It is an honor and a pleasure for me to be here today, to have the opportunity to talk about the history and the work of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS). Considering both the history and the work of the National Commission, I had great difficulty in keeping this presentation to no more than thirty or forty minutes.
During the debate, January 3, 1969, on the establishment of the National Commission, members of both houses of Congress identified the need for federal government library and information policy. Representative Steiger from Wisconsin, in his remarks on the need for a national commission stated, "the needs of our people in all walks of life for library, information, and media services are already enormous and they are increasing daily." Senator Yarborough stated." We know there has been a so-called knowledge explosion. We know there is more to know now than ever before, and the amount of this knowledge, in every conceivable field is indeed increasing explosively," thus recognizing what today we call an information explosion.
Public Law 91-345 established the National Commission as an independent agency within the Executive branch of the government and provided a succinct statement of federal policy regarding libraries,
The Congress hereby affirms that library and information services adequate to meet the needs of the people of the United States are essential to achieve national goals and to utilize most effectively the Nation's educational resources and that the Federal Government will cooperate with State and local governments and public and private agencies in assuring optimum provision of such services.
Although the National Commission did not come into being until 1970, the history of federal aid to libraries goes back to the work done by the National Resources Planning Board in underwriting the cost of the first major public library standards, POST-WAR STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES, published by the American Library Association (ALA) in 1943. In 1946 the Public Library Service Demonstration Bill was introduced in both houses of Congress. It was revised in 1951 and renamed the Library Services Act. In 1953, President Eisenhower wrote, "The libraries of America are and must ever remain the home of free, inquiring minds. To them, our citizens must be able to turn with clear confidence that there they can freely seek the whole truth." Nevertheless, the bill finally passed in 1956 and President Eisenhower signed it into law on June 19, 1956. This basically provided funding for rural libraries. Over the years the level of library aid has increased and expanded to urban public libraries, library construction, and with the passage of the Museum and Library Services Act of 1996, provision for funding the implementation of technology and cooperative library and museum programs. This is the primary legislation for Federal funding for library programs. This year it provides about 156 million dollars.
Unlike IMLS, the National Commission is not a funding agency. It is a policy and planning agency. By law, the responsibilities of the National Commission are to:
Within the structure of the Federal Government, there is a category called micro agencies, that is agencies with 100 or fewer staff. The National Commission is one of the smallest of the micro agencies. In addition to the Commissioners, it currently has a staff of five plus three Consultants, and a budget of only 1.3 million. Therefore, with a small staff and, for the Federal Government, a very modest budget, the National Commission has an awesome responsibility, one that we have met successfully over our 30-year life span.
By law there are two permanent members of the Commission; the Librarian of Congress and the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, who serves as an ex-officio non-voting member. There are also 14 Commissioners, like myself, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate for 5-year terms. Of the 14 Commissioners, five are to be professional librarians or information specialists, one is to have knowledge of the technical aspect of library services, one is to have expertise in library and information service to the elderly, and the remainder are to have competence in or knowledge of the library and information needs of society.
The process of becoming a member of the Commission is both political and frustrating. Once the President has signaled intent to nominate, one is subjected to a FBI investigation, and paperwork regarding financial information, political contributions, and political activity. I provided information on political contributions and activity going back 5 years, on how I paid household help, on community activities, financial worth and sources of income, as well as a lengthy personal history. In addition the FBI contacted friends and co-workers with questions as to my loyalty to my Country, did I use drugs, had I ever been arrested, publicly drunk, investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, and could I be considered a security risk. As nominations are confidential until the Office of Presidential Personnel sends out a press release, handling a call from my local newspaper as to why I was being investigated by the FBI was a bit tricky.
What is so very unique about the National Commission is that we speak for the users of library and information services. We do not necessarily speak for the profession. And much of what we do is done quietly, such as working with congressional staff to provide background information on proposed legislation that would have an impact on national library and information policy. We do work closely with our national professional associations on issues and proposed legislation that impact national library and information policy, but always from the point of view of the users of library and information services.
This is, perhaps, most apparent in our stand on children and the Internet, with respect to the use of filtering software. In November of 1998 the Commission held a public hearing, KIDS AND THE INTERNET: THE PROMISE AND THE PERILS. While the proceedings of the hearing will not be published until later this summer, I have provided you with copies of our brochure listing the promises of the Internet, the perils, policy issues and some potential solutions. The National Commission recognizes that decisions affecting use of the Internet must be local ones, based on the culture, customs and character of each community, and therefore strongly recommends that each library have a written acceptable use policy approved by its governing structure and reviewed periodically to adjust to the continuous changes in the Internet.
Our stand on the issue of filters placed us in direct confrontation with the American Library Association whose resolution on the use of Internet filters states, "that the American Library Association affirms that the use of filtering software by libraries to block access to constitutionally protected speech violates the Library Bill of Rights." Because this stand also caused problems with members of COSLA, the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, ALA has somewhat softened its stand and now supports the concept of local decision making in terms of Internet access policies.
On June 26, 1997 the U.S. Supreme court issued a sweeping re-affirmation of core First Amendment principles and held that communications over the Internet deserve the highest level of Constitutional protection. The Supreme Court found that the Internet "constitutes a vast platform from which to address and hear from a world-wide audience of millions of readers, viewers, researchers, and buyers." Furthermore, the decision states that "any person with a phone line can become a town crier with a voice that resonates farther than it could from any soapbox." The Supreme Court conclusion that, "the vast democratic fora of the Internet" deserves full constitutional protection will also protect libraries that provide their patrons with Internet access.
During the hearings on Kids and the Internet, I made the statement that the rules of the game have changed and that compromise may be necessary in terms of addressing both the dark side of the Internet and First Amendment Rights. This was not an easy decision for me to make, but First Amendment issues in cyberspace are very different from those in the print world.
While Congress has focused on materials harmful to children, defined mostly by sexually graphic materials, the National Commission is also concerned with authenticity of information available on the Internet, proliferation of hate sites, revisionist history, racism, privacy, and illegal activities such a copyright piracy, gambling, stalking, pedophilia, personal threats, and consumer fraud. For more information on filtering, you can access the American Library Association's web page at www.ala.org, and the National Commission's web page at www.nclis.gov
One issue followed closely by the National Commission through the years is public access to government information, also referred to as public information. In 1990 the National Commission adopted the following Principles of Public Information.
This brings me to one of our current National Commission projects, ASSESSMENT OF ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT INFORMATION PRODUCTS. The study, funded by the Government Printing Office, was completed in March. The some of the key findings impacting policy and planning issues are:
The next phase of this study will be to analyze the findings and present to the President and Congress both broad conclusions and policy recommendations. A not insignificant task. The executive summary is provided you, and the full report is on our web page.
The work of the National Commission is guided by our Action Plan, which identifies our primary goals. As I stated earlier, with a small staff and nominal budget, we identify primary goals and objectives, and then revise the plan with a yearly review. Therefore, the study on access to electronic government information, the hearing on Kids and the Internet, support for the e-rate and universal service, and advice on the Library Services and Technology Act to the Institute for Museum and Library Services are among our current activities.
Other issues of importance to the National Commission are:
Information Literacy and its impact on both learning and teaching. As far back as 1974 Paul Zurkowski then president of the Information Industry Association, introduced the concept of information literacy in a paper for the National Commission, The Information Service Environment Relationships and Priorities, National Program for Libraries and Information Services, Related Paper #5.
Information is not knowledge, information is used to acquire knowledge, and therefore, one must be information literate in order to become knowledgeable. I would suggest two books that address is issue, Information Literacy by Kathleen L. Spitzer with Michael B. Eisenberg and Carrie L. Lowe based on Information Literacy in an Information Society by Christina S. Doyle, Clearinghouse on Information & Technology, Syracuse University, 1998 and Information Literacy, Educating Children for the 21st Century by Patricia Senn Breivik and J.A. Senn, 2nd ed., National Education Association, 1998.
In our rush to embrace technology, we are only now recognizing that technology has changed how we learn, how we teach and how we work.
The National Commission, recognizing that this was an emerging issue, sponsored a symposium in April 1996, Information Literacy and Education for the 21st Century, Toward an Agenda for Action. The symposium addressed recommendations for changing the way teachers are educated, the way teachers teach, the way schools are administered, the way schools are funded, and the way school library media programs are operated.
In particular, the rush to technology has forever changed how we train librarians. In early May I attended a Congress on Professional Education. I came away from this meeting feeling very discouraged for the future of our profession, as we are now seeing graduate schools of library education making far reaching changes, becoming, not library schools, but schools of information, imparting skills that are in demand by public and private institutions in society.
While this may enhance the academic standing of schools of librarianship within their academic community, it does not make it easy to find a qualified children's librarian, a reference librarian with knowledge of the literatures of the humanities, social sciences, or the sciences, or a skilled cataloger. Library schools are turning out bright technology literate graduates, who, if they cannot find the information on the Internet or a CD, may not know what book to go to on the shelves of the library.
Within the next decade libraries will see a large percentage of professional staff retiring, with a concurrent difficulty in finding new trained staff, trained in the basics of library science as well as the skills needed for accessing and evaluating information via technology. I find myself wondering if the MLS degree should be the entry level degree, or if we should look to training par-professionals in community colleges and entry level professional with an under graduate degree, saving the MLS or MIS degrees for the positions demanding a higher level of expertise and responsibility.
Papers written for the Congress on Professional Education are available on the American Library Association's web page at www.ala.org/congress/index.html.
There is another side to our rush to embrace technology and the wonders of the Internet. While President Clinton's initiative to wire all classrooms and libraries is commendable, as is the work of the Gates Foundation, future costs of technology and the planning for migration to new technology will be very costly, with the danger of reallocating financial resources away from other basic library services and collections. Also not addressed is the cost of retrofitting older buildings for technology and the on-going costs of telecommunications.
The National Commission published in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1998 national surveys of U.S. public libraries and the Internet. The 1998 survey indicated that 83.6% of public libraries are connected to the Internet, 73.3% have public access, 68.6% have graphical public Internet access, and 45.3% provide graphic public access with speed of 56K or more. The summary results are available online at http://www.ala.org/research/survey98.html.
The Communication Act of 1996 provided for universal service with the e-rate, discounted rates for libraries, schools, and rural health clinics. The discount for line charges can range from 20% to 90% and is tied to the number of free school lunches provided locally (a measure of poverty) in calculating the rate. Unfortunately there is a move by conservative members of the Senate to either revise or repeal the e-rate, as they perceive it to be a burdensome tax. In fact it is not a tax, and the concept of universal service goes back to the Communications Act of 1934.
The web is not a library, and it is not a question of books vs. bytes. If one looks at the mission of a library using both print and technology is the answer. Use and accessing the web is now easy for many people, over coming both time and distance, as information is available worldwide 24 hours a day seven days a week.
However, not all information is available on the web, and information available on the web does not adhere to accepted standards of authentication. There is little collection structure or organization of information, there is a dangerous illusion of depth and comprehensiveness as the information can be either skewed or incomplete, and users are dependent on search engines.
Therefore, users of reference and advisory library services benefit from direct personal contact with a librarian with the ability to tailor services to people with special needs, preschoolers, seniors, minorities, and so forth. More importantly, both print and electronic resources are selected, evaluated, and organized by professionals.
Libraries are also rushing toward digitization of many valuable and or fragile collections. However, David Barber wrote in his article Building a Digital Library: Concepts and Issues. Library Technology Reports 32:5 (Sept.-Oct. 1996): 573-738, " the proportion of available digital content is tiny compared to the amount of printed materials available. Nor is conversion from print to digital form likely to substantially reduce the size of the collection of print materials. Many resources are so large that complete digital conversion is not a possibility. At the Cleveland Public Library, there is a collection of over a million photographs. Assuming that the necessary financial resources could be found, and assuming that digital conversion of each photograph might take five minutes of handling and scanning, this task would take one person over two thousand 40-hour work weeks, or 40 years.
While digitization of rare, fragile, and historic materials is a definite plus for those searching for information, there are still the questions of permanent public access, the life of digitized information, strategic planning for migration of information to new technologies, and creation and maintenance of metadata. All costly and all staff intensive.
The organization and governance of libraries is also impacted by the growth of technology. Lines among the different types of libraries have become blurred. There is a growing trend toward joint school and public libraries, academic and public libraries, academic and school libraries, sharing of facilities, staffs, and services with inter-local government agreements.
This is a trend that does not have great support among librarians who are sometimes more concerned with territorial imperatives. However, cooperation, coordination, and consolidation have support from governing and funding authorities faced with more and more demands for services from finite funding sources.
Some examples of successful partnerships are school and public libraries in Reno, NV and Scottsdale, AZ, public and community college library partnerships in the Salt Lake City County Library System, the Broward County Library in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and the Houston Public Library System in Texas. New Hampshire, Kentucky and Wisconsin also support school public library partnerships.
There can be interesting public private partnerships with developers who make land available or provide financial and/or in-kind construction support for new or renovated buildings. Developers of shopping malls can and do make space available for branch library facilities with reduced or free rent.
While Director of the Washoe County Library in Reno, NV, I negotiated contracts that provided free rent as well as reduced rent for branches in two shopping malls, and donated land for proposed new branch facilities. The newest branch library, scheduled to open on June 12th, is located in a building donated by a local developer in a public/private partnership.
With the passage of the Museum and Library Services Act the Federal Government also recognized the continued importance and efficiency of cooperative programs, first identified in title III of the former Library Services and Construction Act. Under this legislation one of the national leadership grant categories is for cooperative museum library programs. More information on these grants and the first recipients can be found on the IMLS web page at www.imls.gov.
The issue of intellectual property right and copyright will be a difficult one for librarians used to the concept of fair use. This is a very complex issue and the National Commission is following carefully how the Digital Millennium Copyright Act will impact the concept of fair use. Carol Henderson, the retiring Executive Director of the Washington Office of ALA made a presentation on libraries as creatures of copyright and you can access this paper at www.ala.org/washoff/copyright/html.
The White House Millennium Council has designated the National Commission's Sister Libraries as an official project. The theme of the Council is "Honor the Past - Imagine the Future", and the National Commission is delighted that Mrs. Clinton will serve as our Honorary Chair. In agreeing to chair the Sister Libraries project, Mrs. Clinton stated. "This moment in history, the approach of a new millennium and the beginning of the next century, provides a wonderful opportunity for America's Free Public Libraries to join the young people of our nation with young people throughout the world so that they many learn from each other the wealth of information that is available in libraries around the globe." I have provided information on our Sister Libraries project, and I hope you will consider becalming a sister library. For additional information you can send e-mail to SisterLibraries@nclis.gov or meet with us at our booth during IFLA.
The work of the National Commission and the future of library and information services are one of constant change, change that is being driven by the rapid growth of technology. Change demands flexibility, political acumen, strategic planning, and advocacy skills. None of these are taught in library science schools.
You are in an incredibly exciting time, as you have the opportunity to create your own future. Will this be easy, no? Will it be frustrating, yes. It will also be the most challenging opportunity of your professional lives, and I envy you this opportunity to make your visions into reality.