****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File**** *************************************************************************** ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 1, Number 14 October 23, 1992 In this issue: (215 lines) FALL 1992 DEPOSITORY LIBRARY COUNCIL MEETING SUMMARY OF CHANGES TO HEA TITLE II LIBRARY PROGRAMS ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA ACT WOMEN AND MINORITY GRADUATE EDUCATION GRANTS AVAILABLE *************************************************************************** FALL 1992 DEPOSITORY LIBRARY COUNCIL MEETING The fall 1992 meeting of the Depository Library Council was held on October 19 and 20 in Washington, D.C. Beth Duston, President, Information Strategists, Manchester, NH, was elected by Council as chair-elect. The vote on the chair-elect and a decision on a revised Council charter did not take place during the scheduled Council meetings or sessions which were open to the public. Among other things, the charter and bylaws establish the objectives, duties, operation, membership, and reporting requirements of the Depository Library Council, and "may be amended by a majority vote of the Council at a duly constituted meeting." The meeting was the first in a series of discussions on "Restructuring the Depository Library Program." Council members focused their attention on a discussion of five questions: 1. Should there be a Depository Library Program in the electronic age? If so, how could the program be structured to fit the realities of the current GPO budget? 2. What are the goals and objectives of the Depository Library Program? Are these goals consistent with the member institutions? Are the depository libraries also meeting their responsibility to serve the public? 3. What federal agency dissemination needs are being met through the current Depository Library Program? How well are they being met? How could the current program provide better service? What federal agency dissemination needs could be met through a restructured DLP? 4. What criteria can be developed to measure the effectiveness of the existing Depository Library Program and how can these criteria be applied to models such as the one presented by the Association of Research Libraries? What are the implications of maintaining the status quo and making no changes to the current program? 5. Various critics of the Depository Library System have proposed alternative models such as the creation of a national collection or a system of "super-regionals" or electronic depositories to help relieve some of the problems associated with the current system. What are the ideal characteristics of these alternative structures and what criteria can be used for their analysis? *************************************************************************** SUMMARY OF CHANGES TO HEA TITLE II LIBRARY PROGRAMS The Department of Education has issued a notice supplementing previous notice inviting applications for new awards for FY '93 under HEA titles II- A, II-B, and II-C. Public Law 102-325, the Higher Education Amendments of 1992, made various changes to HEA title II library programs as follows: The College Library Technology and Cooperation Grants Program, formerly designated as title II-D, is now title II-A. Title II-B has been retitled "Library Education, Research, and Development." Title II-C has been retitled "Improving Access to Research Library Resources." Networking Grants may now be awarded to institutions of higher education which demonstrate a need for special assistance for the planning, development, acquisition, maintenance, or upgrading of technological equipment necessary to organize, access, or utilize material in electronic formats and to participate in networks for the accessing and sharing of library and information resources. Combination Grants may now be awarded to combinations of institutions of higher education only for the purpose of accessing and sharing of library and information resources. The authority for Research and Demonstration Grants has been amended to provide participation in the National Research and Education Network as an example of an authorized activity. The minimum amount of a grant for the College Library Technology and Cooperation Grants program has been increased to $25,000. A Networking Grant may not exceed $50,000 for each institution of higher education. For Networking Grants, the HEA directs the Secretary to give priority to institutions of higher education seeking assistance for projects that assist developing institutions of higher education in linking one or more institutions of higher education to resource sharing networks. The Secretary reserves up to forty percent of all program funds solely for applications that meet this priority in a particularly effective way. The Secretary is authorized to make awards "particularly in areas of critical needs, such as recruitment and retention of minorities." This provision will not affect the previously announced priorities governing FY '93 grants because those priorities are considered to address critical needs. Stipends are now available only to fellows who demonstrate need and are working toward a graduate degree. Stipends are not available to trainees or to undergraduates. For additional information, see the _Federal Register_, October 9, 1992, pp. 46546-7, or contact Louise Sutherland, U.S. Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue NW, room 404, Washington, DC 20208-5571. Phone: 202- 219-1315. Hearing impaired individuals may call the Federal Dual Party Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339, or 202-708-9300 in the Washington DC area. *************************************************************************** ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA ACT A bill to target assistance for school library resources, S. 3307, was introduced on October 2 in the Senate by Sens. Sarbanes (D-MD) and Simon (D-IL). A companion bill, HR 6173, was introduced in the House By Rep. Reed (D-RI) on October 5. The legislation begins the process leading to reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and focuses attention on library media centers and school library media specialists as a critical part of the educational infrastructure. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Title II, specified that funds were to be directed to improve library collections. In the 70s and 80s, the Title II program was incorporated in a series of block grants. Library media centers, which built core collections in the 60s, were thus in the position of competing with many other eligible uses of funds. Library media center specialists were also faced with the need to use limited budgets to purchase new technology, including audio-visual materials and computer hardware and software. The resulting lag in collection development, coupled with the spiralling cost of purchasing materials and the shift to the block grant formula, has created serious problems for school library media programs. Collections are deteriorating from use, out of date in subject matter, and inadequate to meet students' information needs. S. 3307 and HR 6173, the Elementary and Secondary School Library Media Act, would establish a Division of Elementary and Secondary School Library Media Services in the Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement with responsibilities for administering three grant programs: 1. A grant program where each state's allocation is passed on to local education agencies for purchase of school library materials. Authorization level: $200,000,000 for FY '93 and such sums as necessary for the 4 succeeding fiscal years; 2. A competitive grant program for elementary and secondary school library media specialists and teachers to design collaborative curriculum instructions to access the full range of information resources. Authorization level: $20,000,000 for FY '93 and such sums as necessary for the 4 succeeding fiscal years; 3. A competitive grant program for elementary and secondary school library media specialists and teachers to expand uses of computers and computer networks in the curriculum. Authorization level: $40,000,000 for FY '93 and such sums as necessary for the 4 succeeding fiscal years. The ALA Washington Office needs reactions and suggestions concerning the general approach and the details of these bills by November 10 in order to meet the timetables of Congressional education committees on recommendations for ESEA reauthorization. *************************************************************************** WOMEN AND MINORITY GRADUATE EDUCATION GRANTS AVAILABLE The Department of Education is inviting applications from institutions and consortia for its Women and Minority Participation in Graduate Education Program. These grants will assist institutions to identify and recruit talented undergraduate students who demonstrate financial need and are individuals from minority groups underrepresented in graduate education or are women underrepresented in fields of study in graduate education, such as the fields of science and mathematics. All funds received under the program must be used for direct fellowship aid. The aid should provide an opportunity for students to spend from six to ten weeks during the summer on the student's campus participating in research and scholarly activities similar to those of graduate and professional programs. The deadline for submitting applications is November 30, 1992. The Department estimates that 75 awards will be available, with an average size of $78,000. For further information, see the _Federal Register_, October 16, 1992, pp. 47536-50. A correction to the original notice appears in the _Federal Register_, October 19, 1992, p. 47688. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ALAWON is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Editor and List Owner: Fred King. Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363; Bitnet: NU_ALAWASH@CUA; Internet: NU_ALAWASH@CUA.EDU All or part of ALAWON may be redistributed, with appropriate credits. ALAWON is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your name]" to the Bitnet address listserv@uicvm. Back issues of ALAWON will be available soon. 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