Appendix XI

Elements of a Comprehensive National Library and Information Services Program

Preamble

A-1

A free and open democratic society depends upon the ability of its citizens to make fully informed decisions about the choices that affect their lives and their communities.

The White House Conference on Library and Information Services reflected the diversity of our citizenry and its needs. The Conference constituted a microcosm of all parts of our society. Delegates made clear that they believed access to information is power, and, that in our democratic society the people themselves want to decide how to use that power.

Meeting Needs

A-11

A-1, A-3

A-8

A-9

People want accurate information to guide them in making intelligent
decisions about issues that concern them. They want to know how to find
the government services they need to solve their problems. They want
information on how to adapt to the rapid changes taking place in their
environment. They want to expand their knowledge and range of choices
through education.

Our citizens regard free and full access to information, especially infor-
mation about public processes, as a basic right. They believe that library
and information services should help to ensure this right.
Our society historically has been a harbor for those who believe that
different ethnic, religious, and cultural groups can coexist within one
Nation, can enrich our common tradition without infringing on any
group's right to full freedom of expression, and can live in harmony
without censorship.

In recent years, our citizens have insisted that they want more commu-
nity control over the government programs that affect them, so that they
can exercise more control over the services they support with their taxes.
Delegates to the White House Conference demonstrated their belief in
this principle when they passed a resolution calling for a National Infor-
mation Policy "which shall include provisions which ensure local control
of community libraries and information services."

Rapid Changes

Library and information services are experiencing rapid expansion and change. The pace of change is certain to increase during the coming decade. The information explosion, which really became evident in the 1960's, has accelerated with the fast development of new and cost-effective technologies. Economic uncertainties coupled with changing social conditions have added burdens to library and information services that they cannot bear without Federal assistance. Federal action is necessary to strengthen and assist local and statewide planning, to coordinate present services for maximum effectiveness, and to meet the needs of many sectors of our population for new services and facilities.

Legislation suited to library and information services needs must grow out of the values and principles that are the foundation of these services. The legislation of the

1960's and the 1970's is no longer adequate to meet citizens' needs in the coming decade. Congress already has recognized the importance of statewide planning and of the community base for the provision of effective library and information services. Three major Federal programs now provide assistance to libraries in the United States: Title II of the Higher Education Act; the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA); and Title IV-B of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The services of the Library of Congress, the National Library of Medicine, the National Agricultural Library, other Federal libraries, and the U.S. Government Printing Office, also are important to library service and resource sharing throughout the Nation. Federal Government research, publishing programs, communications regulation, and other services affect library and information services in every community.

New Legislation

A National Library and Information Services Act is needed. The Act should result from a review of the current Library Services and Construction Act, the recommendations of the White House Conference on Library and Information Services, and other proposals. The Act should establish a new statement of purpose for Federal action in this area and authorize support for new and evolving functions that modern library and information services should perform.

Comprehensive National Library and Information Services Program: An Outline of Legislative and Administrative Initiatives on the Federal, State and Local Levels

A comprehensive National Library and Information Services Program requires a variety of legislative and administrative actions. No single piece of legislation can be the appropriate vehicle for all of these actions. Many other Federal, State and local initiatives are necessary. The following is an outline of those elements that delegates to the White House Conference believe are essential to a Comprehensive National Library and Information Services Program. The ideas that follow represent concerns delegates expressed at the Conference. In most cases the language follows the wording of the Conference resolutions. The notations on the left side of the margin indicate the resolutions that express the ideas.

B-1

F-1, F-2,
F5, F-6

A-10, B-4

C-14, D-1

F-3

A-5

C-2

B-6

I. National Leadership Support

1. Establish the position of an Assistant Secretary for Library and Information Services in the new Department of Education.

2. Maintain the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science as an independent Federal agency.

3. Strengthen the role of the Library of Congress as a National Library.

4. Convene a White House Conference on Library and Information
Services every decade.

II. National Library and Information Services Resources in the
Public and Private Sectors.

1. Improve access to National Library and Information Services,
using national collections, and by strengthening nationwide
networks for building and sharing library and information
services resources.

2. Develop a national periodicals system, with funding to establish services and facilities that promote efficient access to periodical and journal resources.

3. Develop an equitable, reasonable pricing structure for Federal documents, and expand the system of Federal depository libraries to ensure availabilty of Government information to all people of the Nation.

C-12

D-1

D-2

D-3

A-12

B-10

A-1, A-5
A-6, A-13
A-4

A-5, D-1

C-13

A-6

C-3

A-4, A-6
B-7, C-2,
C-15
C-2

C1, C-9

C1, C-14
D-3, E-1
C-1, C-14

4. Develop a national information policy that encourages interconnecting networks, fosters service in all States and Territories, and invites all telecommunication services to provide services to homes, businesses, agencies, and libraries of all types. 5. Establish a National Library Service for the Hearing-Impaired as a new unit of the Library of Congress, with appropriate additional funding.

6. Enact National Indian Omnibus Library legislation, that will provide assistance for developing library and information services on all Indian reservations, appropriately tied into State and national networks.

7. Establish a program to assist the United States Territories in strengthening their information systems to meet their own locally identified needs.

8. Increase the Nation's access to law library and information services and improve resources for them.

9. Assure timely and adequate statistical data collection and dissemination to evaluate library and information services. III. Community Library and Information Services.

1. Develop libraries as community cultural, educational, and information istitutions, with special efforts from the United States Department of Education to reduce illiteracy, and to encourage development of information and referral services. 2. Develop or expand programs for special users such as: children and youth, the aged, the home-bound, the institutionalized (including those in correctional institutions), racial and ethnic minorites, the deaf, the blind, and other physically handicapped, the emotionally disturbed, the mentally retarded, the illiterate, the semi-literate and non-English speaking groups, and other groups not now adequately served.

3. Encourage cooperation among libraries of all types, and between libraries and other institutions, in meeting community educational and information needs.

4. Increase awareness of library and information services through public information and instruction in the use of library and information resources.

5. Support Federal Government programs that encourage improved school and public library cooperative services, and the setting of guidelines for establishing a school library in every school.

IV. Statewide Library and Information Services.

1. Strengthen State Library Agency leadership and development.

2. Support the building and improving of State, multi-State, regional and nationwide networks for improving library and information resource sharing.

3. Support the research, development, and application of new technologies for the improvement of library and information services.

V. International Library and Information Services.

1. Eliminate international barriers to the exchange of library materials and information to encourage international data flow under appropriate guidelines.

2. Provide support for the development and adoption of national and international standards.

E-3

A-5, C-15,
D-4, E-1
C-17

C-18

A-6

A-13

B-10

C-4

C-6

B-5

C-9

B-13

C-12

C-1

C-7

3. Convene an international Conference on library and information services.

VI. Education and Training.

1. Strengthen personnel development and training for library and information services.

2. Enact a Federal program for a State Library Leadership and Development title that provides matching funds enabling State Library Agencies to pay the costs of hiring traveling specialists for library and information services to adults, young people, and children.

3. Restore and increase Federal funding for library education research, continuing education, and demonstration projects to prepare graduates to cope with the changing information needs of society.

4. Train library and information services professionals in human relations, the effective use of public relations techniques, and marketing techniques to increase the public usage of library and information services.

5. Provide training for library trustees to strengthen the provision of public library services.

VII. Research, development and technological applications affecting library and information services.

1. Support grants to institutions of higher education and other public or private agencies, institutions and organizations for research and demonstration projects to improve library and information services.

2. Evaluate the economic, social, and political consequences of information and data processing technology so that public, and private efforts can use this technology for the benefit of all. 3. Encourage cooperation among institutions for the efficient delivery of information technology, especially computer and communications technology, in the exchange, and delivery of information, and develop the necessary software packages to achieve these goals.

VIII. Technical Assistance for Library and Information Services. 1. Enact legislation restoring tax incentives for authors and artists that encourages the donation to libraries of manuscripts and creative works in all formats.

2. Recommend manufacturing standards for library and information services resources aimed at preserving materials which have archival value.

3. Classify independent libraries in the Internal Revenue Code as educational institutions exempt from taxes if they are fully open to the public.

4. Encourage the increased use of satellite communication, video techniques, and cable television in the expansion of library and information services.

5. Adopt a policy which would encourage individuals, organizations, and agencies creating documents, books, and other information, to prepare these materials in machine-readable form to reduce retrospective conversion.

6. Coordinate Federal programs that use and develop technology for information storage and retrieval, and ensure that the public will have access to Federal data bases, and other library and information materials except when personal privacy or national security is jeopardized.

C-9

B-3

B-4

B-14

B-2

7. Provide Federal, State, and local funds to continue assessments of individual library needs and to ensure that deterioration of current collections is halted now before unique and valuable library materials are lost.

IX. Funding.

1. Fund fully the library and information services programs authorized under the Higher Education Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and, until it is replaced by the proposed National Library and Information Services Act, the Library Services and Construction Act.

2. Increase funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and increase participation on the part of libraries in these important programs.

3. Establish special Federal postal and telecommunications rates which will facilitate the sharing of resources and information between libraries, educational institutions, and non-profit information agencies, especially for remote areas in the United States and Territories.

X. Enact the Proposed National Library and Information Services Act.