ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

WASHINGTON HOTLINE

by Carol C. Henderson Deputy Director ALA Washington Office

Higher Education Act bills. Two bills which would extend and amend Higher Education Act library programs are now pending in the House. Postsecondary Education Subcommittee Chairman Paul Simon (D-IL) introduced on March 22 a 356-page HEA bill, HR 5240. Unlike an earlier Simon outline of legislation, it keeps library programs together in title II (with the exception of a $1 million authorization for foreign language periodical acquisition in title VI, international education). Need criteria for II-A college library grants were revised from the earlier outline. In HR 5240 a numerical index would be set up with points given for being in the lowest quartile of applicants measured against ACRL standards for library resources, whether the library’s budget is over 3 percent of the institution’s operating budget, the percentage of Pell Grant students enrolled, whether the institution is eligible for HEA III assistance for developing institutions, and other factors (up to 10 percent) found relevant and useful.

An alternative HEA II bill (HR 5210) was introduced March 21 by subcommittee members Bill Ford (D-MI) and Tom Coleman (R-MO). It extends all parts of title II, and includes a different set of need criteria for II-A. To be eligible, academic libraries would have to provide assurance that they are participating in library resource sharing agreements, and will maintain or develop access for students to academically oriented databases. Need would be based on low institutional expenditures per student, high percentage of institutional budget for student aid, low growth of library budget compared to student enrollment over a 3-year period, and evidence of need in one or more of the following: (1) budget for periodical subscriptions, (2) hours open with professionally trained library staff available to assist students, (3) serious deficiency in basic reference materials, or (4) citation of library deficiency in an accreditation review. In each criterion, institutions would be compared with those of comparable size and program.

HR 5210 would replace the current unfunded II-D national periodical system with a new part D program of college library technology and cooperation grants for academic library technological equipment, joint-use library projects, and demonstration projects utilizing new technology. The minimum award would be $15,000 over a 3-year period with the applicant required to match one-third of that amount.

ALA’S witness at HEA reauthorization hearings on April 5 was Barbara Williams Jenkins, Library Director, South Carolina State College, Orangeburg. Her testimony was partially based on the reactions óf an ad hoc task force of ALA and ACRL Legislation Committee members, and was coordinated with the Association of Research Libraries. She recommended that the House Subcommittee incorporate the II-A need criteria and the II-D technological assistance provisions from HR 5210.

Depository library tribute. A resolution sponsored by Sen. Charles Mathias (R-MD), S. Res. 359, was passed by the Senate March 30, to pay tribute to depository libraries for U.S. government documents. The resolution commends "the many dedicated people associated with the Repository Library Program for their significant contribution in furthering the cause of free. and open public access to Government information.”

Telecommunications increases delayed. Recent Federal Communications Commission decisions postpone the access charge of $6 per line per month for multiline business customers, including many libraries, from April 3 to June 13. The new tariff for AT&T’s interstate private line service (used by OCLC, RLIN and WLN for library data communications) has been suspended until June 1. Estimates of new rates must await further actions by carriers and the FCC, which has repeatedly cited the effect of private line increases on libraries in its recent opinions and orders.