ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

Washington Hotline

Carol C. Henderson is executive director of ALA’s Washington Office; e-mail:cch@alawash.org

Library funding effort

The campaign spearheaded by four congressional library champions to maintain fund- ing for federal library pro- grams got off to a good start during National Library Week in April. Reps. Major Owens (D-NY), Jack Reed (D-RI), Pat Williams (D-MT), and Dale Kildee (D-MI) asked their colleagues to sign a joint letter to the House Appropriations Sub- committee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. The letter urges the subcommittee to maintain support for each of the currently funded library pro- grams (including Higher Education Act title II) at a level in FY95 at least equal to FY94— $146,309,000.

Obtaining commitments to sign the letter was a major action item for the 500 library supporters who visited congressional offices on April 19, Library Legislative Day. As of April 25, 57 House members had signed on—a good start, but more work was underway. Since the House funding subcommittee was scheduled to make its recommendations soon after Memorial Day, the campaign will be completed by the time this column reaches readers.

Meeting with the president

“Give libraries more money—not less—so they can buy more books and computers and more people can get smarter.” That was the message delivered by nine-year-old Alexandria Johnson in a visit with President Clinton on April 22. She was accompanied by her mother, Elizabeth Johnson, ALA president Hardy Franklin, and ALA executive director Peggy Sullivan. Alexandria’s statement about how the library changed her life was selected as one of the three most inspirational from more than 10,000 letters received during the first year of ALA’s “Libraries Change Lives” campaign.

Franklin presented a pen bearing the message “Do the Write Thing for Libraries!” and urged the president to restore the administration’s proposed cuts in library funding. He noted that federal funding for libraries comes to only about 57 cents per capita— the cost of the pen. Franklin described the President’s re- action as “sympathetic but noncommittal.”

Hearing on libraries and the Nil

Library Legislative Day par- ticipants swelled the over- flow crowd at the April 19 hearing by the Senate Sub- committee on Education,

Arts and the Humanities on Libraries and Their Role in the Information Infrastructure. Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) chaired the hearing and said: “Li- braries can provide such things as access, edu- cation and training, navigation, archiving, and cataloging of information on the superhighway in a unique way.” Simon committed himself to seeking ways to help librarians do this. Librar- ians from across the country testified about what services in their libraries were enhanced by electronic data transmission, and why support- ive federal policy and assistance were needed.

Librarian of Congress James Billington testified, followed by an impressive technology demonstration of LC’s Internet capabilities, the LC MARVEL system, and image scanning and processing; Jeanne Hurley Simon, chair of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, also testified. Representing ALA were president Hardy Franklin, director of the D.C. Public Library, and Agnes Griffen, director of the Montgomery County Public Libraries, Rockville, Maryland. Franklin appended comments from librarians and others compiled in response to a call from the ALA Washington Office to submit information electronically for the hearing record.

Public interest summit on Nil

A Public Interest Summit called “Shaping the National Information Infrastructure” (Nil) was held in Washington, D.C., on March 29, cosponsored by the Benton Foundation, other foundations, and the Clinton administration’s Information Infrastructure Task Force. Vice- President A1 Gore gave the keynote speech, notable for his assurance that the Nil would look more like the Internet than like the multichannel, video-on-demand model. He indicated the need for safeguards against monopoly control of the NII, and repeated the administration’s commitment to connecting educational institutions, libraries, and hospitals.

Panels included administration officials together with representatives of the nonprofit, education, and library communities. One panel included Jean Armour Polly, director of user services for NYSERNET in New York State, and a public library Internet pioneer. Other panelists mentioned libraries as information providers and access points repeatedly.