Mrs. T. J. Lassiter, chairman, Johnston County Board of Library Trustees, Mrs. Karl Neal, acting executive secretary, Arkansas Library Commission, Little E. H. Dahlke, librarian, Conway-Perry Regional Library, Morrilton, Ark. Elizabeth Malone, librarian, the public library of Jonesboro and Craighead County, Jonesboro, Ark. Stephen A. McCarthy, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, N. Y. Mrs. R. C. Taylor, legislative chairman, Albany branch, A. A. U. W., Delmar, N. Y. Dorothy A. Vibbard, 225 Lark Street, Albany 10, N. Y. John Mackenzie Cory, 333 East Forty-first Street, New York, N. Y. Dr. L. A. Eldridge, Jr., Rensselaerville, N. Y. Iola Exum, Snow Hill, N. C. Floda V. Smith, librarian, Union College Library, Lincoln 6, Nebr. G. H. Moore, county supervisor, department of education, Batesville, Ark. Kathleen B. Stebbins, executive secretary, Special Libraries Association, New York 3, N. Y. Helen A. Ridgway, chief, Bureau of Libraries, State of Connecticut, Hartford, Mrs. Marian M. Foulk, 207 West Twentieth Street, Wilmington, Del. Mrs. Elsa Smith Thompson, librarian, Albuquerque Public Library, Albuquerque, Cora E. Mason, president, Oregon Library Association, Ashland, Oreg. (The following statements and letters were received and, pursuant to the orders of the chairman, are made a part of the record:) NEW YORK CITY, April 2, 1952. Hon. BOYD TACKETT, DEAR SIR: May I identify myself: Arthur A. Houghton, Jr. I am president of Steuben Glass, Inc., and a director of Corning Glass Works, a company which operates 18 manufacturing plants in 10 different communities in the United States. I appreciate this opportunity of making a statement to the committee on H. R. 5195, the library service bill. Experience in business over the past many years has led me to the conviction that adequate library service is a prerequisite to any industrial community. Continuing decentralization of industry, with the building of plants in smaller communities, raises the urgent necessity of extension of library service into hitherto neglected rural areas. No longer does industry select locations for new plants upon economic factors alone. The educational, cultural, and recreational facilities that will be available to employees weigh heavily in the decisions of modern management. It is well, for a balanced and progressive nation, that industry continue its expansion into the small communities. But the economic benefits resulting therefrom must be accompanied by facilities whereby the population of those areas may become more literate and better informed. Educational process does not terminate when formal education ends. A sound educational program is a life-long program. Just as the public school is the backbone of a formal educational program, so the public library is the core of an adult educational program. Adult education is not a peripheral luxury. On the contrary, adult education which derives from the widespread use of libraries is indispensable to our modern industrial society. There is a direct relationship between the amount of education that an individual has secured and his earning power. I know of no better investment that our Government can make on behalf of its citizens than to encourage and support library service in rural and rural-industrial areas. I sincerely urge the passage of this bill, which will unquestionably strengthen and extend the States' existing, but presently inadequate, library services. Respectfully yours, ARTHUR A. HOUGHTON, Jr. STATEMENT OF FRANCES HAMILTON, IN BEHALF OF ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDHOOD EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL The Association for Childhood Education International wishes to endorse the library services bill (H. R. 5195) because its members by vote of delegates have approved the objectives outlined in the bill. Approval of extending free public library service to all areas now without it stems from the concern of our members that all children may have books readily available to them as a part of their living and learning. Libraries and library service contribute to the satisfactory development of children. The habit of using books and libraries once established in childhood usually continues throughout life. Thus he has the opportunity of continuing his education and becoming a more and more intelligent citizen. This association supports this effort to strengthen the State and local agencies charged with the primary responsibility for providing free public library service. We believe that the time to strengthen the library movement is now. We must strengthen our democratic institutions which provide information and truth to our citizens. Public library service has been developed in the American tradition for this purpose and should be available to all Americans. The library services bill is designed to provide Federal help in strengthening State and local agencies so that they may more effectively perform their duty in extending library service. It is careful to limit Federal participation so that control of policies, administration, and operation of library service is left in the hands of the State and local governments. Besides specific provisions against Federal interference in local control, the bill limits Federal participation to a term of a few years and limits Federal financial aid to a sum so modest that it cannot possibly impose Federal control over local library service. The bill as drawn will assist State library agencies in the extension of library service to rural areas now without such services, it fosters local initiative and does not seek to impose any one method of extension or standard of service. The children of this country need the contact with books provided by libraries. They need to read of our great American traditions. They need to become acquainted with the beauties of our great literature. They need a source of dependable information. The Association for Childhood Education International urges the passage of the library services bill so that all children may have ready access to books and to the happiness, the satisfaction and the wisdom to be found in them. Hon. BOYD TACKETT, TACOMA PUBLIC LIBRARY, Tacoma 3, Wash., March 28, 1952. Member, Committee on Education and Labor, 1517 House Office Building, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: I want to take this opportunity to express my interest in the library services bill as expressed in H. R. 5195. This interest in the creating of opportunities for the people of our country to become better informed, and, therefore better educated extends over many years. I believe the library services bill will do a great deal in making these opportunities available, especially in the great rural areas of our country. It has been my privilege to nave had a definite part in furthering the development of these opportunities at the local, State, and National levels as they are related to library service. At the present time I hold active memberships in the following organizations; American Library Association, Washington Library Association, Washington Association of Library Trustees, Pacific Northwest Library Association, Canadian Library Association, British Columbia Library Association, and corresponding membership in the Library Association of England. As a member of the board of regents of the College of Puget Sound, I am chairman of the library building committee. I am also a member of the Washington State Library Commission, president of the board of trustees of the Tacoma Public Library, and a member of the executive board of the American Library Association. The close contact which I have had with the problems of library development has made me aware of the need for Federal aid in attempting to help the advancement of the opportunities of the people to have available to them the 5195 are necessary and will prove a great source of assistance in the effort to extend public libraries facilities in rural areas. I have received a communication from Miss Elizabeth House, secretary and director of the North Carolina Library Commission, Raleigh, N. C., and she wishes me to present to your committee her statement on H. R. 5195 as follows: "Passage of the library services bill, H. R. 5195, can mean the extension of public library service to all North Carolinians through larger and stronger units of service and the enrichment of public library service throughout the State. The existing libraries with inadequate informational resources and limited professional personnel are not meeting the needs of our citizens. Each year more Tarheels are turning to their public libraries as their source of reliable information and we are selling them short with only one-half book per capita, and in many instances no professional assistance to help in securing desired information. "Provisions of the library services bill will help improve these limited public facilities in North Carolina." This morning I received the following telegram from the board of trustees, Scotland County Memorial Library, Laurinburg, N. C.: "We as a board favor the library services bill and appreciate your support of it." To cite two other recent statements on this bill which I have received from librarians in my district, I wish to quote from a letter, dated March 24, 1952, which I received from Mrs. Dorothy H. Avery, Moore County librarian, Southern Pines, N. C.: "We hope that you will do everything you can to push the bill for Federal aid to rural libraries through this session of Congress." I quote from a letter dated March 25, 1952, which I received from Mr. Neal Austin, librarian of the Union County Public Library, Monroe, N. C., as follows: "I have learned today that the House Committee on Education and Labor will hold hearings at an early date on H. R. 5195. We are very much interested in this bill, and we trust that you will support it before the committee and on the floor of the House." The above statements received from public library officials in my congressional district and in the State of North Carolina supply forceful evidence that the provisions of H. R. 5195 are needed by the citizens, particularly in rural areas, in my congressional district and in North Carolina. Accordingly, I am hoping that the House Committee on Education and Labor will report out H. R. 5195 within the near future and that this bill will receive a favorable vote by Congress during the current session. STATEMENT OF GEORGE D. RILEY, MEMBER, NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR The American Federation of Labor adds its voice in support of the purposes of H. R. 5195. We can suggest nothing which can offer so much for so little in the cause of extending education to the more remote regions of the United States than does H. R. 5195. It is plainly the case of bringing library service to the people who till now have had less opportunity to avail themselves of such service, rather than for the people to have to use their best devices to go to the nearest library facilities. It is truly a case of bringing the "mountain" to the people. Typically, the American Federation of Labor has less membership among the regions to be served by this legislation. But the American Federation of Labor's interest in serving all the people with facilities which are of such importance as library services is widely known. The need for the legislation will be set forth quite clearly by those who are close to the problem. The purpose of the present statement is to express our intense interest in the advancement of this service to those it will serve best. STATEMENT BY CONSTANCE WARREN, CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN The American Association of University Women, an association of over 120,000 college graduates organized in 1,195 local branches, is on record as supporting legislation to extend free libraries to unserved areas. At present there are some 30 million people without access to any kind of public libraries. Less than one 97852-52- -6 so that children who live in rural areas will not be deprived of equal educational opportunities. Many young people are dissatisfied with the lack of educational and recreational facilities in rural areas; they go to the cities at an early age, and are forced by their lack of education into unsatisfactory jobs and poor living conditions. Adequate rural library facilities can do much toward encouraging stability of rural population. Many adults living in rural areas eagerly desire books for self-education, as well as recreational reading. Self-improvement is the primary motivation of mankind; every man should be given every possible means to aid his self-improve ment. Rural areas, because of sparse population and comparatively low incomes, require help in establishing library facilities. Most communities are doing their best to obtain and extend local library services by use of local funds; several State governments are assisting their counties and communities, but more encouragement is needed. The library services bill is designed to encourage the establishment and extension of rural library facilities. This legislation is urgently needed to further assert the actuality of the principles of our democracy. Miss JULIA D. BENNETT, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, Hotel Congressional, Washington 3, D. C. DEAR MISS BENNETT: I should like to speak in behalf of the library service bill as president of the Association of College and Reference Libraries. The arguments for and against this bill are pretty well known by everyone by this time, I would suppose. Perhaps the one new contribution that I might make would be for me to tell you why college and university librarians think it important that there be better public library facilities than most parts of the country now enjoy. We believe this for reasons that are patriotic in terms of the good of the whole country and perhaps selfish in terms of the welfare of college and university libraries. Every day we see examples of students who fail to get all that they should out of their college education because of the fact that they went to schools which did not have books to read in them. We see clearly that our system of college education in this country depends on the success with which schools educate children during the years preceding the college level. Perhaps it is true that the States could afford adequate school and public libraries without a Federal-aid bill. The facts of life are that they have not done so, and I see no sign that they are increasingly willing to do so. The library service bill would, it seems to me, stimulate interest in libraries in a way that nothing else can. Then, of course, we college people see the problem from another direction. Our graduates go out into business and the professions eager to take their active part in the furtherance of our culture and when they find themselves in towns without good public libraries, they soon being to lose the learning habits they acquired in college. This is unfortunate because sooner or later the person who stops reading books is going to know less than he did before. If the library service bill would stimulate the development of good public libraries, I believe that college graduates could be more effective citizens than they are now. Therefore, for these and other reasons which are well known to all, I sincerely hope the library service bill will be passed. Cordially yours, RALPH E. ELLSWORTH, STATEMENT BY HON. CHARLES B. DEANE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA Mr. Chairman, I wish to take this opportunity to express to the members of the House Committee on Education and Labor my support of H. R. 5195 upon which your committee is now holding hearings. From time to time, I have been in touch with the librarians of the county public libraries in my congressional district and I have found that they unanimously feel that the provisions of H. R. 5195 are necessary and will prove a great source of assistance in the effort to extend public libraries facilities in rural areas. I have received a communication from Miss Elizabeth House, secretary and director of the North Carolina Library Commission, Raleigh, Ñ. C., and she wishes me to present to your committee her statement on H. R. 5195 as follows: "Passage of the library services bill, H. R. 5195, can mean the extension of public library service to all North Carolinians through larger and stronger units of service and the enrichment of public library service throughout the State. The existing libraries with inadequate informational resources and limited professional personnel are not meeting the needs of our citizens. Each year more Tarheels are turning to their public libraries as their source of reliable information and we are selling them short with only one-half book per capita, and in many instances no professional assistance to help in securing desired information. "Provisions of the library services bill will help improve these limited public facilities in North Carolina." This morning I received the following telegram from the board of trustees, Scotland County Memorial Library, Laurinburg, N. C.: "We as a board favor the library services bill and appreciate your support of it." To cite two other recent statements on this bill which I have received from librarians in my district, I wish to quote from a letter, dated March 24, 1952, which I received from Mrs. Dorothy H. Avery, Moore County librarian, Southern Pines, N. C.: "We hope that you will do everything you can to push the bill for Federal aid to rural libraries through this session of Congress." I quote from a letter dated March 25, 1952, which I received from Mr. Neal Austin, librarian of the Union County Public Library, Monroe, N. C., as follows: "I have learned today that the House Committee on Education and Labor will hold hearings at an early date on H. R. 5195. We are very much interested in this bill, and we trust that you will support it before the committee and on the floor of the House." The above statements received from public library officials in my congressional district and in the State of North Carolina supply forceful evidence that the provisions of H. R. 5195 are needed by the citizens, particularly in rural areas, in my congressional district and in North Carolina. Accordingly, I am hoping that the House Committee on Education and Labor will report out H. R. 5195 within the near future and that this bill will receive a favorable vote by Congress during the current session. Statement of George D. RILEY, MEMBER, National LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR The American Federation of Labor adds its voice in support of the purposes of H. R. 5195. We can suggest nothing which can offer so much for so little in the cause of extending education to the more remote regions of the United States than does H. R. 5195. It is plainly the case of bringing library service to the people who till now have had less opportunity to avail themselves of such service, rather than for the people to have to use their best devices to go to the nearest library facilities. It is truly a case of bringing the "mountain" to the people. Typically, the American Federation of Labor has less membership among the regions to be served by this legislation. But the American Federation of Labor's interest in serving all the people with facilities which are of such importance as library services is widely known. The need for the legislation will be set forth quite clearly by those who are close to the problem. The purpose of the present statement is to express our intense interest in the advancement of this service to those it will serve best. STATEMENT BY CONSTANCE WARREN, CHAIRMAN OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN The American Association of University Women, an association of over 120,000 college graduates organized in 1,195 local branches, is on record as supporting legislation to extend free libraries to unserved areas. At present there are some 30 million people without access to any kind of public libraries. Less than one 97852-52-6 |