ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

From Inside the DLP

By Katharine M. Stokes

College and University Library Specialist, Training and Resources Branch, Division of Library Programs, Bureau of Libraries and Educational Technology, U.S. Office of Education, Washington, D.C. 20202.

If you didn’t receive the application materials from your president’s office for the college library resources program under Title II-A of the Higher Education Act in time to make the March 15 deadline for basic and supplemental grant applications, there is a second due date, April 15, for Special Purpose Types A, B, and C applications.

We have had many calls from librarians who have not received the forms, but when we explain that they were stapled together like a pamphlet, with green covers, labelled in large black letters, “College Library Resources,” they are usually found, probably among the president’s pile of new magazines. The forms were always mailed in envelopes in previous years, but this new packaging, with a mailing label saying “President,” plus the institution’s address, must have appeared to the presidents’ secretaries as simply one more government agency publication. The letter following the contents page inside the cover concluded with the statement, “An information memorandum has been sent to all college and university librarians advising them of this announcement.” Probably, the librarians called the presidents’ offices, but the changed format couldn’t be described. We knew that the materials were to be packaged like the income tax forms, but we saw them only the day before they were sent out, so we couldn’t tell you they’d be green.

If your institution is in a Model Cities area, you should be sure to look over the application materials to be certain you’re not missing an opportunity for a possible reward for any community efforts you’ve been making. Types A and B Special Purpose grants criteria were written to give priority to applications from institutions cooperating with Model Cities efforts in their communities. We hope to discover the academic libraries making their resources available to the disturbed urban communities from which many of their students are enrolled. The appropriation for Title II-A was large enough to give limited assistance to all of the 2,200 academic libraries which received grants in 1970 when no Special Purpose grants were made. This year the 15 percent of the appropriation specified in the Higher Education Act for Special Purpose grants will probably permit about sixty grants to be made in the A and B categories and a few more to consortia under Type C. ■■