Mr. Robert Willard
National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
Suite 820
1100 Vermont Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005

Dear Mr. Willard,

The Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) Legislation Committee has reviewed the documentation and various reports regarding the National Technical Information Services (NTIS) situation. We appreciate your invitation to attend the February 4th and February 29th National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) meetings on NTIS. The Chief Officers have been, and will be, represented by Bracy Williams & Company at these meetings.

A significant number (14) of the state library agencies serve as regional depository libraries for federal government information. Almost all have some role in providing free permanent public access to governmental information.

These traditional and ongoing commitments in staff and resources demonstrate the importance of the state library agencies as stakeholders in federal government information issues. The COSLA Legislation Committee publicly reaffirms the Chief Officers' concern for free permanent public access to publicly funded government information and the importance of the role of Federal Depository Library Program in that crucial ongoing effort.

The Legislation Committee strongly urges NCLIS to invite all stakeholders to formally review any NTIS document prior to its publication as a "consensus" document. We believe that the final publication should be a reflection of the views of the full community of stakeholders that NCLIS has invited to participate in its deliberations.

The COSLA Legislation Committee plans to urge the appropriate Congressional oversight committees to request and review proposals from various agencies who might be considered as future homes for NTIS functions. We would suggest that the committees invite proposals from the Government Printing Office, National Archives and Records Administration, the Library of Congress and any other agency interested in collecting, organizing, and disseminating the information currently available from NTIS. The proposals should indicate which aspect of NTIS activities the agency is willing and able to accept, on what timetable, for what cost, and most importantly, how the agency intends for those services and collections to be continued with greater free permanent public access to NTIS materials.

Sandra Cooper, State Librarian of North Carolina and Chair of COSLA's Legislation Committee, and all of the members of the committee look forward to hearing from you in the near future on these issues of such wide ranging importance.

Thank you again for your invitation and let us all work together to gather the information critical to the best recommendations to Congress.

Sincerely,

GladysAnn Wells, State Librarian
Arizona