================================================================= ALAWON Volume 5, Number 28 ISSN 1069-7799 May 17, 1996 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE REVIEWS LIBRARY OF CONGRESS TAX CHECKOFF FOR LIBRARIES BILL NEEDS COSPONSORS _________________________________________________________________ CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE REVIEWS LIBRARY OF CONGRESS On May 7 the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress held an oversight hearing on the Library of Congress. The hearing focused on the recent management and financial reviews of the Library of Congress, conducted at congressional request by the General Accounting Office, which contracted a management review and financial audit respectively to Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Inc., and Price Waterhouse LLP. The reviews identified areas in management and financial operations that needed change and strengthening. However, the Booz-Allen & Hamilton management review stepped beyond the initial congressional request. The review questioned the Library's mission and suggested reassessment of its role as the national library. The consultants suggested alternative missions and roles, and recommended an alternative which would result in a considerable narrowing of the Library's mission. Booz-Allen Hamilton, Inc. "recommended that the Library's mission be focused within the Congress/nation alternative, and planning should begin toward a future mission of serving Congress and performing the role of a national information/knowledge broker." This alternative would involve breaking up and decentralizing many of LC's collections to other institutions and referring inquiries to the appropriate repository or shipping non-digitized documents from a storage location to a remote requester, for return shipment when use is finished. In contrast, the Library mission has been "to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations." Although never formally designated as such, the library community generally considers the Library of Congress to be a national library with international scope and services, and relies on many of its national services to other libraries. The Booz-Allen & Hamilton reassessment of the Library's mission seems based on assumptions that there is no longer a need for a comprehensive collection; that electronic networks replace all or part of library functions; that scarce budgetary resources require that the Library do less; as well as on criticisms heard during focus groups interviews with external constituency groups including librarians. A major part of the problem may be an underlying misunderstanding of what new technologies will actually do. In many policy arenas, there is the mistaken assumption that the digital information environment makes everything simpler and hence, replaces the library function. This oversimplifies both current and evolving library roles and the role of technology. The technological changes vastly expand and make more complex the management of the life cycle of information--making the role of the Library of Congress and other libraries more critical. But this is not widely understood. The hearing itself was well attended, both by members of the Joint Committee, and by Library Legislative Day participants who were on Capitol Hill to visit congressional offices on the same day. Librarian of Congress James Billington, in his testimony, strongly disagreed with the alternative model for its mission as proposed by the consultants. Joint Committee Chairman Mark Hatfield (R-OR) also spoke up strongly, saying that "we do not want to scale back the Library of Congress, which is the library of the nation, the library of the world and the repository for all possible human knowledge. I think that's a worthy mission and I think it has been affirmed by the Congress year after year..." Most of the legislators present endorsed his sentiments by raising their hands or nodding their heads. While it was encouraging to see this support for the Library, support reiterated by House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) at a Library function for Congress that evening, the Booz-Allen & Hamilton review should concern the library community because it provides much support for the already intense pressure on Congress to reduce the Legislative Branch budget (which includes support agencies such as LC), to privatize activities wherever possible, and to bring in revenue wherever possible. For instance, the consultants recommended that the Library investigate charging publishers for cataloging, and charging for interlibrary loans. ACTION NEEDED: It is important for the library community and for other users of the Library of Congress to let their own legislators know quickly of their support for maintaining and supporting the Library's mission. The American Library Association will be submitting a letter for the May 7 hearing record; the key point will be to express strong support of the current mission of the Library of Congress. LC should be accountable to Congress, and should improve its practices where necessary. But Congress should affirm the LC mission as a national library whose universal collection of knowledge and creativity provides high quality service to Congress, to libraries, and to the public--both current users and future generations. Write to your Representative and your Senators and convey support of the national library mission of the Library of Congress. It is especially important that members of the Joint Committee on the Library and the members of the subcommittees responsible for the Library's budget hear this message from local constituents. The key members are listed below: JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SENATE HOUSE Sen. Mark Hatfield (R-OR), Chair Rep. William Thomas (R-CA), Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) Vice Chair Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) Rep. Pat Roberts (R-KS) Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-RI) Rep. Robert Ney (R-OH) Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan Rep. Vic Fazio (D-CA) (D-NY) Rep. Ed Pastor (D-AZ) APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEES ON THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH SENATE HOUSE Connie Mack (R-FL), Chair Ron Packard (R-CA), Chair Robert F. Bennet (R-UT) C.W. Bill Young (R-FL) Patty Murray (D-WA) Charles H. Taylor (R-NC) Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) Dan Miller (R-FL) Roger Wicker (R-MS) Vic Fazio (D-CA) Ray Thornton (D-AR) Julian Dixon (D-CA) _________________________________________________________________ TAX CHECKOFF FOR LIBRARIES BILL NEEDS COSPONSORS Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY) is asking his House colleagues to cosponsor his bill, H.R. 2248, the United States Library Trust Fund Act. H.R. 2248 would create a checkoff on federal tax forms to allow a taxpayer to designate an extra $1 (or more) to go into a trust fund for library materials for public and school libraries. Rep. Serrano's office has described the bill as follows: HR 2246...would allow individual taxpayers to designate $1 of their income tax, either overpayment or refund, to the United States Library Trust Fund for grants to public libraries or public school libraries. These grants could only be used for the purchase of books and educational materials, including computers, films, and collections. The trust grants would be administered and monitored through the Division of Library Services at the Department of Education, so that no new bureaucracy would be created to administer this program. In order to be eligible for funding, a library would have to certify that it does not have the resources available, that the funds would only be used for the stated purpose, and that any funds received would be used to supplement, not supplant, other funds received by the library. ...any library receiving funds under this bill would be required to submit to an audit. This...would prevent libraries from using these funds for...non-intended purposes. Rep. Serrano's April 30 "Dear Colleague" letter included a copy of ALA's letter endorsing H.R. 2248. Many Library Legislative Day participants asked their own Representatives to cosponsor the bill during their congressional office visits on May 7. These requests are important because some legislators have a policy of not cosponsoring other legislation unless asked by a constituent. Additional cosponsors would help increase support for and interest in this bill. Library constituents are encouraged to request their own Representatives to sign on as cosponsors to H.R. 2248. A Representative does this by having his or her office call the office of the main sponsor, Rep. Serrano, to ask that their name be officially added as a cosponsor. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname]" to . ALAWON archives gopher.ala.org; select Washington Office Newsline. Web page HTTP://www.ala.org/alawashington.html. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Contributors: Carol H. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================