| Jeanne Hurley Simon, Chairperson Washington, DC (term ends 1997) | Mary S. Furlong San Francisco, CA (1999) |
| Martha B. Gould, Vice Chair Reno, NV (1997) | Frank J. Lucchino Pittsburgh, PA (1998) |
| James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress (permament member), represented by WinstonTabb | Kay W. Riddle Northglenn, CO (1995) |
| C.E. "Abe" Abramson Missoula, MT (2000) | Bobby L. Roberts Little Rock, AR (1998) |
| Shirley Gray Adamovich Durham, NH (1996) | Gary N. Sudduth Minneapolis, MN (1997) |
|
Walter Anderson New York, NY (2000) | Barbara J. H. Taylor Darnestown, MD (1995) |
| LeVar Burton Los Angeles, CA (2000) | Joel D. Valdez Tucson, AZ (1998) |
| Joan R. Challinor Washington, DC (1999) | Robert S. Willard Spring Valley, OH (1999) |
| Carol K. DiPrete Providenc, RI (1996) |
We are pleased to present this commemorative report for the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS). We hope the report shows the people, the work and the organization of the Commission in ways that will interest and inform you.
NCLIS is 25 years old. Created by Public Law 91-345, which President Nixon signed on July 20, 1970, the Commission first met on September 21, 1971. Therefore, we have claimed July 1995 through September 1996 for our anniversary celebration.
Our celebration encompasses gubernatorial proclamations, receptions and Silver Awards to individuals who have made noteworthy and sustained contributions to libraries and information services. The people, organization and purposes honored by this anniversary are reflected throughout this report.
NCLIS has always been challenged by its very broad mandate and its very limited resources. (We have never had more than 10 staffers and never an annual appropriation of $1 million.) Our challenge has been and continues to be to make a difference for users and potential users of libraries and information services. Over our two and one-half decades Commissioners have seen and experienced much progress and some disappointments too. As we stand on the threshold of a new century, we see amazing opportunities for libraries and information services to enrich life and work.
Thus, as we look back by way of this report and other anniversary activities, we also look to years ahead for the Commission that are full of useful research, analysis, studies, and all the other initiatives that make a difference for people. We invite you to look back with the Commission and go forward with us as well.
This logotype is an abstract representation of the Commission's goal of equal opportunity of access to information for all citizens through interconnecting services and a central core of information.
Feeling a sense of urgency about their mission, the new Commissioners met often. They had 12 day-long sessions from September 1971 through June 1972. The agency's first annual report noted that NCLIS had been concerned in its initial year with every type of library and with all types of information resources and services.
The Commission's early work -- including regional hearings, research contracts, formation of committees and task forces, and other activities -- was in five areas where it determined progress must be made if NCLIS were to plan for better organization of library services and develop useful networks:
In its second year of operation the Commission put forward a draft of a new national program of library and information services, culminating in the 1975 publication of Toward a National Program for Library and Information Services: Goals for Action. A second major publication was Library and Information Service Needs of the Nation.
Other important foci for NCLIS' first five years were copyright, the Continuing Library Education Network and Exchange (CLENE) and authorizing legislation for a White House Conference on Library and Information Services.
The Commission embarked on numerous studies, including
During these years NCLIS also prepared for the first White House Conference on Library and Information Services (WHCLIS). A total of 806 delegates and alternates were among the 3,600 people from the U.S. and abroad participating in the White House Conference November 15-19, 1979, in Washington, D.C., preceded by 57 pre-conferences in states and territories and 6 special national pre-conferences.
The five conference themes addressed library and information services for meeting personal needs, enhancing lifelong learning, improving organizations and professions, effectively governing society and increasing international competition.
Delegates approved 64 resolutions urging an increased library role in literacy training, improved access to information for all, the free flow of information among nations, and the idea of a library as a total community information center and an independent learning center.
| Charles Benton, Chairman | Nicholas Johnson |
| Bessie Boehm Moore, Vice Chairman | Rose Marie Lopez |
| Gregory H. Adamian | Michael A. McCarroll |
| C.E. Campbell Beall | Margaret C. McNamara |
| Rebecca T. Bingham | Edward J. Meade, Jr. |
| Robert Lee Chartrand | Helen H. Meyer |
| Shirley Echelman | John T. Short |
| Rep. William D. Ford | Joseph F. Shubert |
| Marian G. Gallagher | Jeanne Hurley Simon |
| Robert M. Hayes | Philip A. Sprague |
| Esther Mae Henke | Carlton J. Thaxton |
| Warren Gardiner Hill | John E.Velde, Jr. |
| Alice B. Ihrig | Margaret S. Warden |
| Sen. Jacob K. Javits | Virginia G. Young |
In 1980 the major new initiative was, of course, beginning to follow up on the 1979 White House Conference recommendations. By the end of 1980 NCLIS had created three new task forces in response to conference recommendations. The new task forces on community information and referral services, library and information services for cultural minorities, and the role of the special library in nationwide networks and cooperative programs joined a public/private sector task force already in operation. Reports from all 4 task forces were issued in 1982 and 1983.
The Commission advised the Congress on the revision and reauthorization of the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA). It responded to an executive branch request (the Commerce Department) to advise on the archiving of data from land- and weather-sensing satellites. NCLIS also advised the State Department on UNESCO's General Information Program, the Defense Department on technology transfer for literacy, the Administration on Aging on information needs of senior citizens, and the Department of Agriculture on changing information needs of rural America.
By 1984 the country's attention turned to education. NCLIS first responded to A Nation at Risk by urging strong school library media center services and critical information skills for all students. The Commission highlighted the importance of library/information professionals to a strong economy in co-sponsoring with the United Kingdom a Seminar on Information and Productivity.
In 1986 NCLIS issued a concept paper on information skills and later worked with the American Library Association and others to convene a major symposium in 1989 which brought together educators and school library media personnel.
In 1987 the Commission participated in three meetings with the British Library and the Canadian Institute for Research on Public Policy on the role of information in the economy. They adopted the Glenerin Declaration Toward Coordinated Policy Agenda with nine public policy recommendations for an improved economy through use of information and its attendant technologies.
Promotion of the National Library Card Campaign, hearings on sensitive but not classified information, support of the Bicentennial of the Constitution and an agreement with ACTION to enhance services for the elderly were also among NCLIS' varied activities during these years.
In 1988 the Commission began its Recognition Awards to honoring initiatives taken by individuals (not librarians) and organizations (not library-related) to promote and improve library and information services.
In 1988 President Reagan signed P.L. 100-382, authorizing the second White House Conference to be held between September 1989 and September 1991.
In 1989 two hearings were the catalyst for other major initiatives by the Commission. The first was to assess the adequacy of library and information services to the Native American population. The second hearing concerned the Office of Technology Assessment's report, Informing the Nation: Federal Information Dissemination in an Electronic Age and the Office of Management and Budget's proposed revision to Circular A-130 on managing information resources.
As with the 1979 WHCLIS, the 1991 edition began at local and state levels with preconferences and other activities involving over 100,000 people who produced more than 2,500 policy proposals. There were 984 delegates and alternates and close to 1,000 honorary delegates, international guests and observers at the national conference.
The 1991 WHCLIS delegates approved 95 recommendations, with two top-priority ones on services for children and youth and on the information superhighway. NCLIS focused on those priorities in the early 1990s, holding three hearings on library and information services for young people, surveying selected school libraries and working toward school library media provisions in the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Many other meetings and discussions led to the Commission's 1994 sponsorship of research into public libraries and the Internet, also related to a WHCLIS priority.
NCLIS wrapped up two initiatives begun in the 1980s, the first on information policy, by developing and in July 1990 adopting the Principles of Public Information. After further hearings and site visits, the investigation into library and information services for Native Americans culminated in the report Pathways to Excellence.
In April 1991 the first public library data from all states, based on standard data elements and definitions, became available in print and machine-readable form. Annual data collection has continued. Cooperation to collect school library media and academic library statistics has also progressed.
The Commission also began to concentrate on reauthorization of the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA).
| Richard G. Akeroyd, Jr. Chairman | Stuart Forth |
| Charles E. Reid Vice Chairman | Rep. William F. Goodling |
| Lamar Alexander | Gloria S. Hom |
| Gordon Ambach | Carmencita Leon |
| William G. Asp | Hugh Mahoney |
| Louis William Barnett | Mary Jane Martinez |
| James H. Billington | Bessie Boehm Moore |
| Alice C. Calabrese | Jerald C. Newman |
| Daniel W. Casey | Rep. Major R. Owens |
| William C. Cassell | Jerry Parr |
| Margaret Chisolm | Joan Ress Reeves |
| Beth Duston | James C. Roberts |
| Joseph J. Fitzsimmons | Rep. Pat Williams |
| Rebecca Ann Floyd | Carol L. Wohlford |
| Rep. William D. Ford | Virginia G. Young |
Continuing its investigation into public libraries and the Internet, in 1995 NCLIS published Internet Costs and Cost Models for Public Libraries. In 1996 it published The 1996 National Survey of Public Libraries and the Internet. The data from these and the 1994 studies have been important to policy-makers in telecommunications, information superhighway development and other areas.
Over its 25 years NCLIS has had a variety of internal plans and strategies, and 1995 and 1996 were no exception, especially given the external push of the National Performance Review and other moves to streamline and cut the federal government. The 1995 options paper produced the same focus as that noted in the Commission's first annual report, of 1971-1972: "The basic working philosophy of the Commission is user oriented: the user of information must benefit from all Commission work. The phrase 'user of information' should be interpreted in the broadest sense--not limited to present users of libraries or of other existing information services."
As it moves beyond an anniversary and toward the new century, the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science renews its commitment to users of information.
| 1988 | Pizza Hut, Inc., for BOOKIT program |
| 1989 | Reader's Digest for support of National Library Card Campaign |
| 1990 | Atlantic Coast Conference for promoting literacy and use of public libraries Richard C. Torbert for the Library Compact |
| 1991 | Twentieth Anniversary Special Recognition Award to Barbara Bush for her commitment to libraries and literacy Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. for "Right to Read" program |
| 1992 | General Federation of Women's Clubs and local chapter, Pagosa Springs Woman's Civic Club (Colorado) for commitment to libraries |
| 1993 | Ruth J. Colvin, founder and first president of Literacy Volunteers of America Della Jackson, founder of library for African Americans in community in Western North Carolina KENS-TV for support of San Antonio Public Library's fund-raising telethon Mott's USA for providing up to $500,000 to public libraries for books and other educational materials Jerry Neuman, creator, producer and host of daily 2-minute "Check It Out: The Radio Library Program" on public radio Screen Actors Guild Foundation for Book PALS, Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools |
| 1992 | Joseph J. Fitzsimmons as Vice Chair of 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services John Y. Cole as Director of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress |
 Jeanne Hurley Simon Chairperson 1993- |  J. Michael Farrell Chairman 1992-93 |
 Charles E. Reid Chairman 1990-92 |  Jerald C. Newman Chairman 1987-1990 |
 Elinor H. Hashim Chairman 1982-86 |  Kenneth Y. Tomlinson Chairman 1986-87 |
 Charles Benton Chairman 1978-82 |  Frederick Burkhardt Chairman 1970-78 |
1110 Vermont Avenue, N.W.
Suite 820
Washington, DC 20005-3552
Phone: 202-606-9200
Fax: 202-606-9203
Web site: www.nclis.gov