ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

Washington Hotline

Carol C. Henderson is executive director of ALA'S Washington Office; e-maihcch@alawash.org

Once again, the Higher Education Act (HEA) library programs have all been recommended for elimination in President Clinton’s FY 1995 budget request. The only Department of Education library programs supported by the administration are titles I and III of the Library Services and Construction Act. Recommendations for these and other programs of interest are shown below.

The rationale for HEA II elimination is the same disappointing rhetoric of last year—that libraries can use their institutions’ budgets to share resources beyond their own campuses. Further, “there is no need for additional support for training of library personnel that cannot be met through other forms of financial assistance, such as student financial aid.” Re- search and demonstration grants would be zeroed out because “funds are available for this activity from other sources, such as the National Endowment for the Humani- ties and private founda- tions."

The threat to continued funding of HEA II is serious because of the severe bud- get constraints under which Congress must operate this year, the commitment of many newer mem- bers to cut programs no matter what their mer- its, and the fact that the Clinton Administration has put its own stamp on these recommenda- tions through its “reinventing government” re- port which singled out HEA II and other small programs for elimination.

However, the administration is highlighting libraries in other initiatives such as its National Information Infrastructure proposals. Vice-President Gore continues to call for connecting schoolchildren to the information superhighway so that they can tap larger libraries. Yet bringing a fiber optic pipe to the library door does not ensure that research resources are automatically available. It requires much time, effort, and resource deployment on the part of the libraries to make this happen. The library field needs precisely the assistance of HEA II programs to make the content of library resources electronically available and to educate and retrain librarians and library educators in new kinds of expertise.

Administration funding requests:

Library programs

Action needed

The help of the ACRL legislative network and of every reader of this column is urgently needed. If you are not part of your state’s library delegation to Legislative Day on April 19, then write to your representative and senators in support of restoration of funds for HEA II college library technology, research library resources, and research and education programs. Libraries are the infrastructure for education and research. The federal stimulus for HEA II activities is needed to make meaningful the goal of connecting every school and library to the information superhighway. Please send a blind copy of your letter to the ALA Washington Office so we can make use of your examples.