Grants to institutions of higher education will fulfill the objectives of increasing opportunities for training in librarianship when applications show that institutional proposals will (1) extend the present enrollment in schools of the library and information sciences; (2) expand present curriculums in the library and information sciences to include one or more additional areas of study; or (3) establish a new program in library and/or information science.

To inaugurate responsible planning for professional library personnel trained to provide quality library service in the education libraries of this Nation, priority will be placed upon (1) training new students interested in professional library careers and (2) providing in-service training opportunities for experienced but incompletely trained persons. The existing shortages of professionals are crippling library service programs which have 8,500 budgeted vacancies. Therefore; initial training programs will be encouraged to further the training started by those individuals presently serving in libraries as subprofessionals while at the same time providing training opportunities for new career entrants. The fellowship assistance aspect of this program is particularly important. In the past, without such inducement the abler students have been lost to other fields of endeavor in which financial assistance was more readily available.

The present number of professionally trained librarians for school, public, and college and university libraries needs to be nearly doubled in order to meet the requirements for minimum quality service. The Nation's schools need 97,500 more new librarians; colleges and universities need 4,000 more; and public libraries need 4,500 additional professional staff.

The number of newly graduated information scientists is also insufficient to meet the personnel needs of research and information centers being created in government, scientific laboratories, and commerce and business.

Approximately 50 percent of the Nation's library schools cannot meet minimum accreditation standards due to insufficient budgetary support. The teaching staff of such schools is particularly weak.

Explanation of requirements

An appropriation of $1 million in 1966 and $3,750,000 in 1967 will provide the following:

(c) Research and demonstration projects

Part B of title II also authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to institutions of higher education and other public or private agencies for research and demonstration projects relating to the improvement of libraries or the improvement of training in librarianship. Included are research on efficient methods of storing and retrieving recorded information; research on the effective use of library manpower and library organization and administration; research on the kinds and the varieties of services required by students, teachers, and researchers; and research directed toward the evaluations of the effectiveness of library services in schools, colleges, and public research libraries. An amount of $3.550,000 is requested for such research.

The demands upon our Nation's libraries are increasing rapidly both in quantity and complexity as a result of population growth and man's swiftly increasing knowledge. In recent years there has been a flood of new publications: the number of new books published annually has nearly doubled over a 5-year period. These factors, coupled with a phenomenal growth in research activities, make it

imperative that libraries operate with speed and efficiency in meeting demands for study and research materials. Just as research in education is producing change and innovation in the educational process, research in libraries and information sciences is essential if libraries are to meet the demands of research and scholarship effectively.

In recent years there has been very little money spent for library research. It is estimated that in 1964 less than half a million dollars of the $15.3 billion Federal support for research and development was spent on library research. Only with research can there be the more effective growth of library and information services essential to the continuing advancement of knowledge. Just as libraries have long been the servants of research, now research must serve to improve the efficiency and capabilities of libraries.

These funds will provide for grants to qualified applicants for the initiation of library research projects. These projects will help solve innumerable problems such as the storage and retrieval of all recorded information in print, on tape, film, disks, punched cards, or other media, the development of equipment to handle information problems, and the development of State, regional, and national information systems capable of handling our diverse educational and information needs and research requirements. It is estimated that approximately 70 projects will be initiated in fiscal year 1967 with the requested $3,550,000.

(d) Strengthening college and research library resources

The college and university libraries of the country currently face a critical situation in attempting to gain prompt and effective cataloging control of everincreasing quantities of important materials being published throughout the world. It is anticipated that the centralized cataloging of these books at the Library of Congress will eliminate wasteful duplication of effort among universities and will provide the most efficient use of the limited human resources available in this field.

The Library of Congress at present is meeting part of the national library needs by selling copies of the catalog cards it prepares for its own collections to other libraries having the same titles. The Library of Congress now provides a most satisfactory service in comprehensively acquiring and promptly cataloging American publications. It is less complete in its coverage of English language titles published in other parts of the world. It is least satisfactory in its coverage of foreign language titles. College and university libraries acquire heavily in the latter two categories, and it is here that this program is aimed to provide assistance.

The Library of Congress has not yet attempted to acquire all publications, particularly foreign, in all fields of knowledge. But even the foreign language material currently acquired by the Library of Congress is not being cataloged with sufficient promptness to meet the needs of the academic community.

This program will enable the Library of Congress to accelerate the acquisition and the cataloging of all newly published material which it ordinarily selects for its own collections and to be able to supply printed catalog cards within 3 to 4 weeks of receipt of books in the Library.

The benefits of this program will increase over time. Other American libraries will have to a decreasing amount of original cataloging for current books received. This will result in savings of millions of dollars a year when the central system is fully operative.

Present plans would initially allocate about 30 percent of the requested $3 million to the worldwide purchase of materials and the expeditious shipment of these materials to the Library of Congress. Fifty percent of the funds would be for personal services, primarily for support of a large number of additional cataloging and classification positions at the Library of Congress, other related positions, and also personnel overseas at regional acquisitions centers. The remaining 20 percent would be used for all other expenses.

1966 estimate 1967 estimate Increase

3. Grants for strengthening developing institutions..

$5, 000, 000 $30,000,000 +$25,000,000

JUSTIFICATION OF ESTIMATE

Title III of the act provides for grants to institutions of higher education and to teaching fellows to assist in raising the quality of developing institutions. An amount of $55 million is authorized for fiscal year 1966 only. The 1967 estimate of $30 million is based on the assumption that Congress will extend authorization for the program.

The program seeks to correct the problems of (1) those institutions that have not met minimum standards of academic quality required for accreditation and (2) other institutions that face the threat of losing their accreditation because of borderline performance. The mechanisms by which program objectives will be achieved are grants for the support of cooperative arrangements (including faculty and student exchange programs, faculty training programs, curriculum improvement programs, student cooperative education programs, facility sharing programs and other cooperative programs) and grants to national teaching fellows.

The Commissioner of Education will establish an Advisory Council on Developing Institutions consisting of: (1) A representative from each Federal agency which has responsibility with respect to developing institutions and (2) eight non-Government members well qualified in this area of higher education. The council will assist the Commissioner in identifying those institutions through which the objectives of title III can best be achieved and provide guidance in policy matters arising in the administration of the program.

Statistics indicate that 10 percent of the 2,300 institutions of higher education in the Nation have not met the minimum academic requirements for accreditation due to limited financial support, high dropout and transfer rates, a narrow span of course offerings, insufficient library, laboratory and instructional equipment, and the absence of strong faculties. Federal aid as described above will enable these institutions to raise their academic quality.

Program for fiscal year 1966

In fiscal year 1966, $4,760,000 of the $5 million appropriation will be used to fund an estimated 110 cooperative arrangements or relationships involving developing institutions. The remaining $240,000 will finance approximately 30 national teaching fellows.

Program for fiscal year 1967

In fiscal year 1967, the first full year of operations, an appropriation of $30 million is requested. The level of assistance to be provided to developing institutions is estimated in the following table:

(a) Grants to higher education institutions

A program of educational opportunity grants for exceptionally needy students is established by part A, title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. It is the purpose of this program to provide grants to assist in making available the benefits of higher education to qualified high school graduates who, for lack of financial means of their own or of their families, would be unable to obtain such benefits without such aid.

Two different types of appropriations are authorized. During the program's first year of operation, appropriations were authorized only for awarding initialyear grants. Educational opportunity grants, however, have a maximum duration of 4 years. During the program's second and subsequent years of operation, appropriations are authorized both for initial-year awards and for continuation of previous awards.

Educational opportunity grants are made to individual students by institutions of higher education under an agreement with the Commissioner of Education. Institutions apply each year to the Commissioner for the funds needed to make awards to students.

Rising costs of higher education have made it impossible for millions of youths to obtain baccalaureate and graduate degrees. In fact, a 4-year university education away from home now costs between $6,000 and $18,000. A recent study of 8,000 scholarship winners in 65 leading institutions reveals that only 1,264 awards went to students from families with income under $5,000, and that 4,877 winners came from families with over $7,000 income. Nearly twice as many scholarships went to students from families with $13,000 or more income as to those from families with under $3,000 income. Although existing programs of student support have helped some of the low-income group go to college, they have not been adequate to meet the total need. In a great many cases loans and part-time work are not sufficient to permit a student to cope with the costs of a higher education.

During fiscal year 1966 $58 million will be available for making initial-year awards to about 115,000 students, assuming an average award of $500.

In the second and subsequent years of this award, a student who was in the upper half of his class during the preceding academic year is eligible to receive an extra $200 above the calculated amount of his award. It is estimated that continuing awards will average $600 each, rather than $500.

During fiscal year 1967, an estimated 1,600 institutions of higher education will participate in the educational opportunity grant program. An estimated $62,500,000 is requested for initial-year grants, which will average $500 each. This will provide support for approximately 125,000 qualified students. It is anticipated that the majority of these will be entering freshmen or students transferring from junior colleges. It is assumed that, due to dropouts and graduation of upperclassmen, nearly 20 percent of the 1966 awards will not be continued into their second year. Therefore, an estimated $57 million is included for about 95,000 continuing grants. Thus, an estimated total of 220,000 students will be supported during fiscal year 1967 under the requested $119,500,000. (b) Identification and encouragement of educational talent

Part A also establishes a program of contracts to encourage full utilization of educational talent. An amount of $2 million is available for fiscal year 1966 and $2,500,000 is requested for 1967.

The Commissioner of Education will enter into contracts, not to exceed $100,000 per year, with State and local educational agencies and other public or nonprofit organizations and institutions for the purpose of:

(1) Identifying qualified youth from low-income families and encouraging them to complete secondary school and undertake postsecondary educational training;

(2) Publicizing existing forms of student financial aid, including aid furnished under this title;

(3) Encouraging secondary school dropouts of demonstrated aptitude to reenter educational programs, including postsecondary school programs.

Contracts will be entered into with public or nonprofit entities such as (1) institutions of higher education, either individually or in combination; (2) professional associations such as the Association of Student Personnel Administrators, the College Entrance Examination Board, and similar groups; and (3) State and loca! educational agencies, including urban school systems, county educational agencies in rural areas, and junior college districts.

Title IV, part B of the act provides funds to encourage States and private nonprofit institutions and organizations to establish adequate loan guarantee programs for students enrolled in eligible institutions, and to provide a Federal program of student loan insurance for students who do not have reasonable access to a State or private nonprofit program of student financial aid. It also provides for the payment of a portion of the interest on loans to qualified students which are guaranteed by a program of a State or of a private nonprofit institution or organization, or insured by the Federal program.

The financial burdens families now face, if they are to provide education beyond the high school for their children, are becoming increasingly heavy. Educational costs and the charges made to students have grown steadily in the past decade. As a result, financial pressures now bear heavily not only on the low and the lower-middle income families, but also on middle and upper-middle income families who only a few years ago would have been adequately capable of paying for their children's education.

The guaranteed and insured loan programs under the act make it possible for commercial banks and other financial institutions and eligible lenders including insurance companies to make large amounts of credit available to students while at the same time exercising prudence in the extension of credit in safeguarding funds entrusted to them. The establishment of adequate reserves for State and private nonprofit loan guarantee programs and the federally insured loan plan accomplishes this purpose.