The Honorable George Bush                    November 11, 1991
The White House
Washington, D.C.


Dear Mr. President:

It is my distinct honor and privilege to present to you the work
of thousands of American citizens concerned with the future of our Nation's 
library and information services.

Within this Summary Report are the final 95 recommendations adopted
by delegates to this past July's 1991 White House Conference on
Library and Information Services.  They provide you and our Nation's
leadership with a blueprint for ways in which:

The United States can move from being "A Nation at Risk"
to, as you observed, Mr. President, "A Nation of Students."
We can restore our preeminence in commerce, industry, science,
and technological innovation.
America's library and information services can more fully
contribute to enhancing our literacy, increasing our productivity,
and strengthening our democracy.

This Nation stands with the world at a major crossroads.  Technological
advances present dramatic new information challenges created by
the emergence of the Information Age.  Decisions made this decade
will shape the global information culture into the next century
and, to a great extent, the nature of the society in which we
will live.

This moment presents the opportunity to build our library and
information service institutions into a pathway for new ideas.
It is the time to invigorate long-range planning to effect and
accommodate change for a future that will combine technological
success with human progress.

A revitalized national education system is a top priority for
your administration and a goal shared by all Americans.  Libraries
and information services, as classroom extensions for lifelong
learning, have a pivotal, continuing role in this revitalization
as a major partner in the America 2000strategy.  Conference
recommendations seek to reinforce and strengthen libraries as
educational institutions and as a catalyst for this Nation to
remain a paragon of intellectual freedom.

This Summary Report synthesizes the diligent, comprehensive work
of the truly democratic process of the White House Conference
by which the input of the thousands of citizens who participated
in preconference forums around the country has been melded to
prepare for the Nation's future.

It reflects their collective concern for our Nation's library
and information infrastructure.  And, I believe, it will suggest
for you, your staff, Members of Congress, and elected officials
across the country a direction that will allow us to safeguard
a national treasure our libraries - and to build an information
network that will enable every American to be an informed participant
in our democracy and a fully-productive contributor to the global
marketplace of the 21st Century.

The entire library and information services community looks forward
to working in partnership with you-, the Congress, and leadership
across the land to help shape the future of this country as a
Nation among nations as we approach the year 2000.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Reid
Chairman, White House Conference on Library and Information Services/
Chairman, U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science