(b) In carrying out its duties under subsection (a), above,

the Commission shall:

(1) Make a comprehensive study and appraisal of the role of libraries as resources for scholarly pursuits, as centers for the dissemination of knowledge, and as components of the evolving national information systems;

(2) Appraise the policies, programs, and practices of public agencies and private institutions and organizations, together with other factors, which have a bearing on the role and effective utilization of libraries;

(3) Appraise library funding, including Federal support of libraries, to determine how funds available for the construction and support of libraries and library services can be more effectively and efficiently utilized; and

(4) Develop recommendations for action by Government or private institutions and organizations designed to ensure an effective and efficient library system for the Nation.

(c) The Commission shall submit its final report and recommendations to the Committee no later than one year after the date of its first meeting, and shall make such interim reports as it deems appropriate for improving the utilization of library resources.

Section 5. Federal departments and agencies. (a) The Committee or the Commission is authorized to request from any Federal department or agency any information deemed necessary to carry out its functions under this order; and each department or agency is authorized, consistent with law and within the limits of available funds, to furnish such information to the Committee or the Commission.

(b) Each department or other executive agency the head of which is named in Section 1(b) of this order shall, as may be necessary, furnish assistance to the Committee or the Commission in accordance with the provisions of Section 214 of the Act of May 3, 1945 (59 Stat. 134; 31 U. S. C. 691), or as otherwise permitted by law.

(c) The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare is

hereby designated as the agency which shall provide administrative services for the Commission.

mission.

Section 6. Termination of the Committee and the ComThe Committee and the Commission shall terminate ninety days after the final report of the Commission is submitted to the Committee.

THE WHITE HOUSE

SEPTEMBER 2, 1966

# # #

LYNDON B. JOHNSON

B. SELECT LIST OF SPECIAL STUDIES

One of the most ambitious endeavors undertaken by the National Advisory Commission on Libraries was to call for more than a dozen special studies on a wide range of subjects. Social science, history, political science, economics, information science, education, and library science were only some of the disciplines contributing to the studies all of which were performed within the limited space of a few months.

Most of these special studies, commissioned by or made available to the Commission, contributed at least partially to Commission decision-making, although there was by no means a total endorsement of every position or recommended action in even the most highly acclaimed studies. All will be made available to the United States Office of Education for consideration for the Educational Research Information Center (ERIC), and several will appear elsewhere notably in a forthcoming book based on Commission activity.

The list on the following pagė includes those special studies the Commission judged to be relevant to the problems with which it was concerned and worthy of serious consideration, although a few are of mostly descriptive value. Studies, or parts of studies, that were not completed in time for careful study by the membership are not included on the list, nor are those deemed to be of little or no immediate relevance to Commission decision-making in the form in which they were submitted.

*Not financed or only partially financed by the Commission but offered to ERIC.

C. LIST OF REGIONAL HEARINGS

Another project of the National Advisory Commission on Libraries was designed to acquire information on the people's needs for library and informational services. This was the series of regional hearings, held during the summer and early fall of 1967, at which subcommittees of Commission membership heard testimony from a variety of citizens, businessmen, professional people, farmers, white-collar and blue-collar workers, students, teachers, parents, and local, state, and national officials in communities of varying size throughout the nation. There was testimony representing the blind, the aged, and virtually all religious and ethnic groups in America.

The results contributed particularly to the Commission's consensus on the objective to "provide adequate library and informational services for the public at large" and on the recommendation for strengthening State library agencies. The need to solve library problems by effective manpower utilization was pervasive throughout all the hearings. The forthcoming book based on Commission materials will include highlights from the regional hearings and a complete list of all who testified. A summary table appears on the following page.