ate Federal-state and state-local matching funding to guarantee a continuing Federal and state investment; it will establish a locus of Federal responsibility for implementing the policies and programs of the National Commission; and it will provide a framework for active private sector participation. Finally, legislation must safeguard the various aspects of privacy, confidentiality, and freedom of expression. The Commission's intent is to create a program that is going to enforce, enliven, and enspirit this country's creative powers, so that more can be achieved with our total intellectual and knowledge capacities. The Commission sees the National Program as a force for productivity and creativity, and not as an authoritative and inhibitive constraint which would control the behavior of people. Funding Beginning in 1956, with the passage of the Library Services Act by the Congress, the Federal Government has gradually assumed responsibility for programs of financial assistance to libraries. There are some who view the continued financial support of libraries by the Federal Government with alarm, because of the inferred fear that the bureaucracy will, sooner or later, stifle intellectual freedom. Certainly, the availability of government money for libraries during the past twenty years disproves this theory. The Commission believes that the American public not only accepts the principle of Federal funding for libraries, but also equates it with the Federal responsibility for public education. Federal assistance programs for libraries have been for the acquisition of materials, the provision of new services, library training and research, new building construction, aid to special groups, and so forth. They have affected public libraries, school libraries, college and university libraries. A small portion of the funds under Title III of LSCA have also been available for interlibrary cooperation. At the close of 1972, the total sum in the annual Federal budget for library grant programs amounted to $140 million. In addition, the National Science Foundation and other government agencies have funded specific projects involving libraries, indexing and abstracting services, and other organizations in the information community. The Federal Government also supports three major libraries: the Library of Congress; the National Library of Medicine; and the National Agricultural Library. As a result, these institutions are able to perform many important national library functions that benefit the people of the United States. In 1973, the Administration recommended the elimination of Federal grant programs for libraries. It recommended revenue sharing as an alternative method of supporting libraries, and the General Revenue Sharing Act qualified libraries to receive appropriations for operating expenses. The preponderance of testimony to the Commission indicates that the revenue sharing mechanism does not work well for libraries. The revenue sharing mechanism is unsatisfactory for libraries because it forces them to compete for funds with local governments and their utilitarian agencies, such as the police and fire departments. As educational agents in the community, libraries provide long-range services to all people, but, unfortunately, it is difficult to justify this as a local priority when conspicuous utilitarian problems need immediate correction. As a result, city officials in some cities are reluctant to share some revenue with libraries. Indications received by the Commission thus far reveal that, in some localities, revenue sharing money is offsetting normal operating budgets of libraries, rather than providing them with funds for new programs and services. In such circumstances, it is unlikely that revenue sharing funds will have any impact at all on cooperative action programs or intersystem planning. Recent actions by the Congress have restored appropriations for many of the categorical aid programs which were eliminated, but the policy of the Administration continues to favor their eventual termination. The President's budget for fiscal year 1975, released for information and Congressional action in January 1974, mentioned a new Federal initiative in the area of library services. It outlines the provisions of new legislation, called the Library Partnership Act. This proposed bill calls for the improvement of library services through a system of grants fostering interlibrary cooperation and through demonstrations of basic library services where these are nonexistent or marginal. The general purposes of the bill are akin to those of Title III of the LSCA with the objectives more closely specified and the eligible community broadened. While the Commission endorses individual activities which benefit libraries and users of libraries, it is even more strongly disposed to support a well-planned, comprehensive program for library and information services, one that will benefit the entire nation. Categorical aid available to libraries under an array of authorizations has resulted in improved library services in all types of libraries. However, many of the worthy goals are yet to be achieved. The Commission believes that categorical aid must be continued and strengthened until a comprehensive new program is authorized and adequately funded. States and local governments vary greatly in the amount of financial assistance they give to libraries. Moreover, the way Federal funds are used within the states varies widely. Some have used the money for state-level direction and coordination, while others have spent it on new or improved local services. The Federal principle of requiring matching funds from the state and/or local governments has, itself, had varied effects. In some instances, it has led states to originate state programs that didn't exist before. In other cases, it has not yet achieved matching state aid for libraries. However, in general, wealthy states have been able to take greater advantage of the opportunity than poor states, even though the real need may have been greater among the latter. Past Federal funding has succeeded in fulfilling part of the original objectives of Federal legislation, but by no means all of them. An enlightened public policy of support for libraries and other information activities, and continuing financial assistance, are dual objectives which the Commission considers vital to the National Program. If the nation is to look forward to constructive development and utilization of knowledge resources throughout the country, an infusion of financial assistance on a large scale is mandatory, and the United States must also revise its philosophy on how Federal and state funding should be allocated to support this nationwide purpose. What is needed is a program of balanced intergovernmental funding. It is premature to stipulate the criteria for requesting financial assistance from the Federal Government under the National Program, but some suggestions are here put forward for consideration. For example, each recipient would be asked in advance to: • Request support only for programs that are consistent with National Program aims and objectives. Be willing to subscribe to, and to utilize, national bibliographic, technical, and other standards. • Provide assurance that successful programs, basic to a library's mission, and begun with Federal funds, will be sustained by the recipient for at least several years. • Stipulate that Federal funds would not be used to offset or dilute financial responsibility locally, regionally, or at the state level to meet prescribed levels of service. Match Federal funds with local or state funds according to a formula based on factors other than merely population or per capita income. • Develop a mutually-compatible formula for matching funds between the state and local governments similar to that between the state and Federal Government. Adhere to the protocols and conventions of use established for the nationwide network. Principles and criteria, like those above, will have to be arrived at by careful study and discussion by all parties concerned, after which they will need to be incorporated in new legislation for the National Program. The Commission expects to devise these guidelines in cooperation with representatives from the public and private sectors. In recognition of the wide divergence of development existing among the states and other agencies in the private sector, it is expected that future funding would support three different levels of need: (1) To help establish or initiate new programs; Until a carefully articulated funding policy is worked out for the National Program, and until new legislation is passed to implement the National Program, the Commission strongly favors the continuation of categorical aid under existing titles, with appropriate revisions for strengthening and expansion and with special emphasis on Title III, LSCA, in order to maintain national momentum toward cooperative projects and networking. Figure III depicts the type and purpose of Federal funding support required for the National Program. |