SIGNAL EXTENSION ASSISTANCE CPB Goal: To assist with the establishment of new public radio stations or the extension of distant public radio signals into unserved areas that have the population and economic base to reasonably support the service. Purpose: To provide technical assistance in determining the feasibility of extending the signals of existing CPB grantees into adjacent unserved market(s). This program will be in effect for five years beginning FY 1991. Reconsideration of its duration will occur in FY 1994. Eligibility: Station must receive a CSG, must have the financial, technical and managerial capacity (as determined by CPB) to complete an extension project, and must be adjacent to a market designated by CPB, as having potential to add significant population areas to public radio's nation coverage statistics. CPB Station Relations, in consultation with CPB Policy Development and Planning, will select stations for this assistance program. Amount: CPB will provide technical assistance and consultation (not to exceed $1500 per station) to help selected CSG eligible stations extend their signals via repeaters and/or translators into adjacent unserved areas. MANAGEMENT CONSULTING SERVICE (MCS) Purpose: To assist with the full development of the system by providing technical assistance and management training opportunities, to encourage innovative approaches to audience building, and to increase station managerial and operational capacity. Eligibility: Available to CPB-supported stations. MCS is a strategic planning resource that provides consultants with valuable expertise in the areas of station, market, and financial analysis, fundraising, production/programming, promotion, engineering and more. MUSIC ROYALTY Purpose: To ensure that all CPB-supported stations have access to broadcast rights for certain musical compositions. Plan; Extend the CPB funded music royalty blanket license to all stations funded by the SSAG, STEP, and PAAG in addition to CSG eligible stations. NATIONAL RADIO PROGRAM PRODUCTION FUND (RPF) Purpose: To support national level radio program productions of high quality, diversity, excellence and innovation that are obtained from diverse sources, with strict adherence to objectivity and balance. Plan: The radio fund hosts a once-per-year annual solicitation of national level radio projects that provide programming to public radio stations. Pilots and research and development projects of potential national significance are acceptable. Eligibility is unrestricted. The funding level is also unrestricted, though the average award is approximately $200,000. FY 1991 funding priorities are for projects that yield quality programming that is illuminating, Inspiring as well as appealing. that takes programmatic risk, and advances public radio's mission of serving an increasing number of American. The fund invites the system to participate in an annual consultation about priorities, practices, and policies. SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT FUND (SDF) Purpose: To encourage non-production radio and television initiatives that are critical to the full development of the public broadcasting system. Plan: The SDF supports systemwide non-production projects that promote professional development, diversity, and the extension of technical and institutional capacity of public radio and public television. FY 1991 funding priorities for public radio and public television are training and research and exploration of methods for securing new income for public broadcasting. A priority targeted for radio-only is for increased availability of national public radio programming and its use by audiences nationwide. A television-only priority is to increase and diversify public television's audiences through projects related to increasing the frequency of viewing and to strengthening station ties to the community, e.g., through education and outreach. Projects are expected to extend the participation of racial and ethnic minorities in all facets of public broadcasting. There is one funding round per year. Funding levels are unrestricted and more than one project may be submitted per entity. EMPLOYMENT OUTREACH PROJECT Purpose: To facilitate the development of affirmative action/EEO practices in public broadcasting. Plan: A variety of services are offered including Job Line, (800) 582-8220 and (202) 393-1045, Talent Bank for free resume referrals, minority resume books, and public broadcasting career information publications. Eligibility: All public broadcasting stations and organizations. EEO ASSISTANCE PROGRAM Purpose: To encourage the development of diverse minority applicant pool for public broadcasting jobs. Plan: CPB offers a competitive fund to partially defray the cost of recruiting at job fairs and conferences of minority professional associations and media groups around the country. Eligibility: CPB-supported stations and state networks. Criteria for award: Stations/state networks (1) experiencing (official/manager, professional, technical, and sales) job Amount: Reimbursement of partial expenses. EEO TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Purpose: To assist with the development of an Equal Employment Plan: CPB's System EEO Support office serves as a resource to stations in need of technical assistance to develop their EEO program. It provides information relevant to EEO program requirements for broadcasters. Several resources are provided including an Affirmative Action/EEO Recruitment Kit, minority professional directories and recruitment contact mailing lists, sample job descriptions and announcements, employee handbooks and EEO program statements, and multicultural awareness training programs. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE STATEMENT OF CHARLES E. REID, CHAIRMAN ACCOMPANIED BY: ELINOR SWAIM, VICE CHAIRMAN PETER YOUNG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MARY ALICE HEDGE RESZETAR, ASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JANE WILLIAMS, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE BUDGET REQUEST Senator HARKIN. I'd like to welcome Mr. Charles Reid, Chairman of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science is an independent agency charged with advising Congress and the President on all issues concerning library and information policy. The Commission's request for next year is $911,000, an increase of $179,000 over the 1991 level. Mr. Reid, it is my pleasure to welcome you back to the subcommittee this year in your capacity as Chairman. I am happy to have you with us today to share the recommendations for improving library science in the years ahead. It is clear to me that the health of our library system and the effectiveness of the government's information transfer mechanisms are critical if we are going to head into the next century as a literate and skilled society. I will leave the record open at this point for any comments for Senator Specter, our ranking member. Mr. Reid, welcome. If you will introduce the people who are with you and summarize your statement, I would sure appreciate it. INTRODUCTION OF ASSOCIATES Mr. REID. Thank you very much, sir. I am Charles Reid, Chairman of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. I am pleased to introduce Elinor Swaim to my right, the Commission's Vice Chairman. Mrs. Swaim and I have over three decades of service as library trustees. Additionally, Mrs. Swaim has chaired the North Carolina State Library Commission, and I have been the President of the American Library Trustees Association. On behalf of the entire Commission, including Dr. Bessie Moore, our Vice Chairman Emeritus, I wish to gratefully acknowledge the support you have given us over these many, many years. Also with us today are Peter Young, the Commission's Executive Director, to my right; to my left, Mary Alice Hedge Reszetar, the Associate Executive Director; and to her left, Jane Williams, our research associate. I regret you do not have the opportunity to meet Jean Curtis, the Executive Director of the White House Conference on Library and Information Services. She could not join us today as she is representing the White House Conference at a meeting of the Public Library Association in San Diego. COMMISSION'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY This past January, the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science celebrated its 20th anniversary at a reception held at the Library of Congress to recognize accomplishments as diverse as the publication of the National Inventory of Library Needs in 1974 and the 1990 development and adoption of the principles of public information. INFORMATION AS A CRITICAL NATIONAL RESOURCE Information is increasingly recognized as our country's most critical national resource. The ability to assess, understand and use information effectively is critical to government, industry, educators, consumers, voters, and parents. The importance of library and information services in our society increases with the integration of electronic technology. 1991 WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES Now, the first White House Conference on Library and Information Services was held in 1979. This July's White House Conference, which is planned and conducted by the National Commission, continues the work begun over a decade ago and will set the library and information policy agenda for the next 10 years. The 1991 conference will work to formulate public policy recommendations on three themes vital to the United States: (1) a literate populace; (2) a work force with the productivity skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace of the 21st century; and (3) a knowledgeable citizenry equipped to participate actively in a democratic process on local, State, and national levels. Public awareness of this conference and enthusiasm for it are building rapidly. Thousands of Americans have and will participate in preconference activities in all the States and six territories. EMERGING TOPICS FROM PRE-WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCES We expect the conference resolutions will cover a broad range of complex concerns. A few of the topics from the preconferences are: the Federal and State role in the provision of library and information services; the preservation and conservation of books and nonprint materials; literacy, including adult literacy, as well as information literacy; access to library and information services to all citizens, including special populations such as native Americans, as well as the disabled, the elderly and rural populations; international competitiveness and the role of information in a global knowledge society; intellectual property ownership in electronic network environment; national scientific and technical information dissemination policy; and last, descriptive statistics regarding library and information services. |