II. Furthering Access to Information HELPING LIBRARIES MEET THE NEEDS OF he Commission's enabling legislation charges it with needs of rural areas, of economically, socially, or culturally deprived persons, and of elderly persons, and the means by which these needs may be met through information centers, through the libraries of elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education, and through public, research, special, and other types of libraries." During FY 1984 NCLIS placed considerable emphasis on helping to understand and meet the specialized library and information needs of elderly persons, rural residents, and functionally illiterate Americans. Population Study In FY 1983, two IBM librarians on loan to the Commission conducted an analysis of major demographic changes in our society as they relate to the changing information needs of significant population groups. NCLIS published a summary of this study in an article entitled "U.S. Population Characteristics: Implications for Libraries" in the September 1984 issue of the Wilson Library Bulletin. The article discusses overall population trends such as the dramatic increase in the number of elderly Americans, the migration of citizens to non-metropolitan areas, and the growth of cultural minorities, with emphasis on the implications of these trends for libraries and information professionals. Aging Program The fastest growing segment of the U.S. population is that of persons age 65 and older. A whopping 30% rise in this group is expected by the year 2000. However, the most rapid increase is projected between the years 2010 and 2030, when the Baby Boom generation will reach age 65. The information needs of elderly Americans are as diverse as this heterogeneous population group itself. The 95% of elderly Americans who live independently in the community-the remaining 5% are institutionalized or homebound-need accurate and current information on health, nutrition, housing, economic security, retirement, leisure, family relationships, and related matters. There are also many persons in our society who need more and better information about the concerns of the elderly and the processes of aging, including anyone planning for retirement and the family members of those who are aged. For many years NCLIS has been concerned about the provision of library and information services to the nation's elderly. In addition to specifically mentioning "the special library and information needs of... elderly persons" in the Commission's legislative mandate (P.L. 91-345), the U.S. Congress in 1973 reiterated its strong interest in library and information services to the elderly by amending the Commission's enabling legislation to read: "Membership. At least one of whom shall be knowledgeable with respect to library and information service and science needs of the elderly." Also, a resolution from the 1981 White House Conference on Aging states that "the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science is mandated to give attention to the needs of the elderly," and recommends "That it move quickly to give leadership to the information needs of the elderly . . .' NCLIS is attempting to respond to that mandate, too. With the start of FY 1984, the Commission began its program to focus renewed attention on the state of library and information services to the aging. NCLIS is being guided in this program by its Vice Chairman, Bessie Boehm Moore, who is herself 82 years of age. Dr. Moore's distinguished contributions as an educator, an advocate for education and libraries, and a public affairs advisor on the national, state, and local levels are well known. The Commission believes that libraries have a very important role to play in providing a wide range of library and information services to America's elderly population, and that libraries can provide an important opportunity to enrich the quality of life of the aging through the provision of services and information tailored to these citizens' special needs. NCLIS has begun to study what can be done to enable public libraries to provide better services and programs to help the elderly cope with everyday living and enhance the quality of their lives; to look at measures for increasing public awareness of the public library's services to the elderly; and to explore ways public libraries can cooperate with other service providers at the local level. There are others who share the Commission's concerns. NCLIS and the Administration on Aging (AoA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, are working cooperatively at the federal level and through their respective networks, in order to promote the improvement and better use of library and information services to the aging. AoA was created under the Older Americans Act of 1965, as amended, which established a federal, state, and local partnership for the development of a comprehensive system of services for older persons to promote maximum independence in their later years. A memorandum of understanding between AoA and NCLIS that specifies cooperative objectives and the two agencies' roles and responsibilities is being negotiated. NCLIS is already working with state library agencies and concerned library and information associations on the aging program. The Commission is cooperating with the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) in reviewing responses to a questionnaire distributed by COSLA to learn about the status of library services to the aging currently being provided in individual states. NCLIS and COSLA are exploring ways of addressing some findings related to attracting the attention of local, state, and federal decision makers, service providers, and librarians to make them aware of the advantages of using local libraries to meet the changing needs of the elderly. NCLIS also worked with COSLA to recommend specifications for the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act, which is discussed in Section IV of this annual report. NCLIS published an "Open Letter" in the journals or newsletters of all state library associations calling attention to the need for improvement in the delivery of services to the elderly and encouraging them to reserve space on their annual programs for discussions and/or presentations about the need for improved library and information services to the elderly. The response from the associations has been rewarding. The Commission is also cooperating with the National Council on the Aging, Inc. in the Council's Literacy Education for the Elderly (LEEP) program, a three-year project funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education. The Commission's role will be to advise on ways to incorporate the use of libraries into the project's efforts. NCLIS is also discussing with the Institute of Lifetime Learning of the American Association of Retired Persons the applications of technology in library and information services to improve programs for the elderly. Rural Program The so-called "crisis of the cities" during the past three decades has emphasized the needs of the nation's metropolitan areas, particularly in states with large urban populations. In these states and even in those where rural and urban populations are roughly balanced, "rural" is thought of as synonomous with "agriculture." This confusion coupled with the traditional romantic view of rural life is one of a number of reasons why rural areas lag far behind their urban counterparts in their ability to provide access to library and information resources. The similarities between rural and urban citizens are now greater, by far, than are the differences. Clear evidence now exists that the rural resident wants the same goods and services as does the urban citizen. Yet there is no way that a local community can even hope to provide a basic minimum of social, legal, health and other services to its citizens without ready access to the nation's rich public and private databases. The informational needs of local governments and business must be met. Doctors, lawyers, nurses, social workers, firefighters, teachers and other local community professionals should be able to get access to the latest and the best information resources in order to do their jobs. During the past four years the Commission has devoted a significant amount of effort to the development of an active rural program, the purpose of which is to address the special informational needs of rural America. This has been accomplished in close collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, especially the National Agricultural Library and the Office of the Secretary. As the Commission pursued this program, it became clear that the excellent information resources and services generally available for transferring the results of agricultural research were no substitute for other kinds of data and information services needed in rural communities. The kinds of information that can be of help to local communities are scattered throughout all sectors of our society, with only a limited amount of information available through the established agricultural information services and educational programs. The question that is being asked more and more in many of our rural areas is why rural communities are not receiving the same level of library and information services as the metropolitan areas. The answer seems to be that there is no rural information policy and no organizing force. The Commissioners decided that consideration should be given to the idea of a National Advisory Board on Rural Information Needs (NABRIN). It obtained the agreement of the Department of Agriculture to jointly establish a fifteen-person planning |