An early meeting of the First National Commission on Libraries and Infor mation Science. The fundamental recommendation of the National Advisory Commission on Libraries was that it be declared national policy, to be enunciated by the President and enacted into law by the Congress, that the American people should be provided with library and information services adequate to their needs, and that the Federal Government, in collaboration with state and local governments and private agencies, should exercise leadership assuring the provision of such services. This recommendation forms the base for the remaining recommendations. The Commission identified a series of objectives for "overcoming current inadequacies" as follows. • Provide adequate library and information services for formal education at all levels. • Provide adequate library and information services for the public at large. • Provide materials to support research in all fields at all levels. • Provide adequate bibliographic access to the Nation's research and informational resources. • Provide adequate physical access to required materials or their texts throughout the Nation. • Provide adequate trained personnel for the varied and changing demands of librarianship. It then formulated five recommendations for achieving the objectives: (1) Establishment of a National Commission on Libraries and Information Science as a continuing Federal planning agency; (2) Recognition and strengthening of the role of The Library of Congress as the National Library of the United States and establishment of a Board of Advisors; (3) Establishment of a Federal Institute of Library and Information Science as a principal center for basic and applied research in all relevant areas; (4) Recognition and full acceptance of the critically important role the United States Office of Education currently plays in meeting needs for library services; and (5) Strengthening state library agencies to overcome deficiencies in fulfilling their current functions. President Johnson officially received the report from Chairman Knight and several members of the Advisory 1968, in the closing hours of the 90th Congress. Mr. Perkins' brief remarks endorsed Congressional efforts to strengthen the nation's library resources, noted the Advisory Commission's report, and urged action to establish a National Commission on Libraries and Information Science in the coming Congress. LEGISLATIVE ACTION In the first three months of the 91st Congress, a total of nine bills were introduced to establish a National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. All of them conformed closely to the report of the National Advisory Commission on Libraries with regard to the proposed Commission's responsibilities, size, and functions, but they differed on the question of whether the Commission should be established as an independent agency in the Executive Branch or be placed in the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Hearings were held on April 15 and 17 before the Select Subcommittee on Education of the House Committee on Education and Welfare, and on April 24 before the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. The Administration's position on the status of the proposed Commission wast represented at the hearings by Grant Venn, Associate Commissioner for Adult, Vocational and Library Programs, U.S. Office of Education. He contended that the Commission should not be an independent agency, that several of its members should be high government officials, and that all of the appointed members should be named by the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare instead of by the President. Many leading figures of the library profession challenged Mr. Venn's position, including Frederick Burkhardt, William Dix, Robert M. Hayes, Bessie B. Moore, and L. Quincy Mumford. HEW's position also advocated ex-officio representation of government agencies and professional groups, while the library professionals argued for Commission membership that reflected the broadest possible perspective on user needs. They felt this could best be accomplished if the Commission were free of prescribed ties with government agencies and specific interest groups. House and Senate versions of the bill establishing the Commission were eventually resolved by a conference committee composed of five Representatives and twelve Senators. It was significant for the future of the Commission that this committee selected the options that resulted in the strongest possible legislation. They endowed the Commission with independent status (with only administrative—i.e. housekeeping-support from HEW), gave it the authority to accept gifts and bequests, expanded its responsibility for national planning, specified adequate budget support, and built in a balance between professional and public interests in the membership of the Commission. The members (with the exception of the Librarian of Congress) were to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, with one member to be designated as chairman by the President. With the adoption of the conference report by the House and Senate, legislative action was concluded, and S. 1519 was sent to the White House on July 6, 1970. President Nixon signed the bill late in the afternoon of July 20 and the following day released a statement expressing both hopes and "certain reservations" for the new Commission. He noted in this statement that he "would have preferred that the Commission be placed within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, where the major Federal library assistance programs are administered," and also that there be "a limitation on the amount of gifts and bequests annually receivable by the Commission... to counter the possibility that the Commission's work could be distorted if it came to depend too heavily on any particular interest group for funds." On the positive side, the President's statement noted that the Commission would be empowered to study the effectiveness of existing programs and to develop plans to coordinate the diversity of library and information activities of all kinds and at all levels. It took the Executive Branch about 10 months to implement P.L. 91-345. On May 19, 1971, President Nixon announced and sent to the Senate the names of 14 persons to serve on the new Commission in addition to the Librarian of Congress, the ex-officio member. There was no Senate debate or objection on these nominations. The appointments of Andrew A. Aines and Catherine D. Scott for one-year terms expired within a few days because of the provision that the terms of office of the first members would begin with the law's enactment (on July 20, 1970); however, both were subsequently renominated and confirmed for full five-year terms. The original appointees to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science are given below: Andrew A. Aines Senior Staff Associate, Office of Science Information Service, National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. William O. Baker Vice President, Research and Patents, Bell Telephone Joseph Becker President, Becker and Hayes, Inc., Los Angeles, California Frederick Burkhardt President, American Council of Learned Societies, New York, New York Carlos A. Cuadra Manager, Education and Library Systems Department, Systems Development Corporation, Santa Monica, California Leslie W. Dunlap Dean, Library Administration, The University of Iowa Martin Goland President, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas John G. Kemeny President, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire Louis A. Lerner Publisher, Lerner Home Newspapers, Chicago, Illinois Bessie Boehm Moore Coordinator, Economic and Environmental Education, State Department of Education, Little Rock, Arkansas L. Quincy Mumford (Ex-Officio) The Librarian of Congress, U.S. Library of Congress, Catherine D. Scott Librarian, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian John E. Velde, Jr. Velde, Roelfs and Company, Pekin, Illinois Alfred R. Zipf Executive Vice President, Bank of America, San Francisco, The other original nominee, Charles Perlik of the American Newspaper Guild, resigned in the summer of 1971 and was replaced some months later by Harold C. Crotty, President, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, Detroit, Michigan. The Commission began its work on September 20, 1971, when 14 of the 15 newly appointed members met in the Wilson Room of the Library of Congress. COMPOSITION AND ROLE OF THE COMMISSION The Commission is composed of the Librarian of Congress and 14 Members appointed for staggered five-year terms by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The law stipulates that its Chairman be designated by the President. The law also provides that five Members of the Commission shall be professional |