• 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;
(2) to help strengthen existing programs; and
(3) to help extend the scope of successful 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.

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FIGURE III. PROPOSED COORDINATED FEDERAL SUPPORT TO IMPLEMENT THE NATIONAL PROGRAM

Chapter IV

Conclusion

The Commission believes that the country's library and information services are not yet organized to meet the needs of the nation as a whole. Different libraries and information services are, indeed, performing important services for their respective clienteles, but, as a group, they are developing haphazardly. The Commission believes the time has come for the nation to change direction by henceforth treating recorded information and knowledge as a national resource and making the benefits of library and information services available for all the people. Such action would prove a great intellectual catalyst for the country and place the United States in a stronger position to cope with its own economic and social problems. If we continue traditional practices much longer, the Commission fears that, within the span of only a few years, America will be faced with information chaos that will work against the country's best interests.

Deficiencies in current resources and services demand careful planning for the systematic development of material and human resources, the continuing education of professional and paraprofessional personnel, an adequate financial base for libraries and other information-handling units, the cost-effective application of new technologies, and the development of a spirit of cooperation without which no nationwide plan for improved services can succeed.

A major transformation of the library and information structure in this country is required. The new structure must be based on a new philosophy of service and a new Federal and state investment policy. Success will depend on sound planning by each and every library and information center, on dedication to a common sense of direction and purpose, on a commitment to national cooperative action, and on new Federal policies which treat information as a national resource.

Such a program implies an unprecedented investment in libraries and information centers by Federal, state, and local governments. Merely continuing the past practice of giving small grants to the states for individual libraries or for unco

ordinated systems development will not do the job. The Commission believes that the Federal Government must bear a permanent responsibility for preserving and maintaining the knowledge resources of the nation and for making a specific commitment to their interdependent development.

The proposed National Program implies changes in jurisdictional arrangements, in forms of bibliographic processing, in patterns of service, and in funding practices. These changes will come about gradually, and it will take considerable time to achieve substantial results. Strong resources must, therefore, continue to be built at the local, state, and regional levels with Federal assistance while the new basis for a nationwide network is being prepared.

We on the Commission believe that the profession is prepared and is ready to advance traditional librarianship, to apply computer and communication technology, and to work together in creating the strongest possible information services for the country.

America must not forget her dream of individual freedom and of an open approach to learning and knowledge. The Commission firmly believes that recorded knowledge is a national resource and its nationwide access a national responsibility. It urges the American people, through Federal, state, and local governments, and public and private institutions to support a nationwide program of library and information service as a high-priority national goal.

References and Notes

(1) Swank, R. C., "Interlibrary Cooperation, Interlibrary Communications, and Information Networks-Explanation and Definition," in Proceedings of the Conference on Interlibrary Communications and Information Networks (edited by J. Becker), Chicago, American Library Association, 1971, p. 20.

(2) American Library Directory, 28th Edition, New York, R.R. Bowker Company, 1972.

(3) United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clause 8: "To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries."

(4) Libraries in the United States: public libraries—8,366*; academic libraries-3,000 (est.)*; Federal libraries2,313*; special libraries (other than Federal)-—12,000**; school libraries-65,000 (est.)*; Total-90,679. Figures having an were supplied by the National Center for Education Statistics, USOE; those having were supplied by the Special Libraries Association.

(5) Frase, R. W., Library Funding and Public Support, Chicago, American Library Association, 1973.

(6) Alternatives for Financing the Public Library, A Study Prepared for the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Government Studies and Systems, Inc. 1974.

(7) American Association of School Libraries, ALA and Association for Educational Communications and Technology, Media Programs: District and School, Chicago, ALA, and Washington, D.C., AECT, 1975.

(8) Resources and Bibliographic Support for a Nationwide Library Program, A Study Prepared for the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, Rockville, Maryland, Westat, Inc., 1974.

(9) Shera, J. H., The Foundation of Education for Librarianship, New York, Wiley-Becker and Hayes, 1972, p. 498. (10) Conclusions and Recommendations, Conference on National Bibliographic Control. Sponsored by the Council on Library Resources and the National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C., 1974.