proved library services will have received them. So there will still be over 20 percent of our population that is denied the opportunity which only books can bring. In the early 1940's, Franklin D. Roosevelt stated his views on education as follows: "Education must light the path for social change. The social and economic problems confronting us are growing in complexity. The more complex and difficult these problems become, the more essential it is to provide broad and complete education; that kind of education that will equip us as a nation to decide these problems for the best interest of all concerned. Our ultimate security, to a large extent, is based upon the individual's character, information, skill, and attitude and the responsibility rests squarely upon those who direct education in America. It is your duty, no less than mine, to look beyond the narrow confines of the schoolroom; to see that education provides understanding strength, and security for those insitutions we have treasured since we first established ourselves as a nation and shall continue everlastingly to cherish." In 1960 the "social and economic problems confronting us" are infinitely more complex than they were in 1940, and correspondingly our need for an educated citizenry is even more grave. John G. Lorenz, Director of the Library Services Branch of the Office of Education, indicated that our rural population is eager for the knowledge and information that library services can provide them. Mr. Lorenz stated in the summer of 1958: "The most satisfying experience to me was having it proved that there is this tremendous hunger for books and information. The demand for books in rural areas is much greater than we can meet." Mr. Chairman, I lend my wholehearted support to the efforts to pass in this session an extension of this vital program. We most not lose the continuity and planning which is necessary by waiting until the zero hour to take action. We must act now to extend to those remaining 40 million of our citizens the opportunity for education and development which we have always prized so highly. Very truly yours, EMANUEL CELLER, STATEMENT OF HON. CATHERINE MAY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WASHINGTON Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am pleased to present this statement in support of an extension of the Library Services Act for a period of 5 years, as proposed in several bills before the committee, including H.R. 11108, which I was privileged to introduce on March 11, 1960. Since I represent the Fourth Congressional District of the State of Washington, I will confine my remarks to the benefits of an extension of the act to that State. An extension of the Library Services Act would mean for Washington State an opportunity to further demonstrate good library service such as meets American Library Association national standards, in other parts of the State. The Columbia River regional library demonstration in north central Washington will terminate as planned even though the Library Services Act is extended. There will still be 17 counties in Washington without rural library service even though the CRRL 5-county area may be legally established as a library in November. The State Library Commission has committed itself to work until the objective of good library service for the whole State is achieved. Should there be an extension of the Library Services Act the State Library Commission would, it is expected, entertain proposals for demonstrations from other areas of the State. These requests for demonstrations will be judged on the basis of whether the objective of locally supported and controlled systems of library service with adequate tax base would be achieved. It is felt that library demonstration programs are the one way of making known to rural people the benefits of good library service. Until they have experienced it, they are reluctant to assume its support. For these reasons I feel the Library Services Act should be extended. I thank the committee and I know that full consideration will be given. Hon. CARL ELLIOTT, APRIL 7, 1960. Chairman, Subcommittee on Special Education, Committee on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I appreciate this opportunity to express to you and to your committee my belief in the importance of extending the Library Services Act. As one of the sponsors of the original legislation, and as the author of one of the bills providing for extension of the act, I am convinced that this is a field in which we are accomplishing a great deal at little cost. I will not attempt to go into the statistics of what has been accomplished over the Nation as a result of the cooperative effort of the Federal and State Governments under the Library Services Act-I'm sure those statistics have already been presented by the American Library Association and others. I do think it is significant, however, that library development, particularly rural library development, has been so sweeping since the act went into effect. In the State of Arizona, for example, there has been a 600 percent growth in the last 22 years. In my own State of Mississippi, and in my own congressional district, the program has been the incentive to tremendous library growth, with dedicated and productive work by civic groups in cooperation with county and State offcials. I know this record is being matched, if not surpassed, all over the country. I am convinced that this program, which affords so much in educational and cultural opportunity for all our people, particularly our young people in rural areas, is one of the best investments in the future in which the Federal Government has participated, and I sincerely hope the committee and the Congress will continue the Library Services Act. Cordially, FRANK E. SMITH, Member of Congress. MARCH 28, 1960. Hon. CARL ELLIOTT, Chairman, Special Education Subcommittee, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I understand that hearings will begin tomorrow on proposals to extend the Federal Library Services Act for 5 years after 1961. I wish to be placed on record as favoring the extension of this act. I consider such an extension vital if we are to meet the very pressing needs of the country for books and library materials and services. My office has received a number of communications from constituents concerning the extension of this act. Enclosed is a letter from the librarian of the Central Book Collection of the Connecticut State Department of Education, Bureau of Library Services, which I believe you and your committee will find of interest. I urge that it be inserted in the records of the hearings. Sincerely, EMILIO Q. DADDARIO, Member of Congress. STATE OF CONNECTICUT, East Hartford, Conn., March 23, 1960. Hon. EMILIO Q. DADDARIO, DEAR MR. DADDARIO: There is nothing so frustrating for a libarian as to have to say, "Sorry, we don't have that book or any book on the subject you want." On the other hand there is nothing so gratifying as the ability to say, "Yes, we have it and here it is." It is now possible for more and more librarians in even the smallest of the public libraries in Connecticut to answer "Yes" more and more often and to experience this feeling of gratification in service which is the librarian's chief stock in trade. This has been made possible in Connecticut only since January 1957 when the central book collection of the Connecticut State Department of Education, Bureau of Library Services, first offered its services to over 100 small libraries in the State under the present Library Services Act which expires June 1961. In the short space of time since then we have only made a mere beginning. That is because Connecticut has never had a central State book collection upon which libararies and citizens could draw. We have had to start literally from scratch, trying to build up a collection of the many new books coming off the presses and the thousands of older titles which go to make up a good, well-rounded library collection. The extension of the Library Services Act for another 5 years after 1961 is a definite necessity for Connecticut, in order for the State to continue its work and to keep pace, if not anticipate, the rapid growth and changes that are taking place in the State. It may be "carrying coals to Newcastle to tell you that the face of Connecticut's population is changing tremendously. Libraries together with all other institutions and public agencies are feeling this change. Small public libraries, originally serving a stable population in small, quiet towns now find themselves part of a town bursting at its seams with new homes, growing young families and new schools. The demands on these libraries for books, not only by the reading and thinking adults, but by the school children is very great. These libraries in turn, turn to the central book collection for much needed help for books and library materials. It is with the help of the Federal Library Services Act that we can continue to give this much needed service, not only of actual books, but also advice and information in self-improvement and development through the professional staff of the Bureau of Library Services. It is as librarian of the central book collection in direct contact with the grassroots of this work, receiving the requests by mail, phone, and in person and making every effort to answer these requests, that I ask you through your position as Congressman from Connecticut to do your utmost to see that the Federal Library Services Act is extended from 1961 to another 5 years. May I take this opportunity to extend to you an invitation to visit our central book collection, which is housed temporarily in its already inadequate quarters in the basement of the East Hartford Public Library, 840 Main Street, East Hartford. Thank you for your courtesy and attention given to this letter. Mrs. VIRGINIA SCHLOSBERG, Librarian, Central Book Collection. MARCH 28, 1960. Hon. CARL ELLIOTT, Chairman, Subcommittee on Special Education, Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR COLLEAGUE: I understand that your subcommittee has scheduled hearings on April 5, 6, and 7 to consider your bill, H.R. 9812, to extend the Library Services Act beyond its present termination date. The purpose of this letter is to place myself on record in support of your bill. The largely rural counties in my 10th Congressional District of Ohio have benefited tremendously from the operations of the Library Services Act. The services it supports have made available to our people a wider source of literature and educational material than our small libraries could possibly afford. The resulting cultural advantages cannot be evaluated in terms of dollars and cents. In these troublous times it would be extremely unwise to cut off a program which does so much to improve our educational standards and to bring the advantages of learning closer to those areas which stand most in need. I enclose with this letter a letter and statement from Mr. Walter Brahm, librarian of the Ohio State library, in support of proposals to extend the Library Services Act. Will you please include this material in the record of your hearings, together with this letter? As evidence that the State of Ohio is doing its share in the operation of these programs, I enclose also a copy of part I of the State library's 1959 annual report containing plans for extending library service in Ohio. Unless your bill or similar legislation is enacted these worthwhile proposals will be seriously endangered, if not doomed. Sincerely yours, WALTER H. MOELLER, THE STATE LIBRARY, Columbus 15, Ohio, March 22, 1960. Hon. WALTER H. MOELLER, DEAR MR. MOELLER: Thank you for letting me know about the dates of the hearings to be held on the Elliott bill, H.R. 9812, to extend the Library Services Act beyond 1961. I am most grateful for your thoughtfulness in doing this. I want also to compliment you on the manner in which you are handling your job in Washington. Enclosed is a statement in support of the extension of the act. I would appreciate it if you could arranage to submit it to the subcommittee hearing the legislation. In regard to your query as to the specific benefit of the program to libraries in your district, the Library Services Act has been quite helpful to a number of them. Libraries at Nelsonville, serving Athens County; Lancaster, serving Fairfield County; Logan, Hocking County; McArthur, Vinton County; and Gallipolis in Gallia County have borrowed from the State Library a total of 14,803 books since 1957 when the funds were first made available. These are books which they keep for a year at a time and use to serve county residents. When they have finished with the books, the libraries return them and we lend them to other libraries, thus getting maximum use out of them. Total monetary value of the books received by the libraries in your district is probably close to $25,000. The books borrowed by these libraries have been chased almost entirely with funds received from the Library Services Act. The Lancaster Library told me recently that it would have to close down if it were not for the books that it received from the State library. If the Library Services Act is continued beyond 1961, we have a plan that, using Federal funds in combination with State and local funds, will make available to residents of small communities and rural areas in your district and to similar areas all over the State, the many research reference, and resource materials that now exist in the large cities of the State. In addition we have a plan to establish a regional service and storage center for the local libraries in the southeastern Ohio area which would make it possible for them to do many things which they are unable to do now. I hope this gives you the information you want. If not, please let us know. With kindest personal regards, Sincerely yours, WALTER BRAHM, State Librarian. STATEMENT SUBMITTED BY WALTER BRAHM, LIBRARIAN, OHIO STATE LIBRARY Most of Ohio's libraries are small. Of the 270 tax-supported libraries in the State, 51 have an annual budget of less than $5,000; 93 less than $10,000; 123 less than $15,000; 144 less than $20,000; 161 less than $25,000. Personnelwise, 191 libraries have 5 or fewer employees; 231 have 10 or fewer employees; only 39 have more than 10. Less than 1,000 new books each year are acquired by 117 libraries; less than 2,000 books are added by 181 libraries. Yet in direct contrast to the size and facilities of the libraries the demand for library service has become tremendous. Ohioans borrowed 58 million books from their libraries in 1958, a number limited only by the fact that libraries were unable to meet many of their demands. Most significant, however. is that 50 percent of such use of libraries was made by people living in the nonmetropolitan counties of the State-in other words, in the area severed by small libraries. An unprecedented increase in school enrollment on all levels has taken place with a consequent greater demand for library service from every segment of school population. Likewise more and more adults use Ohio's libraries each year for self-improvement, vocational information, and recreation. As the statistics mentioned above show, libraries are handicapped in giving service through a shortage of personnel, inadequate book collections, inade quate budgets. A large number of libraries in Ohio have unsatisfactory physical facilities. They are unable to properly store and service the books they have, let alone those they need. They are unable to provide adequate space to take care of the children and adults, the readers who would like to make use of the library. Library Services Act funds have been available now for 3 years-first funds were received early in 1957. Here in Ohio the funds have enabled the groundwork to be laid for a pattern or plan which it is hoped will go a long way toward the sensible solution of many library problems of the State. This plan would attempt to extend library service to all residents of the State and to make fullest use of the existing library facilities in the State the following ways: 1. Provide information service by making the research, reference, and resource materials of the many excellent college, special and public libraries in the large cities of Ohio such as Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown available to the residents of every community in the State. Residents of small communities and rural areas could not hope to provide the funds to duplicate these existing facilities and there would be no justification for doing so if they had the funds. 2. Establish nine regional library service and storage centers which would aid local libraries in each region, by pooling their resources, to do many of the things they are unable to do now. This plan is explained in detail in the accompanying annual report of the Ohio State Library for 1959. The point to be stressed in this statement is that the accomplishment of the plan is dependent upon the combined use of Federal, State, and local funds, and therefore is contingent upon the extension of the Library Services Act beyond 1961. THE PLAN'S THE THING A PROPOSAL FOR EXTENDING LIBRARY SERVICE IN OHIO OHIO'S LIBRARY PROBLEMS-THEY ARE MANY. THEY ARE REAL Librarians and trustees of many of Ohio's 270 tax-supported public libraries have a perplexing knot of questions to untangle now and for many years to come. Is your library one of these? Just what are the problems? What is at stake? Can solutions be had reasonably and economically-and soon? Will your library and mine-will all our libraries-be able to provide the services expected of them by Ohio's ever more numerous citizens? As librarians and trustees, have we the courage to look squarely at the "facts of life" concerning Ohio's libraries? When we have become familiar with these problems, we may find the broad and accommodating form of the solution. Let's take a look at the "facts of life." The population bomb THE FACTS OF LIFE Ohio's population is increasing rapidly. The Census Bureau estimates that the State's population will be 13 million by 1970, an increase of almost 65 percent since 1950. The mounting population is hard, cold fact No. 1. It is the inescapable, permanent background against which Ohio's library problems must be viewed and solved. All library problems in the State the new issues and the perennial ones, those of small libraries and of large ones are in great part determined and shaped by this explosive increase in population. More people-More library business In 1958, 58 million books were circulated by Ohio's tax-supported libraries— an all-time circulation high. But it is only the beginning. This is hard, cold fact No. 2. An unprecedented increase in school enrollment on all levels has taken place, with a consequent greater demand for library services from every segment of the school population. More and more adults use Ohio's libraries each year for self-improvement, Vocational information and recreation. In 1954, adults borrowed 19,693,050 books, representing 43 percent of the total State circulation. In 1959, adult circulation had risen to 26,549,114, or 46 percent of the total circulation figure. |