Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the select subcommittee, for this opportunity to testify in support of House Joint Resolutions 734 and 766, to authorize and request the President to call a White House Conference on Library and Information Services in 1976, on behalf of the American Library Society. Mr. BRADEMAS. Thank you very much, John, for a very thoughtful and obviously well prepared statement. Our next witness is Miss Jean Lowrie, president of the American Library Association. STATEMENT OF JEAN LOWRIE, PRESIDENT, THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION Dr. LowRIE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Jean E. Lowrie. I am president of the American Library Association, a nonprofit educational organization of about 30,000 members. This includes librarians, library trustees, library educators and citizens from other related professions who are interested in the promotion of quality library services. I am pleased to be here this morning to testify in support of House Joint Resolutions 734 and 766 authorizing and requesting the President to call a White House Conference on Library and Information Services in 1976. May I also say it is a pleasure for me, as a resident of the State of Michigan, to be here in support of a bill which Congressman Ford has also presented. The American Library Association is pleased to have this opportunity to testify before a committee which has through the years supported major legislation to strengthen public, school, and higher education library services. The committee's recognition of the special needs of libraries today in light of the multifaceted services offered and the exponential growth of information, has been heartening to those of us in the profession. The legislation which recognizes the need for Federal support-in the broadest interpretations-the need to bring State and national library leaders together to talk with the citizens who use these services is another important contribution. It is particularly appropriate that during 1976, the Bicentennial of our country, recognition should be given to the role of libraries. Since the beginning of our country's history under the leadership of such statesmen as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, libraries have been significant institutions in the United States. Through the years libraries have not only collected the history, the thoughts, the scientific knowledge, the arts of our citizens and of the world, they have also been of assistance to the educational needs of all people. Traditionally, libraries in the United States have been concerned about the needs of the young and the elder citizens, of the poor as well as the wealthy, of the minorities and other multiple ethnic groupsliving in all parts of the country. Libraries have become a basic part of education from kindergarten through higher and continuing educational institutions. Libraries are a part of industry, of scientific research, of cultural developments, of the wide range of intellectual and recreational needs of the individual. The American library is one of the great institutions in this country and a leader in library development internationally: I can verify this from personal experience as president of the International Association of School Librarianship. It is noteworthy that the centennial of the American Library Association the largest of all the library associations coincides with the Bicentennial of the country. Joint celebrations of these events could well be recognized by a White House Conference, Likewise, such recognition given to all library associations and the special services represented by them through the 1976 conference would be appropriate and significant. The American Library Association has already gone on record in support of such a conference, I have attached the resolution which reflects this stand to my prepared statement, as attachment A. It is dated January 28, 1972. [Attachment A follows:] ATTACHMENT A WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON LIBRARIES RESOLUTION Whereas the American public has a greater need for knowledge and for access to information than in any previous time in history; Whereas only a network of public, school, academic, and special libraries can provide information services to the total population; Whereas the American Library Association and its colleagues and affiliates possess the leadership to communicate to the American public the uses and potential of library services; Whereas only national attention to the welfare of libraries and the growth and development of their services can produce the needed wide base of support for all kinds of libraries; Whereas the National Commission on Libraries is now in being and its recommendations merit nationwide consideration; Therefore, be it Resolved, That the American Library Association call upon the President and the Congress to call a White House Conference on Libraries in the year 1974; Be it further resolved. That said conference be based upon conferences in every state and territory which involve the lay leadership of the states' communities and the library leadership from their libraries of all types; Be it further resolved. That the American Library Association offer its full cooperation in the planning of a White House Conference on Libraries. Adopted by the Council of the American Library Association at the 1972 Midwinter Meeting, Chicago, Ill., January 28, 1972. I believe this resolution points up the association's breadth of concern. We are interested in library service to all. We are concerned about who has little or no contact with reading material. We support the right to read concept. We believe that the American public has a greater need for access to information than at time in history. any other "Libraries should provide books and other materials presenting all points of view concerning the problems and issues of our times. which is stated in the library bill of rights. This is included as attach ment B to my testimony. [Attachment B follows:] ATTACHMENT B LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS The Council of the American Library Association reaffirms its belief in the following basic policies which should govern the services of all libraries. 1. As a responsibility of library service, books and other library materials selected should be chosen for values of interest, information and enlightenment of all the people of the community. In no case should library materials be excluded because of the race or nationality or the social, political, or religious views of the authors. 2. Libraries should provide books and other materials presenting all points of view concerning the problems and issues of our times; no library materials should be proscribed or removed from libraries because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval. 3. Censorship should be challenged by libraries in the maintenance of their responsibility to provide public information and enlightenment. 4. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas. 5. The rights of an individual to the use of a library should not be denied or abridged because of his age, race, religion, national origins or social or political views. 6. As an institution of education for democratic living, the library should welcome the use of its meeting rooms for socially useful and cultural activities and discussion of current public questions. Such meeting places should be available on equal terms to all groups in the community regardless of the beliefs and affiliations of their members, provided that the meetings be open to the public. Adopted June 18, 1948, Amended February 2, 1961, and June 27, 1967, by the ALA Council. By official action of the Council on February 3, 1951, the Library Bill of Rights shall be interpreted to apply to all materials and media of comunication used or collected by libraries. Dr. LOWRIE. The American Library Association also supports freedom of public access to information about the Federal Government and its activities, as recognized in the Freedom of Information Act. We urge strict enforcement of the provisions of this act. We also support the depository library program through which designated libraries receive Federal Government documents and make them available to the public. The depository system must be improved and extended, so that the program not only operates more smoothly but also provides more materials in a variety of formats. Vigorous agency support is needed to include more publications within the depository system, which has the potential to make a major contribution toward providing all the American public with access to the information they need about their government and its work. The association, however, is fully aware that libraries often appear to be "low man on the totem pole" during budget time at local, State and national levels; that a lack of understanding of their potential has limited legislative support at all levels; that there is often a breakdown in communication between library planners and other official administrators. The abrupt abandonment of Federal aid to libraries proposed this year in the fiscal year 1974 U.S. Budget is a prime example of this breakdown. This termination would have been a complete reversal of the national library policy signed into law in 1970 by President Nixon in the act establishing the National Commission on Libraries and infor mation Science, Public Law 91-345. I am pleased and gratified to say that Congress continues to reeognize its responsibility to implement this policy, most recently by approving fiscal year 1974 appropriations for all the library programs despite the zero budget recommendations. However, the public forum a White House Conference provides would enable a knowledgeable body of citizens to focus national attention on the fiscal problems of libraries. An example of the type of thinking and study needed for background preparation for the State and national conferences is the USOE-commissioned paper entitled, "Basic Issues in the Governmental Financing of Public Library Sciences." With your permission, Mr. Chairman, I would like to have this made a part of the hearing record. [Information referred to follows:] BASIC ISSUES IN THE GOVERNMENTAL FINANCING OF PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICES PREFATORY NOTE The objective of this paper is to examine and generally evaluate the bases, pat terns of support and funding mechanisms through which Federal, state and local governments finance public library services. A need exists to describe and analyze critically the extent to which existing support patterns are adequate in terms of sound principles of public finance and in the light of existing and future funding problems in the public library field. Legislative bodies at all levels of government, public library administrators and interested observers are expressing increasing concern over the funding of public library services as questions concerning role, support bases and changing library service needs become evident. Roles and responsibilities of Federal, state and local governments are being dis cussed and studied, but efforts to examine the support base as a problem in intergovernmental finance have been sporadic and diffused. Thus, the specific intent is to describe and assess the present public library financing system and to delineate key issues for consideration in either reaffirming its continued use, or in those issues and factors affecting metropolitan areas-both core city and subur the development of new approaches. Special emphasis is given to illuminating ban fringes. not The perspective includes Federal, state and local legal bases, policies and mechanisms used in financing public libraries' capital and operational needs. The issues, however, provide information essential to the development of alternative role and funding options for consideration at the Federal level. The paper intended to provide specific recommendations for action by any level of govern ment. The inquiry also suggests the need for, and possible directions of, additional research required to resolve the issues developed. The examination is based on secondary source data and available research materials and did not involve any de novo assessment of library service needs or the collection of new data on funding levels among local communities. Rodney P. Lane, Senior Associate, directed the project and was assisted by Ronald M. Whitfield, Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Bucknell University, Philip Tabas, Graduate Student in City Planning, University of Pennsylvania, and Bernard Pasqualini, Graduate Student, School of Library Science, Drexel University. Dr. Lowell A. Martin, Professor, Graduate School of Library Science, Columbia University, Mr. Keith Doms, Director, Free Library of Philadelphia, and Dr. Thomas J. Davy, Director, New Jersey Public Service Institute provided invaluable guidance and consultation to the project and critically reviewed the paper. Responsibility for the research performed and judgments expressed re main with GSS. CHARLES P. CELLA, Director, Government Studies and Systems June 1973. I. PERSPECTIVE ON PUBLIC LIBRARY FINANCE: AN OVERVIEW THE CURRENT SCENE In a number of respects, it would have been easier to prepare this paper a year or two ago when revenue sharing was more a concept and less a reality. Only four years ago, Richard Leach, writing in Libraries at Large, stated: There is no doubt that the rapid burgeoning of Federal aid to libraries in recent years has had a major impact on library needs and on the solution of the nation's library problems. Indeed, it would appear that the battle for library aid has been largely won. The Government has recognized libraries as a vital part of the total education complex and has made a definite and long-range commitment to aid libraries in fulfilling their role.1 Matching the glowing optimism of that statement against the following terse statement in the Federal Budget for FY 1974 indicates the magnitude of current turbulence in the public library financing field. Grants and payments are made to States, educational institutions, and other agencies for support of library programs under the Library Services and Construction Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the Higher, Education Act. In 1973, library programs. are being funded under a temporary continuing resolution in effect for the period from July 1, 1972, to February 28, 1973. In 1974, Federal support will be discontinued.2 Admittedly, support of libraries is one of the designated objects included in the general revenue sharing measure under which $30 billion will be distributed to states and local governments over the next five years. But even the language of the revenue sharing act is guarded and somewhat convoluted as it states: "Funds received by units of local government under this subtitle may be used only for priority expenditures. For purposes of this title, the term 'priority expenditures' means only (1) ordinary and necessary maintenance and operating expenses-and-(2) ordinary and necessary capital expenditures authorized by law" (emphasis added)." While in some instances, public libraries have already received, or have been promised, some of these funds, few library officials are sanguine about future prospects. Many agree with the statement, as The Wall Street Journal puts it, that the President's proposed budget cuts are likely to "dim" the lamp of book-learning. Federal aid to libraries respresents about $140 million-a relatively small amount, and only about 7 percent of the nation's library expenditures. Nevertheless, Federal input is crucial in the view of most librarians, perhaps far more important than direct aid. Federal programs under the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) have required and triggered a more substantial flow of state funds in support of local libraries. Oddly enough, the reported success of the present program is used as part of the argument for its elimination. More basically, however, as the Journal article points out, "The Administration says libraries are local things, which Uncle Sam has no business paying for, (and that). . . librarians can make up the loss of earmarked aid funds by persuading state and local officials to let them have revenue sharing dollars. Librarians doubt they can compete with teachers, firemen, sewage-treaters and other local operatives for those precious revenues Washington has promised to share with the states and towns and cities"." So there you have it; the main support program, for public libraries at the Federal level, which grew from its initial form in 1956, which was supported by the noblest rhetoric of successive Presidents, and which expended about $500 million in its 16-year history is now under threatened extinction. A policy of clear and continuing Federal involvement in the fiscal support and functional development of public libraries is now under threatened reversal by a program of intergovernmental fiscal reform supported by a new notion that such institutions should be the exclusive concern of state and local governments. This is the perspective of the moment, but it may prove to be transitory, depending on how Congress responds to the proposed Presidential budget cuts. and the special revenue sharing measures now under consideration. 1 Richard H. Leach, in Libraries at Large, Douglas M. Knight and E. Shepley Nourse, Editors, RR Bowker Company, New York, 1969, p. 377. 2 The Budget of the U.S., 1974, Appendix, p. 432. 3 State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act of 1972, Section 103. The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, February 27, 1973, p. 42. |