Priority Recommendations

Recommendations earmarked for priority action by an early vote of the Conference delegates.

Adopt Omnibus Children and Youth Literacy Initiative

That the President and the Congress adopt a four-pronged initiative to invigorate library and information services for student learning and literacy through legislation which would consist of:

School Library Services Title which would:

Establish within the U.S. Department of Education an office responsible for providing leadership to school library media programs across the Nation.
Create federal legislation to provide demonstration grants to schools for teachers and library media specialists to design resource-based instructional activities that provide opportunities for students to explore diverse ideas and multiple sources of information.
Establish grants to provide information technology to school media centers, requiring categorical aid for school library media services and resources in any federal legislation which provides funds for educational purposes.
Establish a federal incentive program for states to ensure adequate professional staffing in school library media centers. This would serve as a first step toward the goal for all schools to be fully staffed by professional school library media specialists and support personnel to provide, facilitate, and integrate instructional programs which impact student learning.

Public Library Children's Services Title, which would provide funding support for:

Demonstration grants for services to children.
Parent/family education projects for early childhood services involving early childhood support agencies.
Working in partnership with day care centers and other early childhood providers to offer deposit collections and training in the use of library resources.
(Concurrently, funding for programs such as Head Start should be increased for early childhood education.)

Public Library Young Adult Services Title, which would provide funding support for: 9 Demonstration grants for services to young adults.

Youth-at-risk demonstration grants to provide outreach services, through partnership with community youth-serving agencies, for young adults on the verge of risk behavior, as well as those already in crisis.
A national library-based "Kids Corps" program for young adults to offer significant salaried youth participation projects to build self-esteem, develop skills, and expand the responsiveness and level of library and information services to teenagers.

Partnership with Libraries for Youth Title, which would provide funding support to:

Develop partnership programs between school and public libraries to provide comprehensive library services to children and young adults.
Establish and fund agenda for research to document and evaluate how children and young adults develop abilities that make them information literate.
Establish a nationwide resource-sharing network that includes school library media programs as equal partners with libraries and ensures that all youth have access to the Nation's library resources equal to that of other users.
Encourage school and public library intergenerational demonstration programs which provide meaningful services (e.g., tutoring, leisure activities, and sharing of books, ideas, hobbies) for latchkey children and young adolescents in collaboration with networks and private organizations, such as conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).
Create family literacy demonstration programs that involve school and public libraries and other family-serving agencies.
Provide discretionary grants to library schools and schools of education for the collaborative development of graduate programs to educate librarians to serve children and young adults.
Provide opportunities for potential authors who reflect our cultural diversity to develop abilities to write stories and create other communications media about diverse cultures for youth.

Further, all legislation authorizing child care programs, drug prevention programs, and other youth-at-risk programs should include funds for appropriate books and library materials, to be selected in consultation with professional librarians. (SER02-1)

Share Information Via Network 'Superhighway'

That the Congress enact legislation creating and funding the National Research and Education Network (NREN) to serve as an information "superhighway," allowing educational institutions, including libraries, to capitalize on the advantages of technology for resource sharing and the creation and exchange of information. The network should be available in all libraries and other information repositories at every level. The governance structure for NREN should include representation from all interested constituencies, including technical, user, and information provider components, as well as government, education at all levels, and libraries. (TEC06-1)

Fund Libraries Sufficiently to Aid U.S. Productivity

That sufficient funds be provided to assure that libraries continue to acquire, preserve, and disseminate those information resources needed for education and research in order for the United States to increase its productivity and stay competitive in the world marketplace. Thus, a local, state, regional, tribal, and national commitment of financial resources for library services is an indispensable investment in the Nation's future. Government and library officials and representatives of the private sector must work together to raise sufficient funds to provide the necessary resources for the crucial contribution information services make to the national interest. The President and the Congress should fully support education and research by expanding and fully funding statutes related to information services, such as the Higher Education Act, Medical Library Assistance Act, Library Service and Construction Act (LSCA), College Library Technology Demonstration Grants, the National Research and Education Network (NREN), and other related statutes. Further, recommend amending Chapter II of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act to allocate funds for networking school libraries. (NET05-1)

Create Model Library Marketing Programs

That model programs be created to market libraries to their publics, emphasizing the library as a resource to meet educational, business, and personal needs. The models should promote all elements and components of the library community. The Congress also should appropriate funds to create the models for implementation on the local level. (MAR01-1)

Emphasize Literacy Initiatives to Aid the Disadvantaged

That literacy for all people must be an ongoing national priority. Because of the crisis in the disadvantaged rural and urban minority community, particular emphasis should be directed to African-American and other minority groups. Literacy initiatives should include the development of a national training model to aid libraries in establishing, implementing, and supporting literacy coalitions. To recognize the central role of libraries as providers of adult, youth, family, and workforce literacy services, the Congress should amend the National Literacy Act of 1991. Policy and funding approaches should include:

Urging the Congress and state legislatures to appropriate funds for libraries to provide basic literacy and literacy enhancement programs and general information services in prisons.
Developing national training models to aid libraries in implementing and supporting literacy programs, including development of new technologies and equipment to support literacy services.
Supporting development, production, and dissemination of quality literacy materials.
Reorienting Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) Titles VI (Library Literacy) and VIII (Library Learning Center Programs) to state-based, rather than discretionary programs, to permit all LSCA literacy and family learning programs within a state to be effectively coordinated with other state and local literacy efforts, regardless of sponsorship.
Guaranteeing access to literacy training at all levels for people with disabilities by offering instruction at accessible locations. Funding should be set aside to conduct literacy training programs in Braille and American Sign Language. (SER03-1)

Adopt National Policies for Information Preservation

That the Congress adopt a national policy to ensure the preservation of our information resources. The assessment of preservation needs should be clearly articulated, with adequate funding provided for policy implementation. This policy must include:

A broad-based program of preservation education and training essential to the long-term development of a multi-institutional preservation effort.
A comprehensive policy for preserving information in non-paper media.
The development and dissemination of new technologies, standards, and procedures in our libraries, archives, and historical organizations.
Increased federal funding to support existing regional preservation centers and to create new centers in unserved regions of the country. Together, these resources will help to ensure that small libraries, archives, and historical organizations will have access to the information and services they need to preserve their collections. (PRE01-1)

Develop Networking Equity for Low-Density Areas

That networks connecting, small, rural, urban, and tribal libraries be developed and supported at the federal, state, and local levels to ensure basic library services to all end users. Equal opportunity to participate in our country's economic, political, and social life depends upon equal access to information. The federal government should provide additional funding, based on low-density populations, under the Library Services and Construction Act to address the networking needs of small and rural libraries. All rural and low-density population libraries should be provided with federal funds for a minimum of one' access terminal on the National Research and Education Network. (NET12-1)

Encourage Multicultural, Multilingual Programs/Staffs

That the President and the Congress enact legislation to authorize and fund a program which:

Provides financial and technical assistance for library and information services for multicultural, multilingual populations.
Creates a national database of multicultural, multilingual materials for use by libraries and information services, including research and demonstration projects for model library programs, serving our multicultural and multilingual populations.
Reauthorizes the Higher Education Act and expands provisions to encourage the recruitment of people of multicultural, multilingual heritage, including those with disabilities, to the library and information services professions, and to support the training and retraining of library and information science professionals to serve the needs of multicultural, multilingual populations. (NIP11-1)

Amend Copyright Statutes for New Technologies

That, at an early date, the Congress review and amend copyright legislation to accommodate the impact of new and emerging technologies to:

Ensure that all library and information service users have access to all forms and formats of information and library materials.
Provide the right to use information technology to explore and create information without infringing on the legitimate rights of authorship and ownership. a Encourage networking and resource-sharing, while providing appropriate and manageable credit and compensation for authorship or ownership.
Permit libraries and information services preferential fair-use status equivalent to that of educational institutions. (NIP02-1)

Ensure Access to Government Information Resources

That the Congress amend the Freedom of Information Act to ensure access to all nonexempt information whether received by the federal government or created at public expense and regardless of physical form or characteristics. The Congress should create an advisory committee composed of library professionals, information industry representatives, and the general public to work with federal agencies to advise on the public's needs. (ACC04-1)

Enact National Information Policies for Democracy

That the Congress enact national information policies which shall include, but are not limited to:

Declaring libraries as educational agencies essential to free democratic societies.
Assuring the freedom to read by affirming libraries' obligations to provide, without censorship, books and other materials with the widest diversity of viewpoint and expression.
Protecting organizational and individual users from scrutiny over which library resources and databases they use. (NIP07-1)

Recognize Libraries As Partners in Lifelong Education

That the President and the Congress formally recognize all libraries as educational institutions for lifelong learning by specifically including libraries in all relevant legislation, regulations, and policy statements. This recognition will provide access to funding for adult learning and training, services to children, and efforts to eliminate illiteracy, while placing libraries in parallel partnership with the revolutionary America 2000 education initiative. The Congress should fund a basic level of services and facilities for public libraries. (GOV05-3)

Designate Libraries As Educational Agencies

That libraries be designated as educational agencies and that the President include members of the library community in implementing America 2000, appointing them to serve on relevant task forces and advisory groups. Further, that the Department of Education should designate a school library program officer to oversee research, planning, and adoption of the goals of Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs. The Department of Education shall seek categorical funding for school library media programs. (NIP12-1)

An Addendum

The following two proposals were included in early prioritizing of proposals for Conference floor discussion, but were not adopted in the final 95 Conference recommendations:

Add official in Department of Education

That the Department of Education include an Under Secretary of Education for Library and Information Services. (GOV0l-1) (Note: Merged into NIP 05-2, Appendix E, during final Conference voting.)

Adopt Laws to Guarantee Access to All Works

That the Congress and state legislatures adopt laws to guarantee that the Congress and the states recognize the right of the American public to access works of all authors, artists, scholars, politicians, and other public figures. (ACC03-2) (Note: Defeated by Conference vote during the final session.)