acquire this in institutes and upgrade the training they took 10 to 15 years ago which is now really outmoded. And in a time of lifelong learning it does give some opportunity, in addition to our regular library school programs, of getting people into the profession too. So what we are asking for is for both of these programs to be supported.

WILL CURRENT AID MEET NEEDS?

Senator KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Do you think that with the kind of support which has been outlined we can really meet the current demands which are being placed and which you can anticipate over, say, the next 8 to 10 years when by all the statistics the number of people, I would think, that would be using the libraries both at universities and other places would grow to extraordinary proportions? Miss WHITENACK. This again is a key problem in all of education, to have the educational resources and competent people to direct the utilization of these.

You see, there was a time when I thought you could put resources where people could use these and expect the two to come together and make good use of these I know now that this is no longer true. It takes a competent person to direct a program of utilization, and so you again have identified a great need. Whether we can meet this in the next 3 years, I would doubt. But if we continue to have the Federal support programs which assist us to upgrade our own library education programs, in improving our faculties, and improving the opportunities for people to return to school, then I think that we certainly will have more people trained. It is evident that your Federal fellowships and traineeships now have been a vital force in recruiting a great many people and emphasizing the opportunities in library and audiovisual education.

Senator KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Let me ask you this question, and I doubt whether you have probably through about it, but perhaps you have, and it is related certainly to the broad range of interest which you have but goes somewhat beyond it.

TOY LENDING LIBRARIES

As a professor at the Harvard Law School, Sheldon Gluck is a great authority on the problems of juvenile unrest. In my conversations with him, he has suggested that one of the things that might be considered is that we develop toy libraries that would be associated with public libraries in which there would be a certain number of toys which would be available and children would get in the practice, hopefully, of coming to the library and checking the toy out and maybe using it for 3 weeks or a month and returning it and it would be available for other children.

And perhaps periodically over a year these toys would be refurbished by perhaps senior citizens groups or other particular workshop groups.

I thought it was a rather fetching idea. I have the greatest respect for Professor Gluck and I did not know just how to respond to that. Could you give us a kind of response?

Miss WHITENBACK. Well, it sounds very innovative and very exciting to me, since public library children's rooms have served nursery children for many, many years. Since this would be a logical extension of their role it would seem to me that this would be a very innovative idea and one that children's rooms I think are already employing to a limited degree. That is, if you walk into a children's room in a public library, it is very attractive with many toys, with dolls, and so forth, but I think they have not thought about lending these toys out. Senator KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Yes.

Miss WHITENACK. Now, I think the idea of lending these out is a wonderful one. They have been used primarily for display and for decorative purposes. I can comment on a school, an elementary school, that I know in the Gary district, which is in a so-called culturally deprived area, in which we have in the school library what we have termed academic games. These, however, are tactile things for children to use who may be poor readers, but we want them to feel comfortable in the library and we want them to make use of all of their These "academic games" are puzzles, like puzzles of the United States, and other types of mathematical games. And it seems to me that these could be used in both the elementary school and in public library children's rooms.

Senator KENNEDY of Massachsetts. Well, I think, as you mentioned, then, there would be the possibility of using them perhaps even in school systems as well, in school library systems

Miss WHITENACK. Yes.

Senator KENNEDY of Massachusetts (continuing). For preschool children.

Miss WHITENACK. One of the great advantages of having these academic games and of having film strips and film viewers in these schools in the culturally deprived areas has been that these children check out these things just as they check out books.

Senator KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Oh, they do?

Miss WHITENACK. And children take these home with them and they are educating their parents.

Senator KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Is that quite widespread? Miss WHITENACK. Well, this is widespread through Indiana because we believe in the school library as a materials center, and we are encouraging this. This is the philosophy of the American Association of School Librarians, and it is true in many States. Some States have greater development than others. Every State has some program like this, but not every State, of course, has a fully developed program.

Senator KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Well, that is very interesting. I am going to pursue it

Miss WHITENACK. I will be glad to take this back to the children's libraries, too. Thank you very much.

Senator KENNEDY of Massachusetts (continuing). And see what the response to it is.

I want to thank you very much for coming and for your extremely helpful presentation.

Miss WHITENACK. May I say as a sidelight that we are very grateful for all Federal programs. There is now almost slightly over a billion dollars of support, Federal support, to various programs for libraries in many different acts of Congress, and we are very pleased with this great support. Thank you very much.

Senator KENNEDY of Massachusetts. Well, I share with you the hope that we will have the signing of the Library Services Act very soon. Miss WHITENACK. We are keeping our fingers crossed for this week. Senator KENNEDY of Massachusetts. I want to thank you very much for your presentation and your attendance here this morning. (The following supplemental statement was subsequently supplied for the record:)

SUPPLEMENTAL STATEMENT OF CAROLYN WHITENACK

The following information on the loaning out of games, playthings, et cetera, through public libraries is taken from a publication prepared for the Young Adult Services Division Pre-conference, "Two Blocks Apart" prior to the annual conference of the American Library Association in New York City, July, 1966, "Rural Library Services to Disadvantaged Youth," printed by the Kentucky Department of Libraries, Frankort, Kentucky:

"Games and the spirit of play appeal to all ages; only the types of games change as a person grows older. The hopscotch or hide-and-seek of the little child is soon outgrown, but some other games always take their places. The spirit of play lives on (witness bridge, golf, and chess in the later years). Availability of sports equipment, such as softballs and bats, badminton, horseshoes, volley balls, etc. are bringing children into numerous libraries. This equipment may be checked out just as books. On their second and third visits, nonreaders who come in for the equipment are shown sports books and easy biographies of favorite sports heroes. Some become readers. This type of bait can be used not only in the library, but where library-connected programs are carried out.

"Sports groups could be formed, combining the actual game with a session of talks by the players on sport books they have read. High school sports heroes might talk to the boys, coach the organized teams, referee their games, or just pitch a few balls with them. The mere presence of these boys, big in the local

sports world, would be a good drawing card."

From "Resources for Thoughtful Relation": (the same publication) "A supply of games, such as checkers, dominoes, Chinese checkers, anagrams, Monopoly, Scrabble, etc. should be available at the library level."

In this same connection, it may interest the Commissioner to know that many public libraries loan framed pictures, projectors as well as films, phonograph records, and the public library in Grosse Pointe, Michigan has a collection of expensive power tools for loans.

Senator KENNEDY of Massachusetts. That concludes our hearing for the morning. The subcommittee will stand in recess until 9:30 tomorrow morning.

(Whereupon, at 11 a.m., the subcommittee recessed, to reconvene Thursday, July 14, 1966, at 9:30 a.m.)