STATEMENT OF BETH HAMILTON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ILLINOIS REGIONAL LIBRARY COUNCIL OF CHICAGO Ms. HAMILTON. I am Beth Hamilton, executive director of the Illinois Regional Library Council of Chicago, an interlibrary cooperation project made possible by funding through title III of the Library Services and Construction Act. I am pleased to be here this morning on behalf of the American Library Association to provide testimony on the impact of LSCA in Illinois in general, and on the improvement of library services to Chicago metropolitan area residents in particular. The extension of LSCA is of great concern to the 272-member council which I represent, as well as to emerging regional library councils in other States which are depending upon LSCA for their development. Councils in Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee have been able to initiate numerous innovative projects to fill existing gaps in library service in a relatively short time with relatively small LSCA grants. My counterparts and I have found, however, that we are only beginning to perceive the full blueprint for succesful interaction among all types of libraries. We are only beginning to penetrate our respective areas to communicate the value of sharing resources and to dispel some widly held misconceptions about joint activities. It is a matter of disbelief and utmost concern that the administration should be recommending termination of LSCA at a time when we need to sustain the momentum we have achieved and when more and more libraries are looking to networking as a means of providing better service to all. Each year, libraries are called upon to satisfy the increasingly complex information needs of their users. Continuation of the Library Services and Construction Act is necessary if we are to strengthen library services at the State and local levels, and aim toward a comprehensive program of good sevice throughout the Nation. I strongly recommend that the current titles of LSCA be extended for a 5-year period and that the extension be accompanied by: (1) additional funding adequate to support new developments for which potential has been demonstrated in previous years; (2) forward funding and late allocation which hamper efficient operation at the State and local levels; (3) incentives for development of adequate State assistance programs and for strengthening State library agencies which administer them; and (4) adequate provision for multitype library network development nad planned linkages between existing networks. Mr. Chairman, other members of this panel will be discussing difference aspects of LSCA. I have devoted my statement to some of the ways LSCA has benefited residents of Illinois, particularly through the extension of services to the unserved, and through the development of interlibrary cooperative projects such as the Illinois Regional Library Council. The most significant claim which can be made for LSCA impact in Illinois is the establishment of the Illinois library and information network with its 911 member libraries and $10 million annual State assistance program which was initially stimulated by LSCA funding. Although Illinois developed its network quickly and effectively with the benefit of full formula funding, there are many problems yet to be solved. In attempting to solve the problem of 2 million unserved residents, a project cost program was devised to promote establishment of taxsupported library services in areas where they are nonexistent or in need of being extended. Over a 4-year period, LSCA title I grants totaling $1.63 million were spent to bring 17 demonstration projects to areas of a total population of 198,000, resulting in the establishment of new libraries or new library districts which have a total annual income from taxes of $1.38 million. The library resources enrichment program is an LSCA title I project to help local libraries purchase materials and meet collection standards, resulting in the purchase of 76,000 items of nonfiction materials from an LSCA title I grant of $1.53 million. A shared staffing program has enabled placement of professional librarians in two neighboring libraries where professional staff was not affordable previously. A staff enrichment program carried out with a $288,000 title I grant enabled the hiring of reference consultants by systems with the condition that the system pick up the tab for the new staff member in the third year. An LSCA title I grant of $14,000 for library service to five correctional institutions was followed by permanent support in the annual amount of $548,000 by three local governments. Another title I project enables regional library service to Spanishspeaking residents on a cooperative basis by eight participating communities. This will provide a Spanish-speaking librarian, support staff, equipment, and materials. The eight libraries are obligated to continue the program when this LSCA title I grant ceases. A 2-year project to fill the unmet needs of the disadvantaged has been continued as an ongoing project of the Chicago Public Library. The beginning of a bibliographic network for the State are evident in the Illinois OCLC shared cataloging project which is online at the State's largest libraries and in which 26 additional academic libraries have agreed to participate. A multitype library cooperation project undertaken in Peoria provided the blueprint for a massive network expansion plan to bring academic, school, and special libraries into the existing State library network. The 2-year expansion program, funded at the State level with $900.000 LSCA title I funds, enables the employment of library cooperation consultants in each public library system to work with nonpublic libraries in resources sharing and development activities. This expansion program is basically the conversion of a public library network to a multitype library one. Altogether, LSCA has been very effective as seed money, the State has been responsive, and the library users have benefited immeasurably. The Illinois Regional Library Council lives in peaceful coexistence with the resplendent Illinois library and information network of which it is not as yet a part. The council, founded in 1971, after 2 years in the organizational process, was incorporated as a not-forprofit Illinois corporation in March 1972. The council was a grassroots eruption in the Chicago metropolitan area at the time the public library systems' successes were becoming noticeable and when the need was felt to promote cooperation among all types of libraries in the bibliographically rich metropolitan region. From its beginning, the council has been funded with LSCA title III funds to the extent of 85 to 88 percent of its operating budgetsee appendix III. The council membership as of November 1, 1975, includes 272 libraries, of which 54 are academic, 12 school, 85 special, and 121 public libraries and library systems. Approximately 40 percent of these libraries are publicly supported, while 60 percent are privately supported. That there is a need for regional councils in Illinois in face of the growth of multitype systems is a question which seems to be debated frequently both inside and outside the metropolitan area. The extension of the Library Services and Construction Act will allow for continued development and experimentation, and for more critical examination of the means by which library resources can be shared and information delivered more quickly and efficiently to the ever more sophisticated and demanding library user. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, for this opportunity to present testimony on the importance of extending the Library Services and Construction Act. [Prepared statement of Beth Hamilton follows:] PREPARED STATEMENT OF BETH HAMILTON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, I am Beth Hamilton, Executive Director of the Illinois Regional Library Council of Chicago, an interlibrary cooperation project made possible by funding through Title III of the Library Services and Construction Act. I am pleased to be here this morning on behalf of the American Library Association to provide testimony on the impact of LSCA in Illinois in general, and on the improvement of library services to Chicago metropolitan area residents in particular. The extension of LSCA is of great concern to the 272-member council which I represent, as well as to emerging regional library councils in other states which are depending upon LSCA for their development. Councils in Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee have been able to initiate numerous innovative projects to fill existing gaps in library service in a relatively short time with relatively small LSCA grants. My counterparts and I have found, however, that we are only beginning to perceive the full blueprint for successful interaction among all types of libraries. We are only beginning to penetrate our respective areas to communicate the value of sharing resources and to dispel some widely-held misconceptions about joint activities. It is a matter of disbelief and utmost concern that the Administration should be recommending termination of LSCA at a time when we need to sustain the momentum we have achieved while continuing to experiment and when more and more libraries are looking to networking as a means of providing better service to all. Each year libraries are called upon to satisfy the increasingly complex information needs of their users. Continuation of the Library Services and Construction Act is necessary if we are to strengthen library services at the state and local levels and aim toward a comprehensive program of good service throughout the nation. I strongly recommend that the current titles of LSCA be extended for a fiveyear period, and that the extension be accompanied by: (1) additional funding adequate to support new developments for which potential has been demon strated in previous years; (2) forward funding provisions to solve recurring problems of uncertainty in funding and late allocation which hamper efficient operation at the state and local levels; (3) incentives for development of adequate state assistance programs and for strengthening state library agencies which administer them; and (4) adequate provision for multitype library network development and planned linkages between existing networks. Mr. Chairman, other members of this panel will be discussing different aspects of LSCA. I have devoted my statement to some of the ways LSCA has benefitted residents of Illinois, particularly through the extension of services to the unserved, and through the development of interlibrary cooperative projects such as the Illinois Regional Library Council. LSCA BENEFITS TO ILLINOIS LIBRARIES Illinois Library and Information Network (ILLINET) The plan for library service in Illinois is an ambitious one and progress to date has been enhanced by the Network of Public Library Systems Act of 1965. By far the most significant claim which can be made for LSCA impact is that both the state's initial system legislation and the first formula increase were LSCA encouraged. In the past decade, the systems have been highly successful and are now an integral part of the $10 million dollar ILLINET network. As the systems became well established, they were able to expand their memberships beyond public libraries, in keeping with the goal of the Illinois State Library to involve all types of libraries in one network which would make available to everyone the same resources regardless of where he or she lives, works, or goes to school, and regardless of which library is approached first. As of June 30, 1975, voluntary membership in Illinois library systems amounted to 549 public libraries, 108 special libraries, 151 academic libraries, and 103 school libraries. Project PLUS: Service to the unserved Illinois has developed its network quickly and effectively with the benefit of full formula funding; however, there are many problems yet to be solved. One is that two million residents lived in areas without public library facilities as of June 1974 (see Appendix I). One solution is to use federal funds which come from all taxpayers to reach out to help those which have not been able, for one reason or another, to achieve public library service. The Illinois State Library devised a program called Project PLUS (Promoting Larger Units of Serv.ce) which promotes and stimulates the development of tax-supported library services in areas where they are non-existent or in need of being extended. In the fiscal years 1972 to 1976, LSCA Title I grants totaling $1,633,562 were spent to bring seventeen demonstration projects to areas with a total population of 198,102 (see Appendix II). The Project PLUSes are an excellent case of pump priming. The seventeen projects resulted in the establishment of libraries or new districts which have a total assessed valuation of $923 million and a total annual income of $1,385,494. Project PLUS is a good example of the need to extend LSCA. As in all new programs, there is the need for communicating the program's value and for gaining its acceptance. The Project PLUS program has benefitted suburban libraries more than rural ones. It is recognized that the program needs modification to increase its suitability to rural areas. Residents in some farming communities cannot afford start-up costs but can afford an on-going library operation. Or they cannot afford to buy the bookmobile needed for geographic spread. Two new rural areas are now beginning a Project PLUS, but much more time and pump priming dollars are needed to bring the rural service program to fruition. Through this program, funding has been given a level which, if picked up, would result in quality library service at the rate of at least $5.00 per capita. Book purchases to meet standards for public library service The Illinois Library Resources Enrichment Program is an LSCA Title I project to help local libraries and library systems meet collection standards. This program made funds available in 1972 at the rate of 10c per capita for systems and 5c per capita for local libraries for the purchase of new non-fiction materials. The program resulted in the addition of 76,587 items of all kinds, print and nonprint, to the collections of Illinois libraries. This $1,534,937 Title I grant in 1972 was followed by a second one in 1974 for which final evaluation is not available. The grants have enabled nine million Illinois residents to have access to a greater variety of reference and nonfiction materials. Two library systems ventured into innovative programs as a result of the grants. One system used part of its funds to initiate a Coordinated Acquisitions Program with twenty-two subject specialties dispersed among member library subject centers, covering the entire range of the Dewey Decimal System. Another system used Title I funds to develop eight individual collections of tape cassetts and framed art reproductions which are housed in zone center libraries. Each zone has 5-9 member libraries and the program has encouraged the libraries within each zone to work more closely together. Library manpower and staff enrichment The quality of library service in the state will be improved through a shared staffing program designed for communities now unable to afford professional libraries and willing to share a professional with one or two neighboring libraries. Coordination of each program will be handled by the library systems. This twoyear project is partially supported by an LSCA Title I grant of $84,000. A Staff Enrichment Program which strengthens the information and reference capabilities of local libraries by funding a staff member at the system level has been carried out with a $288,000 LSCA Title I grant beginning in fiscal 1974. The reference librarians hired under this proposal have been able to conduct workshops for local libraries, to weed reference collections, and generally to enhance reference service in smaller libraries. The agreement which systems made before accepting the grant was to pick up the tab for the new staff member in the third year. Service to correctional institutions A two-year LSCA Title I grant of $14,856 for library service to residents of five correctional facilities in the Bur Oak Library System was followed by permanent support from the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Illinois Law Enforcement Commission, and the Illinois State Library for all state correctional institutions. The 1975 budget for the continuing support was $548,277. Regional service to Spanish-speaking residents Spanish-speaking Americans constitute the largest minority group in the northwest suburbs of Chicago-a population of approximately 5,470. These residents are not presently being reached by traditional library services. In November 1975, Palatine Public Library, a member of the North Suburban Library System, received a $63,940 LSCA Title I grant to develop cooperatively with seven neighboring libraries public library services to Spanish-speaking residents of the eight communities served. The two-year project provides a Spanish-speaking librarian, support staff, equipment, and materials. The eight libraries are obligated to continue the program after the LSCA Title I funding ceases. A somewhat similar project, El Centro de la Causa Library Project, is now coming to an end and is being absorbed by the Chicago Public Library into its regular ongoing program. The objective of this two-year project was to develop library service to a previously unserved population with special cultural and linguistic needs through a cooperative program operated by the Chicago Public Library and a community center. The model of public library service to the bilingual and bicultural community was developed with LSCA Title I funds. Illinois OCLC shared cataloging project The Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Illinois State Library began a cooperative pilot project with the Ohio College Library Center (OCLC) in 1974 for catalog card pr. luction service offered by OCLC. The State Library and Reference and Research Centers at University of Illinois at Urbana, Chicago Public Library, and Southern Illinois University went on-line with the OCLC computer in Columbus in October 1974 to build a data base in first-level MARC (machine readable cataloging) format of all records that they input. In Spring 1975, an additional 26 academic libraries agreed to commit their own funds and to participate in the project. Funded in fiscal 1975 with a $53,000 LSCA Title III grant, the project has a staff of two systems librarians to coordinate the project with OCLC and to provide instruction in use of OCLC for librarians entering the project. Expansion of the public library network As the public library systems expanded their memberships to serve academic, special, and school libraries within their areas, it became necessary to create |