selves setting up small book centers in rural areas so that books might be circulated to neighborhood children during the summers.

In Kansas, just before the passage of the Library Services Act, I discovered in one small town a library in the little town's only barbershop. A group of townswomen were kept steadily busy trying to raise funds for the purchase of more and more books, while a high school girl served as librarian after school. That barbershop bothered me. It took my professor-husband to straighten me out on that one. "Discouraging?" he scoffed. "Why that little town will be a natural for a branch once a county library is organized." How right he was. Today the Library Services Act is helping to bring a county library

nearer.

Many parents saw the Library Services Act as a means of equalizing opportunity for all children. These are the parents who want for all children what they want for their own. They saw the act as a positive answer to the troubling problem of trashy books and magazines; the act would make it easier to read something good. They saw the act as a means of acquiring trained librarians to help provide the know-how they so desperately needed. No longer need they work alone. The act would strengthen and extend State agencies; it would necessitate State planning based on local community needs.

This cooperative planning is one of the most satisfying aspects of the Library Services Act. The partnership of local, State, and Federal Governments has brought about exciting gains. There has been an increase of 54 percent in State appropriations across the country for the development of public library services; local appropriations have increased 45 percent. Through planned demonstrations, the public has discovered that a library is more than a miscellaneous collection of books; that a good library doesn't just happen. It comes about usually when the library is served by a well-prepared librarian. Because so many communities had never experienced effective service, citizens were often content with what was no library at all. And we ran into this when we were working on the legislation in my own State. People would say, "We have a nice little library." This is why the demonstrations going on all over the Nation, thanks to the act, are creating so much enthusiasm and interest. Having discovered what library service can really mean, aroused citizens are ready and willing to help secure these services on a permanent rather than demonstration basis through increase in local levies.

In Kansas in 1957, there were 283 public libraries but 200 of these were so small that individual operating budgets were less than $2,000, really closer to $1,500; $2,000 annually for rent, light, heat, books, periodicals, and the salary of a part-time librarian cannot provide needed services. Thanks to the act, citizens are coming to realize that if adequate services are to be provided to children, to youth, and to adults, the tax base must be broadened, which of necessity means the establishment of county and regional libraries. County and regional developments over the Nation under the act have brought public library service for the first time to 1 million rural children and adults. Yet with the act due to expire on June 30, 1961, more than 21 million rural residents in towns with a population of 10,000 or less still have no public library service, while additional millions

have only inadequate service and 150 counties still have no public library service within their borders.

In my State, 556,000 persons are still without access to local library service. Some of these persons are partially served through direct mail service of the State commission but obviously much more is needed. Packages shipped by mail do have a surprise element but there is nothing compared to the satisfaction and the joy of selecting books for one's self from an up-to-date inviting array of bookswhether from shelves in a fixed branch with its frequent replacements or from a bookmobile.

Kansas is an agricultural State. Its cities are few, its small towns many, with distances great between towns in the western third of the State. There are very few bookstores where people can see i books before purchasing, except for the drugstore on the corner. The Kansas plan for receiving funds under the act called for strengthening the traveling libraries commission as the State agency is called; it recognized the need for changing the emphasis of service from that of chiefly loaning collections of books to the broader aspects of extension which would include education, planning, and consultation, leading to broader administrative units. It was necessary to think of what could be done immediately and what should be considered long range. Sending book exhibits with a member of the staff to workshops and meetings was an immediate task as was sending the two new bookmobiles-again thanks to the act-to 4-H, county, and State fairs and to other State meetings so citizens could really see a bookmobile with its promise of more good things to come. Two station wagons now make it possible to move the staff out over the State quickly and economically.

Kansas has a long way to go. There was only one professional staff member when the act became effective; three professionals have been added with three clerical assistants. Probably the chief contribution made to Kansas, however, has been in the increase in the number and quality of books purchased by the State agency. Before 1956, the most ever available for books in the budget was $16,000 in any given year. Since the act, approximately 50 percent of Federal funds or $38,000 to $50,000, has been spent for books in each of the 3 years. This does two things: It gives a new, attractive workable collection for conventional services and it develops also a backlog of worthwhile books for demonstrations and projects now in the planning stage. If Library Services Act funds are not continued, the book collection will again be drastically reduced. Books have been pouring out over the State; more people are seeing and using books. All this has been a process of laying foundations for the future. With extension of the act for another 5 years, projects now in the planning can be well established and future developments made more secure.

The Kansas Farmer magazine recently published a letter from an enthusiastic rural mother describing her family's satisfaction with the expanded State program. As a result of her letter, great numbers of requests for information began pouring into the Commission from Kansas and even from neighboring States. Thousands of rural families are grateful to the Congress for what it has done to develop this major educational and cultural service so long neglected. They

have seen, as have I, small communities come alive, sparked with new interest and hope through the provision of better book opportunities under the act.

Full appropriations for the entire Nation, however, are still far short of the bare minimum authorized by the act. Of the $7.5 million authorized annually, only 63.5 percent has been appropriated during the first 4 years. Inflation too has cut the value of the dollar as it was calculated in 1946 when the legislation was first proposed. The job, though well begun, is only half done.

I, therefore, strongly urge extension of the act in this 2d session of the 86th Congress. I am joined in this by eager children in little towns and farms all over Kansas, by aspiring teenagers, by earnest parents and teachers, by hard working business and professional men and women, by lonely men and women living out their days in rest homes-by all the people who find in books lasting truths, ideas to nurture and sustain us all if we are to remain strong and free.

Thank you very much for the privilege of appearing before this subcommittee.

Mr. ELLIOTT. Thank you very much, Mrs. Gagliardo. Your statement is very fine, very inspiring, and most helpful to our subcommittee. You brought us a very moving story of what is going on in your State under the Library Services Act and through the cooperation of the State, the counties, and the townships in this endeavor. The same is true generally, so far as I have been able to ascertain, in all the States. To my way of thinking, it would be unthinkable not to continue this program for another 5 years.

Do you feel we have gained sufficient momentum that the progress in the next 5 years will be greater than in the past 5 years?

Mrs. GAGLIARDO. I feel that very strongly. I say this because of the eagerness for library services, particularly of mothers in our rural areas who want their children to have the same opportunities that children in the urban areas have. And they do not stay put, you know.

Mr. ELLIOTT. I share your view that there is eagerness for the service, and I also share your view that they do not stay put. America has a very moving population.

Any questions, Mr. Wainright?

Mr. WAINWRIGHT. I feel I may be giving secrets away, but I know the chairman feels so strongly about this and that it is such a worthwhile project, we are trying to get the Speaker to suspend the rules and get this legislation out in short order. I am on the Republican side, and, although from time to time there are Republican voices that may be heard, we are in the minority.

Mr. ELLIOTT. Any questions, Mr. Giaimo?

Mr. GIAIMO. Mrs. Gagliardo, I want to thank you for your testimony today and I would like to ask you, do you recall the testimony we had earlier about the fact that people in Georgia are reading twice as many books as heretofore? Is that true in Kansas?

Mrs. GAGLIARDO. I could not say twice, but I gave the figures on the amounts spent for books in Kansas, that before 1956, $16,000 was the most that had been spend for books in any year, and, since the act, the lowest amount has been $38,000 and it has gone from $38,000 to $50,000. Through the stimulus of the act, more persons have been

touched by the bookmobile service and as the number of people touched is extended, it means all kinds of people at all economic levels become more interested.

I was here all last week at the White House Conference, and I was here in 1950, and it was one of the most thrilling things to discover how this Library Services Act program is felt all over the Nation as demonstrated by the 7,000 delegates who were here. All of us believe in motherhood and homes and now we have discovered that here is something we no longer dare take for granted. It has been a wonderful inspiration to me to hear you gentlemen and the other Members of Congress who testified here this morning.

Mr. ELLIOTT. Thank you, Mrs. Gagliardo.

At this point, without objection, the statement of the Honorable Elizabeth Kee, a Representative in Congress from the Fifth West Virginia District, in support of this legislation will be made a part of the record.

(The statement follows:)

STATEMENT OF HON. ELIZABETH KEE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA

Mr. Chairman and other distinguished members of the Subcommittee on Special Education of the House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor.

I am grateful to you for the opportunity to present this statement in support of the measures pending before your subcommittee which provide for the extension of the Library Services Act.

It was my privilege to support the Library Services Act when it was passed by the Congress and I have consistently supported the full appropriations of $7,500,000 for fiscal years 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, and 1961.

In this connection, I think it is significant that, since the Library Services Act went into effect on July 1, 1956, State aid to public library extensions has increased by 54 percent.

I am pleased to report that the Library Services Act is really beginning to make an impact in West Virginia. This is a vitally needed service and I have found in my travels through the Fifth Congressional District of West Virginia that our citizens are increasingly asking me the question, "How do we go about getting service for our county?" This service is providing the opportunity for many of our citizens to improve themselves who would not have the opportunity to do so otherwise.

Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I feel that it is essential, if we are to continue to progress as a nation, that the Library Services Act be extended for a period of at least 5 years beyond the present expiration date of June 30, 1961, and I will be grateful for anything that you and the members of your committee may be able to do to accomplish this most desirable objective.

Mr. ELLIOTT. It is a real pleasure for me to recognize at this time a distinguished Member of Congress from my native State of Alabama, Hon. Kenneth A. Roberts. Mr. Roberts' interest in this legislation is of long standing, and he has introduced a bill, H.R. 11000, for the purpose of extending the Library Services Act. May I say that we are privileged to have you, Mr. Roberts, and are happy to have the benefit of your views.

STATEMENT OF HON. KENNETH A. ROBERTS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ALABAMA

Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. Chairman, it is always a great privilege for me to participate in a hearing in which my illustrious colleague from Alabama has the chair. All of us in Alabama are proud of the sig

nificant contributions you have made in so many areas of education and, in the specific field with which we are concerned today.

Mr. Chairman, I appear in support of the legislation you authored and in which I was glad to join you by introducing H.R. 11000, to extend the Library Services Act for 5 years, and for other purposes.

In the 84th Congress, when we established this program, I very diligently supported it because I believed firmly that the tangible and intangible benefits would far outweigh the contribution we would have to make to this program.

Since that time I have been delighted at the manner in which this program has functioned. Hundreds of thousands of American people who previously had no access to local public library facilities today can easily grasp the pleasure and enlightenment which only the reading of literature can bring.

I have been highly pleased that this program has operated with such mutual cooperation from local, State, and Federal authorities; with no overriding Federal interference, but with State and local control over the program.

In Alabama, the extension of library services has gained considerable impetus from the passage of the Library Services Act.

As the chairman knows, the chief objective of public library development in Alabama as set forth in the State code under the section authorizing a State agency for this purpose, is "the development of a cooperative system of providing books and library service for the various cities and counties of the State."

This objective has received added benefit in developing such service in rural areas of the State under the provision of the Library Services Act.

In the approved State plan for the use of funds allotted to Alabama under the Library Services Act, the program has two parts: (1) the improvement of the services of the public library service office of the State; and (2) the development of regional or multicounty library systems, including establishment of new systems and improvement and expansion of already existing systems.

Mr. Chairman, at the close of my remarks, I would like to include a report on library services in the counties of the Fourth Congressional District of Alabama. It is the type of work being done in these counties and the need yet existing in some of these counties that convinces me that the library services program should continue.

I urge the favorable consideration of the legislation which would extend the Library Services Act for 5 years and authorize appropriations sufficient for that period.

Thank you.

(The report referred to follows:)

REPORT ON LIBRARY SERVICES IN FOURTH ALABAMA DISTRICT

ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Along with Shelby County, St. Clair County in December of 1956 formed the Coosa Valley Regional Library, thus becoming one of the first counties in Alabama to participate in the program under the Library Services Act. Local and county officials worked together closely to establish a bookmobile, library, and equipment where no library services previously existed. The city of Pell City gave quarters for the library in its new municipal building.