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fourth of the counties of the United States have county-wide library service. We believe that the library services bill, H. R. 5195, will meet the present need by making available sufficient Federal funds to enable unserved areas to acquire library services and will stimulate and preserve local initiative and autonomy by leaving the primary responsibility for the provision and maintenance of library facilities to the State and local governments.

The association advocates this bill under a legislative item voted by the 1951 national convention, which pledged support of: "Measures to advance the educational use of radio, television, films and other media of communication." We consider free library service to be an important facet of communication.

RESOLUTION OF THE FRANKLIN COUNTY (OHIO) LIBRARY ASSOCIATION ON THE LIBRARY SERVICES BILL

Whereas, we consider that the free public library is a fundamental public service for the use of all the people;

That, the free public library is basic to the processes of education, recreation, and the dissemination of information;

That the free public library is a fortress for American democracy in its world struggle;

That, the free public library's facilities are fundamental in providing American citizens with a means of continuing their education after they have left school; That, the free public library serves as an important forum for developing intelligent understanding of current issues and strengthening democracy at home;

And whereas, notwithstanding the generally recognized importance of the free public library as a basic public service, 30 million Americans, of whom 26 million live on farms and in small villages, are without access to a local public library: Therefore, be it

Resolved, that, it is the sense of this association that library services to areas without service or with inadequate services be promoted;

That, State library programs be accelerated by giving the State's library extension agency funds to be used for the extension of library service to rural areas;

That, a means be provided for studying the various methods of improving and extending library service employed by the several States that it may prove useful to those interested in improving library services throughout the Nation;

That, in the opinion of the assembled members of this association, the library services bill (S. 1452 and H. R. 5195) provides for these fundamental public requirements: Therefore, it is

Resolved further, That these views be made known to the Members of the United States Congress and that they be urged to give the Library Services bill prompt and favorable consideration.

FRANKLIN COUNTY (OHIO) LIBRARY ASSOCIATION,
JEANNE C. LEWIS,

PANSY FRUSH,

President, Columbus Public Library.

Corresponding Secretary, Grandview Public Library.

RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE,

FLORENCE HENDEE,

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STATEMENT IN BEHALF OF THE GENERAL FEDERATION OF WOMEN'S CLUBS BY MRS. CLARENCE D. WRIGHT, LEGISLATIVE CHAIRMAN

The General Federation of Women's Clubs has an over-all membership in the United States of 5%1⁄2 million women, with a voting per capita membership of nearly 800,000.

The general federation has been on record for many years for the extension of library services, particularly in the rural areas, and for the strengthening of existing facilities.

While we are well aware of the need to put first the requirements of our defense agencies, there would appear to be almost a necessity, especially because of the

interrupted education of many of the members of the Armed Forces, of a stepping up of educational facilities for our civilian population.

The General Federation has been interested for a long time in the slackening of book knowledge among our young people; that is, the substitution for the reading of worth-while books of various other media such as radio, movies, television. Even when one of these programs purports to give a radio or screen presentation of some classic-it does not nor can it ever contribute toward real culture and learning as the reading of the book itself would. Libraries provide aids to technical education-they open new horizons to many whose world is outside the urban areas.

We feel that no other piece of single legislation before the Congress today can contribute so much in real worth as this bill if passed.

With many of our citizens, nearly 30 million, without free library service, and many millions more with inadequate facilities, the members of the General Federation of Women's Clubs look to their representatives in the Congress of the United States to support and pass this bill.

STATEMENT OF M. D. COLLINS, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS,

ATLANTA, GA.

The State department of education is very interested in the passage of the library services bill. This aid will make it possible to strengthen weak places in the rural public library program and extend library services to those areas in Georgia not now reached.

County and regional public libraries are one of our most important adult education agencies. Through branch libraries and bookmobile service, we are able to give our rural people access to material that helps them improve their daily living and keep informed about State, national, and world affairs. Passage of H. R. 5195 will help bring this type of library service to all areas in Georgia and to unserved areas in other States.

STATEMENT OF C. S. HUBBArd, Director, DIVISION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND LIBRARY SERVICE, STATE OF GEORGIA

The passage of the library services bill is of utmost importance to us in providing more adequate library service in Georgia and in extending this service to those not yet reached by State and local programs.

I want to assure you that I am heartily in favor of this piece of legislation and if, as I sincerely hope, the bill is enacted into law, it will help us materially in providing additional educational opportunities for the people in Georgia.

STATEMENT IN BEHALF OF THE COLORADO STATE LIBRARY

The staff of the Colorado State Library, the State library advisory board (13 influential citizens from every walk of life and representing every section of the State), the Colorado Library Association, and other State organizations, including the Colorado Congress of Parents and Teachers with its 102,000 members, heartily endorse H. R. 5195 and urge its enactment into law.

The library-aid measures are backed by all but a small percentage of the library users and advocates in Colorado for the following reasons:

(1) The need for reducing the national debt: Knowledge is power. Only through the dissemination of facts concerning the colossal waste in Federal expenditures can the United States ever hope to return to solvency.

(2) The need for improving international understanding: The pen is mightier than the sword. The American people will never understand and appreciate the problems and the way of life in neighbor nations-just a few flight-hours to the north, south, east, and west-except as they read true accounts about them. By the same token, their neighbors next door should have access to true and unbiased information about the United States. (3) 275,000 Coloradans have no local public-library facilities. A greater number of the school population have entirely inadequate school libraries, or none at all. All of these individuals live in rural areas, and many are residents of submarginal sections which do not possess sufficient wealth to operate their own libraries. These people do not give up. They work

untiringly to provide their own clothing, food, and shelter, but turn to State and National Governments for library and school assistance.

(4) The State has appropriated $14,000,000 for grants-in-aid to the public schools for 1952-53. Some of these funds will be used to improve school libraries. State moneys could not be made available for direct aid to public libraries because appropriations for the fiscal year 1952-53 already exceed anticipated revenue for the year.

(5) The State library, with a 1952-53 budget of $40,000, is able to do little more than assist desperation cases in a program which should supplement all local school and public-library services. It has prepared a plan for library development, "The Colorado plan for better libraries," which, when funds become available, will do much to solve the problems in bookless areas and where libraries are below standard.

(6) Informal education for adult Coloradans is negligible in spite of the fine work of the adult education councils and the programs sponsored by public libraries throughout the State. The citizens of Colorado, aged 21 years and up, are requesting a State-wide adult-education program, for they know that the only real education a man gets is the education he gives himself. They look to Uncle Sam for help in this field and feel that the Federal taxes they pay entitle them to Federal aid for adult education. This statement is not to be construed as an official endorsement of the libraryservice bills by the State board of education, the legal body which controls the activities of the library. The board has not taken action on the matter to date, but will probably do so in April of this year.

STATEMENT OF DOROTHY DODD, SECRETARY, FLORIDA STATE LIBRARY BOARD, AND STATE LIBRARIAN, TALLAHASSEE, FLA.

As Florida's public-library agency, the Florida State Library is vitally interested in the passage of legislation, whether Federal or State, that will further the cause of better library service in our State. Florida is now well toward the bottom of the list of States in the quantity and quality of its library service. Only 58 percent of its population has such service, and much of what is offered is substandard. Less than 92 percent of the rural population has access to libraries. There are no libraries in 12 of the 67 counties, and only 2 counties give service on a county-wide basis. This situation is due in large measure to the fact that there is no State-wide library program in Florida, all library funds being derived from local sources.

The library-service bill is designed to stimulate the States to strengthen existing library services and to extend them to rural sections. Florida is greatly in need of such a stimulus. The State library and the Florida Library Association are sponsoring State legislation for the improvement and equalization of library facilities throughout the State. Should the library-service bill become a law, its offer of matching funds would constitute a strong incentive for enactment of the desired State legislation. It is for this reason, more than for the actual monetary benefits provided, that the Florida State Library strongly endorses the bill.

IDAHO STATE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION,
IDAHO STATE COLLEGE LIBRARY,
Pocatello, Idaho, March 28, 1952.

AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION,
Washington Office, Hotel Congressional,

To Whom It May Concern:

Washington, D. C.

There is a

Idaho has no State library agency, in the usual sense of the word. State traveling library which supplies books on request to outlying areas. As president of the Idaho State Library Association and speaking for its membership, I wish to present the following statement of what the library-service bill (H. R. 5195) would mean to this State:

It would make available to Idaho money not otherwise available to improve the very inadequate library service now provided throughout the State. Fifty-one and eight-tenths percent of Idaho's population is now without citv, county, or regional library service. Only 5 of the 48 States have a higher percentage of the whole population without local library service. Idaho's percentage unserved is

the highest to be found in any of the 11 Western States, and the expenditure per person per year (25 cents) is the lowest of any of the 11 Western States except Arizona. Ten of Idaho's forty-four counties have no library of any kind within their borders. Three hundred and five thousand of the slightly less than six hundred thousand now living in Idaho have no library service. The libraryservice bill will provide the added stimulation necessary to prod this State into a constructive program of State-wide library service.

By means of matching grants-in-aid, the library-service bill will enable States such as Idaho, with heavily rural populations, to broaden the scope of library service so that eventually all citizens may have equal opportunity for library service. We earnestly hope that the subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee, which is now considering H. R. 5195, will see fit to recommend this urgent bill for approval by the committee, and later by the entire House of Representatives.

Sincerely yours,

ELI M. OBOLER, President.

ILLINOIS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION,

March 27, 1952.

Miss JULIA D. BENNETT,

Director, American Library Association, Washington Office,
Hotel Congressional, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MISS BENNETT: On behalf of the Illinois Library Association, I wish to endorse library-service bill 5195. This legislation is of great importance to the State of Illinois. In this State, 22.9 percent of the population live in rural areas and an additional large segment lives in cities and towns with a population under 25,000.

More than 1,000,000 live in localities which are outside the service area of a public library, and many more live in small cities and towns with inadequate library service. Only through grants-in-aid will it be possible to provide for this large segment of our population the access to books and ideas essential to enlightened citizenship in a democracy.

Sincerely yours,

GERTRUDE E. GSCHEIDLE, President.

STATEMENT OF BLANCHE A. SMITH, LIBRARIAN, STATE TRAVELING LIBRARY, DES MOINES, IOWA

All librarians and friends of libraries in Iowa who are interested in equalizing library opportunities of the State are eager to see the library-service bill (H. R. 5195) passed and put into action.

Our State lags behind many of our neighbors in its library facilities. The people who live in rural areas (unless they happen to live in one of the six counties where they have county-wide service) are receiving substandard library fare.

We believe that a demonstration of good service will help to prove to them what they deserve and should have. Knowing that the State can afford the best in everything, we believe that no one will want to accept inadequate library service after experiencing something so much better.

This should be made possible by H. R. 5195. We are fervently hoping that it will be favorably considered by the committee and the House.

JULIA BENNETT,

FRANKFORT, Kr., March 31, 1952.

Director, American Library Association, Washington Office,

Hotel Congressional, Washington, D. C.:

Passage of library-service bill would help immeasurably to improve library conditions in Kentucky, where 80 percent of rural population lack public library service. Should help also to combat appalling illiteracy rate. Forty-seven counties without public libraries. State-aid bill just passed by legislature would provide matching fund for basic grant.

FRANCES JANE PORTER, Director, Library Extension Division.

LOUISIANA'S LIBRARY NEEDS FOR FEDERAL FUNDS

Louisiana's library program, started 27 years ago, has resulted in the establishment of 34 permanently supported libraries serving rural people. Prior to that time there were five small-town libraries but no rural service. Today there are 2 parishes in demonstration status, leaving 28 of the 64 parishes with no publiclibrary service for their entire population. Ten of these have asked the State

library for a demonstration.

Although Louisiana has a plan for State-wide service and has laid the foundation in 34 parishes, there still remains the superstructure which would provide for adult-education programs and teen-age group projects, reading guidance for many thousands of citizens, citizenship programs, etc.

Without Federal aid it will take 50 years, at the present rate of progress, to place a library in every parish and complete the superstructure of adequate library service, even though Louisiana has furnished more funds for demonstrations than any other State.

In Louisiana, with the highest rate of illiteracy, the adults are learning to read from children's A B C books. We are convinced that a library in every parish

will raise the level of education.

With so many boys turned down by the Army because of insufficient education, we should not wait 50 years, or even 5, to do something to educate the underprivileged. This the libraries can help to accomplish more than any other educational institution if funds are made available to them. Without a public library, including bookmobile service, and with 70 percent of the school children dropping out of school before finishing high school, these boys and girls and their parents have no way of informing themselves on current events and world conditions. The Federal Government and the State working together can hasten the day when ignorance and superstition are eradicated in our United States.

Statement of HELEN M. CLArk, Director, Division of LIBRARY EXTENSION, MARYLAND STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, BALTIMORE, MD.

More than 200,000 Marylanders live on farms and in small villages in areas without free public-library service. This means that almost 30 percent of our rural citizens have no public libraries. Another 450,000 rural Maryland citizens, or 62 percent, live in areas where county-wide library service has been established during the last 6 years, but the income for these libraries has been so low that these people have not yet had a chance to know the possibilities of good library service.

When the library-service bill is passed, Maryland will receive almost $110,000 for each of the succeeding 5 years. The division of library extension of the Maryland State Department of Education has not set up an exact plan for using this money, but it is safe to say that much of it will be used to increase and improve the rural services of county libraries already established, as well as to make it possible that the rural residents of all the counties can have libraries.

The fact that 14 of our 23 counties have legally established libraries is evidence that Maryland people are interested in good public library service for rural as well as city people. The fact that our citizens who are interested in library development, led by library trustees of the established country libraries, are requesting an additional 40 cents per capita in State aid for our public libraries, and the fact that all State organizations interested in the improvement of education approve this request, shows that Maryland is already making a big effort to develop good libraries. The Federal aid as prescribed in the library-service bills (S. 1452 and H. R. 5195) now before Congress will make it possible to demonstrate what good library service can do and show more reason for increasing our State and local appropriations for libraries.

STATEMENT OF MRS. LOLETA D. FYAN, IN BEHALF OF MICHIGAN STATE LIBRARY FOR LABOR COMMITTEE ON HOUSE BILL 5195, LIBRARY SERVICE BILL

At this time the Michigan State Library would like to call your attention to the great need for additional funds to increase and extend library service.

In Michigan, in spite of 10 years concentrated efforts to get local library service for all residents of the State, there are still some 850,000 people without. Part of

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