The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science is a permanent, independent agency of the 

federal government, established in 1970 with the enactment of Public Law 91-345. The Commission is charged 

with: 

• Advising the President and the Congress on the implementation of policy 

• Conducting studies, surveys, and analyses of the library and informational needs of the nation 

• Appraising the adequacies and deficiencies of current library and information resources and services 

• Developing overall plans for meeting national library and informational needs. 

The Commission also advises Federal, state, and local governments, and other public and private organizations, 

regarding library and information sciences, including consultations on relevant treaties, international 

agreements, and implementing legislation, and it promotes research and development activities that will extend 

and improve the nation’s library and information handling capability as essential links in the national and 

international networks. 

Commissioners and Staff include: 

C. Beth Fitzsimmons, Ph.D., Chairman 

 Bridget L. Lamont, Vice Chairman 

 José A. Aponte Sandra F. Ashworth Edward L. Bertorelli 

 Jan Cellucci Carol L. Diehl Allison Druin, Ph.D. 

 Patricia M. Hines Colleen E. Huebner, Ph.D., MPH Stephen M. Kennedy 

 Mary H. Perdue S. Diane Rivers, Ph.D. Herman L. Totten, Ph.D. 

 James H. Billington, Ph.D. Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Ph.D. 

 Librarian of Congress Director, Institute of Museum 

 Deanna Marcum, Ph.D. and Library Services 

 Alternate for Dr. Billington 

 Madeleine C. McCain Kim A. Miller Joseph J. Dyer 

 Director of Operations Special Assistant – Technical Management Operations Analyst 

 Acting Executive Director 

Disclaimer 

The views, opinions, and recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not 

necessarily reflect official position or policy of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information 

Science. 

 

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirement of American National Standard for 

Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. 

Citation 

U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. 

Meeting the information needs of the American people: past actions and future initiatives; a report based on 

research sponsored by the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and conducted by 

Nancy Davenport and Judith Russell on behalf of Information International Associates, Inc. 

Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2008. 

Cover design by Terri Lloyd. 

U.S. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE:

PAST ACTIONS AND FUTURE INITIATIVES

A Report Based on Research Sponsored by the 

U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science 

Conducted by Nancy Davenport and Judith Russell 

On Behalf of Information International Associates, Inc. 

Under Contracts ED-07-PO-0751 and ED-07-PO-0752 

U.S. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

1800 M STREET, NW, SUITE 350, NORTH TOWER, WASHINGTON, DC 20036 
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 

Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001 

ISBN 978-0-16-080304-8 
March 2008

The President 

The White House 

Washington, DC 20500 

The Vice President 

The United States Senate 

Washington, DC 20510 

The Speaker of the House of Representatives 

United States House of Representatives 

Washington, DC 20515 

Dear Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, and Madam Speaker: 

The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science was established by Congress in 

1970 as an independent agency to advise the President and Congress on information policy issues. I am 

honored to have served as the Chairman of the Commission since January 28, 2004. 

Over the last 37 years the Commission has addressed through research, meetings of experts, and public 

hearings most of the issues that have been encountered by the American public in their quest for information to 

make decisions common in daily life, to participate in the democratic process, to educate their children, and to 

seek health care for themselves and their families. We have studied the relationship of students’ academic 

achievements to the presence of a school library media center and a school librarian. We have looked at the 

role of information in innovation and research and in daily commerce, before the Internet existed, and since it 

has become the most used way to retrieve and send information. We have sent recommendations to the 

President and the Congress in our reports and in our visits. We have seen changes in law affected as we 

recommended. 

This will be the final report from the U.S. National Commission on Library and Information Science. I 

contracted this work when we were seeking advice to assist the Commissioners in deciding the research issues 

we would undertake during the fiscal year. As events unfolded during the past few months, it became clear that 

the report needed to serve two functions: (1) to document the history and accomplishments of the Commission 

and (2) to remind the public and those who take up this mantle that the work of the Commission is not done. A 

compelling future agenda for information policy research and development is also presented as part of this 

report. 

I salute the Commissioners, both former and current, who have served with distinction throughout the 

life of the Commission and thank the staff for their dedication and hard work on behalf of the American public. 

The Commission has been led by extraordinarily gifted men and women, and I have been privileged to have 

been advised by them and count them as my friends. 

 Sincerely, 

 Beth Fitzsimmons, Ph.D. 

 Commission Chair 

MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Table of Contents 

 

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. iii

Historical Contributions of NCLIS ...................................................................................... iii

Information Access for the American Public ....................................................................... iv

Acknowledgments..................................................................................................................... v

I. Background ...................................................................................................................... 1

II. Historical Contributions of NCLIS .................................................................................. 3

NCLIS Positions on Information Policy ............................................................................... 3

Background ...................................................................................................................... 3

The First Decade: 1970-1979 ........................................................................................... 4

The Second Decade: 1980-1989 ...................................................................................... 6

The Third Decade: 1990-1999 ....................................................................................... 11

The Final Years: 2000-2008 .......................................................................................... 14

Principles of Public Information .................................................................................... 20

Information Access for the American Public ...................................................................... 22

Background .................................................................................................................... 22

The First Decade: 1970-1979 ......................................................................................... 22

The Second Decade: 1980-1989 .................................................................................... 24

The Third Decade: 1990-1999 ....................................................................................... 26

The Final Decade: 2000-2008 ........................................................................................ 28

Measuring Libraries and Access to Information ............................................................ 33

NCLIS Role in the White House Conferences on Libraries and Information Science ....... 34

The First White House Conference on Library and Information Services, 1979 .......... 34

The Second White House Conference on Library and Information Services, 1991 ...... 37

III. Future Research Agenda ................................................................................................ 40

NCLIS Future Research Topics .......................................................................................... 40

Introduction .................................................................................................................... 40

Methodology .................................................................................................................. 40

Topic for Research: Public Libraries, Their Changing Role in U.S. Society and 

Measuring Their Societal Value .................................................................................... 41

Topic for Research: Digital Libraries ........................................................................... 43

Topic for Research: Building and Sharing Collections ................................................ 45

Topic for Research: Disaster Planning and Relief Efforts ............................................ 46

Other Areas of Research Recommended to the Commission ........................................ 46

Appendix A. Enabling Legislation ...................................................................................... A-1

Appendix B. NCLIS Chairs ................................................................................................. B-1

Appendix C. Current Commissioners .................................................................................. C-1

Appendix D. Former Commissioners .................................................................................. D-1

Appendix E. Senior Staff ...................................................................................................... E-1

Appendix F. NCLIS Publications ......................................................................................... F-1

Appendix G. NCLIS Timeline ............................................................................................. G-1

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

— ii — 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Executive Summary 

In the FY2007 and FY2008 Budgets, the President recommended that the National 

Commission on Libraries and Information Sciences (NCLIS) be consolidated with the 

Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). In FY2007, while waiting for 

Congressional action on the proposal in the President's FY2008 Budget, the Commission 

recognized the need to summarize its work and document its accomplishments in anticipation 

of a change in its status. 

To document its past contributions, the Commission performed an analysis of its policy 

recommendations, research initiatives, and other past actions in fulfillment of its mission. 

Looking to the future, the Commission also identified and prioritized the two or three 

information policy issues that should be addressed during FY2008. This was done with the 

expectation that, should NCLIS remain an independent agency, it would address these issues 

to the best of its ability with the funds it received. If the consolidation with IMLS was 

authorized by Congress, NCLIS intended to utilize this information to advise IMLS on the 

need for action on these policy issues. 

Public Law 110-161, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 2008, provided funds 

for the Commission to close. The accompanying language in Senate Report 110-107 stated: 

“The administration budget for fiscal year 2008 requested that NCLIS be eliminated and the 

activities of the Commission be taken over by the Institute for Museum and Library Services. 

The Committee concurs with this request and has included $400,000 for close out activities.”

At this critical point in the history of the Commission, as it completes the complex activities 

necessary to close down a federal agency, documenting the significant contributions that it 

has made and identifying important issues that still need to be addressed are essential 

transition activities. This document, which will be the final publication of the Commission, 

serves both purposes. It provides a historical overview of the accomplishments of a small and 

modestly funded Commission with a large and vital responsibility to address the information 

needs of the American public, and it also summarizes the results of a survey of opinion 

leaders in the fields of library and information science, who offered their advice on the most 

important issues that should be addressed in the next twelve to eighteen months. 

Historical Contributions of NCLIS 

The key statutory functions of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information 

Science (NCLIS) can be summarized as follows: 

1. NCLIS discovers the needs of the people of the U.S. for library and information 

services. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

— iv — 

2. NCLIS translates those needs into recommended national policy to meet needs of the 

people of the U.S. for library and information services. 

3. NCLIS advises the President, the Congress, state and local governments, and others 

on implementation of national policy. 

NCLIS is not a regulatory or operating agency. To carry out the above functions, it conducts 

studies, surveys, and analyses of the nation’s library and information needs, appraises the 

adequacies and deficiencies of the current library and information resources and research and 

development activities, conducts hearings, and issues publications. These activities support 

the development of policy advice and recommendations to the President, the Congress, and 

others. 

This section summarizes the historical contributions of NCLIS to information policy and to 

information access and its supporting infrastructure, as well as the Commission’s role in two 

White House Conferences on Libraries and Information Services, one in 1979 and another in 

1991. It documents selected policy positions and actions of the Commission, as well as many 

of its hearings, studies, surveys, and other activities in fulfillment of its mission. (Refer to 

Appendix G for a table summarizing NCLIS events from 1970 – 2008.) 

Information Access for the American Public 

NCLIS developed a forward looking research agenda that would have the support of and 

meet needs expressed by multiple sectors of the information community. From interviews 

and recommendations elicited from the information community, a specific research agenda 

emerged that clustered around four broad topics: Public Libraries: Their Changing Role in 

U.S. Society and Measuring Their Societal Value; Digital Libraries; Building and Sharing 

Collections; and Disaster Planning and Relief Efforts. 

Each of the recommendations is keyed to the purpose of NCLIS—policy development that 

ensures an informed American public with adequate access to information for decisionmaking, civic engagement, and a higher quality of life. Interviewees were asked to describe 

an issue or an obstacle that if removed or ameliorated would facilitate their work in the 

information community, whether it was in the public, private or academic sector. Underlying 

each issue is a public policy question—the legislative mandate of NCLIS or its successor 

agency—to be resolved. 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Acknowledgments 

I would like to thank all of the former Commissioners and staff. The quality and value of 

your work is apparent from the accomplishments summarized in this report. I would also 

like to express gratitude to the many individuals and organizations who have participated in 

and supported the work of the Commission through the years and to the staff at the U.S. 

Department of Education. 

 

I must acknowledge the current staff who have supported us so ably during our tenure as 

Commissioners and are traveling with us to the finish line on March 30, 2008. In particular, I 

would like to acknowledge the efforts of Kim Miller and Madeleine McCain. Serving the 

Commission since July 1990, Kim has played a significant role in the operation of the 

Commission office, development of its website, and providing outstanding support to the 

library statistics program. As Director of Operations since 2002, Madeleine has sustained the 

activities of the Commission while managing all the administrative challenges of meeting the 

requirements of a Federal agency. As this report is being published, she is skillfully leading 

us through the myriad of tasks and complexities to close the Commission. 

For this report, NCLIS contracted with Information International Associates, Inc. (IIa), and I 

would like to thank IIa and the two individuals who prepared the report: Judith Russell, 

former Deputy Director of NCLIS and now Dean of Libraries at the University of Florida 

and Nancy Davenport, former Commissioner acting on behalf of the Librarian of Congress 

who holds a statutory seat on the Commission, and now Interim Director of Library Services 

at the District of Columbia Public Library. 

Finally, I must thank the Commissioners who have served with me. It has been a great honor 

to share with you the important work of this Commission in addressing the information needs 

of the American people. I am grateful for your support, your counsel, and your friendship. 

C. Beth Fitzsimmons, Ph.D. 

Ann Arbor, Michigan 

February 20, 2008 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

— vi — 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Meeting the Information Needs of the American People: 

Past Actions and Future Initiatives

I. Background 

The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) is a 

permanent, independent agency of the federal government, established in 1970 by Public 

Law 91-345, to advise the President and Congress, as well as other Federal, State, local, and 

private agencies, on national and international library and information policies. In 

establishing the Commission, Congress affirmed 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.” 

NCLIS is responsible for addressing the information and learning the needs of the American 

people, not through implementation of specific programs, but rather though analysis and 

advice to others. Specifically, the Commission is authorized to: 

• Conduct studies, surveys, and analyses of the library and informational needs of the 

nation; 

• Appraise the adequacies and deficiencies of current library and information resources 

and services; 

• Evaluate the effectiveness of current library and information science programs; 

• Develop overall plans for meeting national library and information needs; and 

• Promote research and development activities which will extend and improve the 

nation's library and information-handling capability. 

The Commission consists of fourteen part-time members who are appointed by the President, 

with the advice and consent of the Senate, as well as the Librarian of Congress and the 

Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). It is supported by a small 

professional staff. Though its mission is broad, addressing issues that affect every American, 

the resources available to the Commission are modest. Only twice since its inception has its 

annual appropriation exceeded $1 million. As a result, the Commission has always prioritized 

its activities to address a few key issues each year. Nevertheless, when viewed in its totality, 

the range of the issues it has addressed and its ability to bring national attention to issues in 

the increasingly important and rapidly changing environment of library and information 

science has been impressive. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

— 2 — 

Through the FY2007 and FY2008 Budgets, the President recommended that NCLIS be 

consolidated with IMLS. Since the Commission is a permanent, independent agency, such a 

consolidation could not occur except through enactment of enabling legislation by the U.S. 

Congress. Although the legislation governing the Commission has not been amended, the 

FY2008 appropriations bill (H.R. 2764, Public Law 110-161) provided funding only for 

close out activities of the Commission. That effort is now in process. Report language 

accompanying H.R. 2764 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 2008 gives the 

IMLS the authority and resources to carry out the mission of the Commission: “The 

Appropriations Committees concur with language included in the House report that gives the 

Institute of Museum and Library Services the authority and resources to carry out the mission 

of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.” 

In FY2007, while waiting for Congressional action on the proposal in the President's FY2008 

Budget, the Commission recognized the need to summarize its work and document its 

accomplishments in anticipation of a change in its status. It also recognized its responsibility 

to continue to fulfill its legislative mandate by identifying a research agenda on information 

policy issues that affect the American public’s access to information even as it prepared for 

the contingency of a consolidation with IMLS. 

To document its past contributions, the Commission contracted for an analysis of its policy 

recommendations, research initiatives, and other past actions in fulfillment of its mission. 

Looking to the future, the Commission sought to identify and prioritize the two or three 

information policy issues that should be addressed during FY2008, with the expectation that, 

should NCLIS remain an independent agency, it would address these issues to the best of its 

ability with the funds it received. If the consolidation with IMLS was authorized by 

Congress, NCLIS intended to utilize this information to advise IMLS on the need for action 

on these policy issues. 

At this critical point in the history of the Commission, as it completes the complex activities 

necessary to close down a federal agency, documenting the significant contributions that it 

has made and identifying important issues that still need to be addressed are essential 

transition activities. This document, which will be the final publication of the Commission, 

serves both purposes. It provides a historical overview of the accomplishments of a small and 

modestly funded Commission with a large and vital responsibility to address the information 

needs of the American public, and it also summarizes the results of a survey of opinion 

leaders in the fields of library and information science, who offered their advice on the most 

important issues that should be addressed in the next twelve to eighteen months. 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

II. Historical Contributions of NCLIS 

The key statutory functions of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information 

Science (NCLIS) can be summarized as follows: 

• NCLIS discovers the needs of the people of the U.S. for library and information 

services. 

• NCLIS translates those needs into recommended national policy to meet needs of the 

people of the U.S. for library and information services. 

• NCLIS advises the President, the Congress, state and local governments, and others 

on implementation of national policy. 

NCLIS is not a regulatory or operating agency. To carry out the above functions, it conducts 

studies, surveys, and analyses of the nation’s library and information needs, appraises the 

adequacies and deficiencies of the current library and information resources and research and 

development activities, conducts hearings, and issues publications. These activities support 

the development of policy advice and recommendations to the President, the Congress, and 

others. 

This section summarizes the historical contributions of NCLIS to information policy and to 

information access and its supporting infrastructure, as well as the Commission’s role in the 

White House Conferences on Libraries and Information Services. It documents selected 

policy positions and actions of the Commission, as well as many of its hearings, studies, 

surveys, and other activities in fulfillment of its mission. 

NCLIS Positions on Information Policy 

Background 

As an agency with a unique charge to advise both the President and the Congress on national 

and international library and information policies, it is not surprising that the NCLIS has 

focused on federal laws and policies relating to information throughout its history. It has paid 

special attention to laws and policies affecting public access to government information. 

Created in 1970, the first Commissioners were appointed in May 1971, and the first 

employee was hired in August of that year. The first Commission meeting was held on 

September 20, 1971 in Washington, DC. In keeping with its statutory mandate, NCLIS 

established the pattern that would be repeated throughout the years. It identified problems 

and opportunities and recommended solutions, including the appropriate agencies or 

organizations to take action. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

The First Decade: 1970-1979 

One of its earliest resolutions urged that the need for appropriate documentation and 

bibliographical and other information resources should be recognized in federal programs 

and called for executive orders and other directives that would include such support. It also 

urged Congress to enact a Copyright Act revision that would resolve the issue of “fair use” 

by libraries and library users, an issue that has reasserted itself in the digital age. 

In its second year of operation, the Commission also made several significant 

recommendations with respect to the Library of Congress (LC), including that the LC expand 

its role as the national lending library of last resort and seek to “acquire, catalog, and process 

for current and future use approximately eighty-five to ninety percent of the world output.” 

NCLIS recognized the importance of the emerging area of machine readable cataloging and 

recommended the LC expand its coverage to “substantially all languages of ... materials 

being acquired” by the Library and make these records available through “online 

communication.” NCLIS also identified the need for improved access to state and local 

government publications and suggested that the LC could assist in the development of 

policies and programs to make such publications “of greater benefit to various governmental 

bodies of the nation and to the people served by those governments.” 

The Commission achieved a significant milestone in 1974 with the publication of its official 

program document, Toward a National Program for Library and Information Services: 

Goals for Action. After two years of preparation, including broad consultation with and input 

from “institutions, associations and individuals from every segment of the library and 

information community, as well as from executives, administrators, legislators and members 

of the general public of all ages, from many walks of life, and from all over the country,” 

NCLIS released the report that “lays the foundation and provides a framework for a balanced 

evolutionary approach to achieving adequate library and information services for all.” The 

five assumptions, articulated in the report and summarized in the Annual Report of the 

Commission for fiscal year 1974-1975, indeed established fundamental guidance that 

informed the future work of the Commission: 

First, that the total library and information resource in the United States is a 

national resource which should be strengthened, organized, and made available to 

the maximum degree possible in the public interest. This national resource is the 

cumulated and growing record of much of our nation’s and, indeed, the world’s 

total cultural experience ─ intellectual, social, technological, and spiritual. 

Second, that all people of the United States have the right, according to their 

individual needs, to realistic and convenient access to this national resource for 

their personal enrichment and achievement, and thereby for the progress of 

society. 

Third, that with the help of new technology and with national resolve, the 

disparate and discrete collections of recorded information in the United States can 

become, in due course, an integrated nationwide network. 

— 4 — 

 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Fourth, that the rights and interests of authors, publishers, and other providers of 

information be recognized in the national program in ways that maintain their 

economic and competitive viability. 

Fifth, that legislation derived for the coherent development of library and 

information services will not undermine constitutionally-protected rights of 

personal privacy and intellectual freedom and will preserve local, state, and 

regional autonomy. 

These assumptions led the Commission to develop two major program objectives: (1) to 

strengthen or create, where needed, the human and material resources that are supportive of 

high quality library and information services; and (2) to join together the library and 

information facilities in the country, through a common pattern of organization, uniform 

standards, and shared communications, for forming a nationwide network. The Commission 

recognized that the national library and information services were not yet organized in a 

manner that met the needs of the nation as a whole and that the changes would come about 

gradually, but it was satisfied that the library and information communities were prepared to 

work together on these objectives. From this point forward, many of the Commission’s 

initiatives can be viewed through the prism of these assumptions and objectives. 

In 1974, the Commission also joined with the U.S. Copyright Office to sponsor a Conference 

on the Resolution of Copyright Issues. The conference brought together representatives of 

“virtually every conceivable constituency with an interest in copyright” to seek a resolution 

to the differences between librarians and publishers on library photocopying of copyrighted 

material. In 1975, this group identified the need for more complete and accurate data on 

library photocopying. With financial assistance from the National Science Foundation (NSF), 

NCLIS sponsored a study, which also included a “feasibility test” for a “royalty payment 

mechanism.” This study, completed in 1977, was the basis for the creation of the Copyright 

Clearance Center. Once again, in 1976, the Commission found itself advising Congress on 

copyright legislation. This time the Commission urged Congress to prepare to update the 

Copyright Act to reflect technological changes and address library photocopying, but advised 

Congress to refrain from acting until the results for the NCLIS study were published. 

In fiscal year 1975-1976, NCLIS urged the U.S. Office of Education to increase the 

effectiveness of its Office of Libraries and Learning Resources and to provide “leadership 

training and technical assistance” to state library agencies. It also supported extension of the 

Library Services and Construction Act and the Medical Library Assistance Act. The 

Commission supported improved federal government stewardship of scientific and technical 

information (STI) through federal legislation to have the President’s Science Advisor survey 

“ways and means for improving federal effort in scientific research and information-handling 

and in the use thereof.” In the same resolution, the Commission urged that the National 

Science Foundation undertake research and development “to improve intersectoral 

coordination, management, information interchange, raise the performance of information 

services, rationalize the establishment of interactive networks, and such other actions that 

will contribute to the progress of science and technology.” 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

That same year NCLIS addressed Governors and Chief State School Officers on the critical 

importance of including school library and media expertise on the state advisory councils for 

implementation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The Commission also 

established a task force to develop plans for a national system for provision of periodicals, 

which recommended, among other things, establishing a National Periodicals Center to 

compliment state and regional networks of libraries that would share their collections and 

ensure access to historical journals. 

In 1976, the President’s Domestic Policy Council was given six months to undertake a 

comprehensive study of emerging information policy issues regarding the rapidly growing 

information sector of the U.S. economy, the impact of computers and related technology, the 

relationship between privacy and freedom of information, and access to information. To 

assist the Council in meeting its deadline, NCLIS organized the Committee on the Right to 

Privacy and held an intense two-day conference at which 40 representatives from various 

sectors of the information community, both public and private, for-profit and not-for profit, 

“assembled to identify, categorize and analyze the critical information issues from a variety 

of viewpoints.” The results were a valuable source of information for the National 

Information Policy Report to the President, which NCLIS published on behalf of the 

outgoing administration in January of 1977. Among the recommendations in the report were 

that the U.S. set as a goal the development of a coordinated national information policy and 

that an Office of Information Policy be established in the Executive Office of the President, 

supported by an advisory committee “representative of the private sector, state government, 

and the academic and professional disciplines concerned with the information policy issues 

discussed in the report” and an interagency Council on Information Policy of high-level 

federal agency representatives. 

As is clear from its efforts to bring together diverse groups with widely varying interests to 

address copyright and other information policy issues, the Commission has not shied away 

from difficult or controversial issues. In 1977, it tackled the issue of intellectual freedom, 

speaking out against the prevailing trend to use “local community standards” to exclude 

materials from libraries and even to prosecute individuals associated with nationally 

distributed materials that were locally objectionable. Asserting the importance of protecting 

“materials which are critical of accepted values or otherwise unpopular,” NCLIS condemned 

the use of “local community standards” as a “threat to each citizen’s full exercise of the 

rights guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments.” 

In 1978, NCLIS issued The Role of the Library of Congress in the Evolving National 

Network, addressing the need for specifications for the telecommunications and computer 

architecture to support the “distributed computer processing system required by the national 

network.” It also encouraged the LC to provide online access to its cataloging records and inprocess files and to provide other online services. 

The Second Decade: 1980-1989 

In 1980, NCLIS created an international cooperation planning group that in turn 

recommended establishment of a task force on international relations to foster library and 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

information works it relates to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural 

Organization (UNESCO); provide a forum for discussion of mutual concerns between 

countries engaged in international information cooperation; serve as a clearinghouse for all 

U.S. public and private agencies interested in international information cooperation; and 

recommend to the Department of State policies that represent the best interests of the U.S. in 

the information age. (NCLIS continued to serve as the secretariat until it formally withdrew 

from UNESCO in December of 1984, but it continued a similar role through the International 

Contributions for Scientific, Educational and Cultural Activities (ISECA) until the United 

States rejoined UNESCO in 2003.) 

The following year, this intensification of interest in international information led NCLIS to 

accept a request from the Department of State to serve as the secretariat of the U.S. National 

Committee for the UNESCO General Information Program. The Commission also agreed to 

coordinate the participation of U.S. representatives to international meetings concerned with 

library and information topics. A decade later, in 1991, the enabling legislation for the 

Commission was amended to expand its responsibility to “promote research and 

development activities which will extend and improve the nation’s library and informationhandling capability as essential links in the national communications and cooperative 

networks” to “national and international communications and cooperative networks” (20 

USC 1504(a)(6)). 

In Fiscal Year 1981-1982, the Commission assisted then Representative (later Senator) Paul 

Simon with Congressional hearings on the reauthorization of the 25-year-old Library 

Services and Construction Act (LSCA). NCLIS helped identify witnesses who could testify 

to the value of LSCA and make substantive recommendations for its improvement. These 

included recognition of the potential value of library automation and the need to include 

funding for automation in the scope of the LSCA. The importance of addressing the 

information needs of rural populations, the elderly, Indians, illiterate adults, and other special 

populations was also highlighted. Congress was advised to allocate LSCA funds so that states 

could take a larger role in determining the most urgent library and information needs of their 

citizens. Once the hearings were completed, Representative Simon asked the Commission to 

prepare specifications for the legislative amendments. Working with the American Library 

Association (ALA), the Chief Operating Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA), and 

others, the Commission prepared and submitted a list of recommended changes that were the 

basis for the legislation that was subsequently enacted. 

At its November 1982 meeting, the Commission addressed pending legislation for a jobs 

creation program and urged the Congress and the President to include library and information 

service occupations among the occupations to be funded, saying: “ ...our economy’s future 

growth lies in large part in technological, information and service enterprises. The need to 

strengthen the nation’s physical infrastructure must be joined by a commitment to healthy 

‘information infrastructure.’ ” When the bill became law, it included $50 million for public 

library construction, to be distributed to the states through Title II of the LSCA. This was the 

first time that Title II had been funded since 1972. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

In 1982, NCLIS published another major report on information policy, Public Sector / 

Private Sector Interaction in Providing Information Services. The report was reissued twenty 

years later, when many of the same issues about the appropriate roles for the public and 

private sector were being debated anew as the Internet provided substantial new means for 

information dissemination and altered the balance within and between the public and private 

sectors. A review of the report in the context of the new environment created by enormous 

changes in technology reaffirmed, rather than altered, the recommendations that the 

Commission had made two decades earlier. 

The report identified issues of national concern and stressed the need for an environment that 

would enhance private sector competition and stimulate innovation. It also affirmed the 

applicability of the First Amendment to information products and services and encouraged 

Congress to be consistent in language and principles relating to information products and 

services when it formulated legislation and exercised oversight. It recommended a periodic 

economic assessment of the impact of federal government information products and services 

and encouraged research and gathering of statistics to provide data necessary to address 

information policy issues. 

With respect to the publishing activities of the federal government, the report encouraged 

agencies to regard dissemination of information as a high priority responsibility and to use 

the most efficient information technology available to fulfill their information dissemination 

missions. The report cautioned that concerns about competition with the private sector should 

not arbitrarily restrict the federal government from enhancing its information products and 

services, even as it asked agencies to announce publishing plans sufficiently far in advance to 

allow private sector involvement, evaluate the impact of agency publishing plans on the 

private sector, and periodically review the desirability of continuing an information product 

or service. Agencies were also advised to support libraries as an active means for public 

access to government information and to provide incentives for libraries, bookstores, and 

others to expand their participation in the dissemination of government information. 

The report encouraged both sectors to participate in developing voluntary standards that 

would enhance, not inhibit, further development of innovative information products and 

services. 

The private sector was asked to support educational programs that would provide the skills 

needed to develop information as an economic and social resource, as well as basic and 

applied research in library and information science. It was encouraged to “add value” to 

government information and asked to identify and help eliminate legal and regulatory 

barriers to the introduction of new information products and services. 

In 1983, the Commission sought to raise awareness of the importance of community 

information and referral services (CI&R). It urged that CI&R be included in current federal 

library legislation and national information policies and recommended that libraries be 

included in CI&R options in other federal, state, and local legislation. 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

In 1983, at the White House Conference on Productivity, President Regan said, “The 

challenge of greater productivity growth is of supreme importance to America’s future.” 

NCLIS had assisted with the planning and coordination of the White House Conference and 

provided a briefing paper on the information component of productivity to all pre-conference 

and conference participants. Following the President’s call for action, NCLIS cosponsored a 

bilateral U.S. / U.K. seminar on “Information and Productivity—Implications for Education 

and Training.” One of the themes of the seminar was national and international information 

policy. Among its major recommendations was that a completely new approach to the school 

curriculum be adopted “whereby children, in addition to learning computer skills from an 

early age, learn to use libraries and how to find and use information effectively.” This set of 

skills was identified as the “fourth R” and deemed as essential in life long learning. Another 

key recommendation was that “employers and educators work together to identify the crucial 

competencies needed in the emerging information sector” and to determine the best way to 

teach them. 

In 1984, the LSCA reauthorization was finally enacted, as was another piece of legislation 

for which NCLIS had provided technical assistance, the Older Americans Act (OAA). The 

Commission provided information about its own program related to information services for 

the aging as well as the results of a COSLA survey on library services for the elderly. 

Testimony by the NCLIS Vice Chair urged Congress to specify that public libraries could 

receive OAA grants, and this was supported by the Commissioner of the Administration on 

Aging. During the floor debate on the legislation, several senators acknowledged the 

important services libraries were already providing to older Americans and encouraged them 

to expand their services under the Act. 

Copyright was once again on the Commissions agenda as the NCLIS executive director 

participated in a February 1984 Congressional symposium on copyright and technology. One 

result of the symposium was that the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) 

initiated a study on Intellectual Property Rights in an Age of Electronics and Information in 

which NCLIS participated. That same year, OTA also began a two-year study on Federal 

Government Information Technology: Administrative Processes and Civil Liberties, again 

with NCLIS participation. The Commission found the area of greatest interest to be public 

and private sector roles in access and dissemination of government information, noting that 

“the lack of laws, regulations and executive orders governing the dissemination of federal 

information” underscores the need to provide guidance in this area. The next year, the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a draft circular on Management of Federal 

Information Resources, and NCLIS provided its comments. 

The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) is an agency within the Department of 

Commerce that is charged with collecting, organizing, announcing, and marketing the results 

of government-sponsored research. In 1985-1986, the Department of Commerce began to 

explore the possibility of privatizing NTIS and other options for its management. The 

Commission monitored the matter closely, met with Commerce and NTIS officials, and when 

legislation relating to privatization was introduced in 1987, NCLIS supported language that 

would prevent privatization. NCLIS was to play a role in saving NTIS again in 2000 when 

the Department of Commerce proposed closing the agency. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

In 1987, the Commission also convened hearings on National Security Directive 145, which 

introduced the controversial new category of “sensitive but not classified” government 

information and published a report on its findings and recommendations in 1998. 

During 1986 and 1987, the Commission cosponsored and participated in three trilateral 

conferences on the role of information in the economy. Leaders from industry, academia, and 

government in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom met to promote public 

policy agendas at the national and international levels on the use and effects of information 

resources on the economy and on the quality of life. The first conference, held in May 1986, 

focused on the relationship between the growth of the information sector and that of the 

national economies. In November 1987, the second conference addressed the place of the 

public sector in the information infrastructure, particularly the role of libraries and 

governments in creating and distributing information. The final conference was held in May 

1987 and resulted in the Glenerin Declaration, which made recommendations on ways to 

identify and measure the contributions of information to the economy, as well as ways to 

gather, share, and disseminate relevant data and reports. Two important recommendations 

were (1) to identify a coherent framework for the development of information policy in each 

country and (2) to maintain awareness of government responsibility for the creation and 

provision of certain types of information and to ensure accessibility regardless of the means 

of the user. 

At its meeting in January 1988, the Commission discussed the Federal Bureau of 

Investigation’s controversial Library Awareness Program, which attempted to monitor 

patrons' reading habits and obtain personal information about library users. As a result of the 

discussion, NCLIS adopted a resolution reaffirming its commitments to open access to 

information and the right of privacy for library users, as well as unequivocal support for First 

Amendment rights. 

In March 1988, the Commission convened an invitational conference of information 

providers and researchers to discuss how public libraries could provide information to 

support local officials and citizen groups. It authorized the production and distribution of a 

video tape that presented exemplary community information programs as a means to advise 

local officials and citizens groups about the role the public library could play in support of 

their local governance. 

A proposed supplement to OMB Circular A-130 was published in the Federal Register in 

January 1989. The Commission suggested a revision that would allow federal agencies 

greater discretion in adding value to information they disseminate, taking into account prior 

use of that information by the private sector. NCLIS also requested clarification of role of the 

Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) in disseminating federal information in 

electronic form. In the revised Circular, OMB acknowledged that it was good public policy 

to include electronic government information in the FDLP, while noting that it was not 

required by law. 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

In April 1989, the Commission joined with the American Association of School Librarians to 

hold a symposium on “Information Literacy and Education for the 21st Century: Toward an 

Agenda for Action.” Attendees represented leading organizations of teachers, educators, and 

librarians. The symposium resulted in the unanimous adoption of 40 priority 

recommendations in five topic areas: 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 organized and implemented. NCLIS asked each of the represented 

organizations to include the recommendations in their own action agendas. 

The Commission conducted a hearing on the Office of Technology Assessment’s report, 

Informing the Nation, in July 1989. This resulted in a series of activities focusing on the 

principles that are necessary to address information policies in a pluralistic society, including 

a public forum, held in October 1989, to discuss three topics: (1) Technology and Proprietary 

Rights – Using Public Domain Information in the Private Sector; (2) Technology and Public 

Access to Information; and (3) Identification of Information Policy Issues. As a result of this 

forum, NCLIS concluded that the most important contribution it could make at that time was 

to attempt to “develop a consensus among all interested parties as to the basic underlying 

principles that should shape all decisions in and out of government regarding information 

policies, procedures, and practices.” 

The Third Decade: 1990-1999 

In June 1990, the Commission published its Principles of Public Information (see page 20).

Like assumptions presented in its 1974 official program document, Toward a National 

Program for Library and Information Services: Goals for Action, the Principles articulated 

long held views of the Commission and established criteria that would be touchstones for all 

its future positions on policy related to public access to government information. These 

principles were also used by others in the library and information community to support their 

advocacy for broad public access to government information. In its 2000 report, A 

Comprehensive Assessment of Public Information Dissemination, the Commission restated 

these principles, and their influence is clearly present in many of the recommendations. What 

is clear in the Principles is both the public’s right of access to public information and the 

government affirmative obligations to disseminate its information and to ensure its integrity 

and preservation. 

The High Performance Computing Act (Public Law 102-194; 15 USC 5511) became law in 

December 1991. It called for the establishment of the National Research and Education 

Network (NREN) to “provide users with appropriate access to high-performance computing 

systems, electronic information resources, other research facilities, and libraries.” 

Furthermore, the legislation stated that “The Network shall provide access, to the extent 

practicable, to electronic information resources maintained by libraries, research facilities, 

publishers, and affiliated organizations.” During 1988 and 1989, the Commission had 

coordinated comments on the legislation from the library and information services 

community. In 1992, it hosted an open forum on the role of libraries and information services 

in NREN, and the findings were shared with the White House Office of Science and 

Technology Policy and others. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

There were a number of other significant legislative initiatives of interest to the Commission 

in 1993, including copyright reform, and a number of education proposals, the Electronic 

Libraries Act, the Government Reform and Savings Act, the National Information 

Infrastructure Act, and the Paperwork Reduction Act. 

In May, September, and December 1993, the Commission sponsored forums of the status, 

needs, and visions for services to children and youth through school library media centers 

and public libraries. One goal of the forums was to identify federal government roles and 

responsibilities in providing such services to inform the Commission’s advice to Congress 

and the Administration. 

In the spring of 1994, the Commission testified at a congressional hearing on libraries and the 

National Information Infrastructure (NII). The Commission also submitted comments on 

individual privacy rights in an era of electronic technology to the Senate. Comments were 

also made on intellectual property and libraries in the NII for the draft Information 

Infrastructure Task Force report, Putting the Information Infrastructure to Work. Comments 

were also submitted to OMB on principles for providing and using personal information. 

In September, the Commission hosted a briefing for representatives from Congress and the 

Administration on the federal role relating to libraries in the information super highway 

based on the findings of its report, Public Libraries and the Internet. 

In 1995, as it celebrated its 25th anniversary, the Commission played a key role in the 

transformation of the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) into the Library 

Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and the creation of the Institute of Museum and 

Library Services (IMLS). In the legislation, the Commission received new responsibilities for 

advising IMLS, and the director of IMLS became an ex officio member of the Commission. 

In May 1996, the Commission and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) 

conducted a forum on library and information services policy on the Impact of Information 

Technology and Special Programming on Library Services to Special Populations. A similar 

forum in was held in 1997 on the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) State Grant 

Program: Implications for Use of and Additions to National Library Data. The objective of 

this series of forums was to ensure that statistics about libraries and information services 

meet the needs of policy-makers at various levels of government, as well as to guide the 

development of related public policies. 

In 1997 and again in 2001, NCLIS contracted for reports on Policy Issues & Strategies 

Affecting Public Libraries in the National Networked Environment. The 1997 report, with the 

subtitle Moving Beyond Connectivity, raises pertinent questions about the unequal 

distribution of Internet connectivity, costs and provision of services in public library systems 

at the time, and the need for the federal government to act to level the playing field. The 

report also noted the need to move beyond identifying the number of libraries with Internet 

access and begin to assess the speed and quality of the services available. The findings of the 

2000 study, with the subtitle Setting Agendas and Extending Research, reflected significant 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

strides in connectivity, funding sources, and services to support technology use by library 

visitors and offered recommendations for future research and analysis broadly related to 

libraries (especially public libraries), the Internet, and networked services. 

In the face of rising pressure for national legislation to mandate filtering and other 

protections for children using the Internet in schools and libraries, the Commission 

conducted a hearing on Kids and the Internet: The Problems and the Perils at the Freedom 

Forum in Arlington, Virginia in November 1998. As a result of the hearing, the Commission 

determined that a broad national approach to protecting children by limiting their access to 

the Internet in public libraries and schools was inappropriate and, very likely, unworkable, 

and that it was the responsibility of local governing authorities to address these issues and 

establish policies for the public and school libraries in their jurisdictions. The Commission 

determined that facilitating the development of appropriate local policies through the 

preparation and dissemination of practical guidelines, designed to assist librarians and library 

trustees (or other governing bodies) in their efforts to evaluate and respond to the promise 

and the perils of Internet access for children, was the best approach, so it prepared and widely 

disseminated such guidelines. These practical guidelines, offering balance and compromise, 

outlined the promise, the perils, policy issues, and potential solutions for librarians and 

library trustees and for school librarians and school administrators. 

In July 1999, the Commission conducted a hearing on Library and Information Services for 

Individuals with Disabilities at the Kellogg Conference Center of the Gallaudet University, 

one of the nation's foremost educational facilities for the deaf. The Commission concluded 

that recent advances in information technology have improved conditions for some people 

with disabilities while presenting new challenges to others. Computer technology facilitates 

the production of talking books and closed captioning. Electronic text can be manipulated in 

ways that print cannot to assist persons with disabilities. Information technology can also 

help eliminate distance and physical barriers. However, a mouse-driven graphical interface 

can present problems for a sightless person. Moreover, certain intellectual property 

restrictions stifle the easy production of information in alternative formats for the disabled. 

In 1999, the Commission released the Report on the Assessment of Electronic Government 

Information Products, which was funded by the Government Printing Office (GPO) to gather 

information for the administration of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). As 

anticipated, the report confirmed that there was an overall lack of government information 

policy guiding electronic publishing, dissemination, permanent public access, or information 

life cycle management, exacerbated by a lack of overall coordination of these initiatives at 

the governmental, branch, or even agency level. The report documented that responsibility 

for electronic publishing within agencies was decentralized, diffuse, and unclear, resulting in 

a lack of specific planning for product development and technological migration. The 

concept of permanent public access was not well understood, and there was a lack of 

understanding of what ensuring authenticity entailed and a lack of planning for, or 

consideration of, ensuring authenticity of electronic government information products. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

The Final Years: 2000-2008 

As noted above, the Commission had previously intervened when privatization of NTIS was 

considered by the Commerce Department. In 1999-2000, it once again acted to address a 

proposal to close NTIS. The Commission’s recommendations addressed the broader 

information policy issues as well as the specific plan for closure in its report issued in 2000. 

First, it asked that the Commerce Department commit to retaining NTIS at least through 

FY2001. It also recommended that Congress appropriate funds to cover the legislative 

mandated activities of NTIS that are inherently governmental, allowing the other services to 

remain self-sustaining. Once an appropriation for its inherently governmental functions was 

in place, the Commission advocated that NTIS be required to abide by existing federal 

information resource management policies and procedures by (1) setting user charges to 

recover the incremental cost of its sales, excluding all costs financed by appropriations; (2) 

cease improperly restrictive practices such as charging fees or royalties for the reuse, resale 

or re-dissemination of government information products and services; and (3) ensure that 

decisions to introduce new products or services are made only after careful consideration of 

the capabilities of the private sector to create commercial products through public-private 

partnerships or independent efforts. The Commission urged a one-time appropriation to 

defray the costs of setting up a mechanism to provide free and permanent public access to 

current NTIS materials and future acquisitions through the Federal Depository Library 

Program in electronic form and to ensure that retrospective materials converted to electronic 

formats are also made available for permanent public access through the FDLP. The 

commission also suggested that the broader government information policy issues should be 

addressed through an in-depth study. 

This is, in fact, exactly what occurred. In the summer of 2000, the Senate Committee on 

Commerce, Science and Transportation requested that NCLIS undertake a comprehensive 

assessment of the federal government’s information dissemination policies and practices, 

including the need for new or revised laws, rules, regulations, and policies; the need to 

consolidate, streamline or simplify missions and functions; and the need to strengthen other 

components of the overall federal information dissemination infrastructure. This was to be 

accompanied by recommendations on the future of NTIS that would be consistent with any 

overall federal government information dissemination recommendations that NCLIS would 

provide. The Commission was asked to consider whether NTIS could be a fully electronic 

repository of federal scientific and technical information, accessible via the Internet. NCLIS 

immediately convened four panels of experts to assist with the assessment. The panels were 

to address the NTIS business model, internal government reforms, external user needs, and 

public-private sector partnerships. 

Although the result of this call for a comprehensive assessment was a multi-volume report 

with three dozen specific recommendations, the Commission’s principle recommendation 

was that the United States government formally recognize and affirm the concept that public 

information is a strategic national resource with an importance similar to that accorded to 

land, labor, and capital. The Commission believed that this recommendation, if adopted, 

would dramatically alter federal information policy and lead to implementation of many of 

its other recommendations. 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

In this report, A Comprehensive Assessment of Public Information Dissemination, the 

Commission reaffirmed that public ownership of information created by the federal 

government is an essential right that not only allows individuals to fulfill their civic 

responsibilities, but also contributes to an overall improvement in their quality of life. The 

Commission acknowledged that current information technology not only brings with it 

expanded opportunities for using government information but also a number of difficulties, 

including adequacy of finding tools, technological incompatibilities, and sometimes just the 

overwhelming amount of information. Furthermore, the Commission noted that not all 

needed information is available on the Internet nor do users of public information necessarily 

have the professional skills to use what is available in any format, and also that government 

information made available electronically can disappear as quickly as it has appeared. 

Through this report, the Commission called attention to the absence of policy for long term 

or permanent public access to web-based public information, as well as the fact that special 

populations, especially individuals with disabilities, but also those who, for whatever reason, 

find it difficult to use computers and computer networks, existed throughout the nation. The 

Commission noted that such populations clearly could benefit from information technology, 

but special efforts need to be taken to guarantee the availability to them of appropriate 

information technology and government information content. 

This is how the Commission summarized the then current situation: 

The federal government has a critical role in formulating and overseeing public 

information dissemination policy. Hundreds of laws establish the requirement and 

authority of agencies to disseminate public information, but there is little 

distinction made between “passive dissemination” and “proactive dissemination.” 

Moreover, the authority of agencies differs widely in terms of how broadly they 

are permitted to disseminate information to the public. It is evident that there are 

costs involved in managing and disseminating public information resources, but 

the manner of paying these costs is inconsistent and, at times, invisible across 

government. There are existing central service agencies, such as GPO, NTIS, and 

the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), who, in partnership 

with individual agencies, play a crucial role in information dissemination. 

However, there is no effective enforcement mechanism to use when these 

partnerships fail. 

There will always remain a strong need for central information service agencies, 

but these agencies need new business models that reflect the realities of the 

Internet and the World Wide Web. Overlap and competition among these 

agencies is unnecessary and wasteful. There are efforts to improve coordination—

for example, through interagency committees—and these efforts should be 

continued and strengthened. 

The Commission also indicated that everything that it learned about problems and 

opportunities affecting federal government information was likely to apply to public 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

information at the state and local government levels and urged again that the inconsistencies 

and incompatibilities among programs at the different levels of government need to be 

eliminated. 

This is how the Commission summarized the recommendations found in the report: 

Strategic Recommendations

1. Adopt the national goal that public information is a strategic resource. 

2. Establish the Public Information Resources Administration (PIRA). 

3. Include broad, explicit public information dissemination authority in all 

agencies’ missions. 

4. Implement an Information Dissemination Budget. 

5. Enact “The Public Information Resources Reform Act of 2001.” 

6. Establish the Congressional Information Resources Office (CIRO). 

7. Establish the Judicial Information Resources Office (JIRO). 

8. Extend key provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act to the Legislative 

and Judicial Branches. 

9. Encourage state, local, and tribal governments to adopt comparable 

policies and programs for their public information resources. 

10. Retain, temporarily, the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) in 

the Commerce Department. 

11. Provide funding for the public good functions of NTIS and other 

comparable information service agencies. 

12. Update the NTIS business model. 

13. Partner with the private sector, both for–profit and not for-profit, to 

perform public information disseminations functions. 

14. Remove barriers to public information for individuals with disabilities and 

for other special populations. 

15. Coordinate the information dissemination activities among the Legislative, 

Judicial, and Executive Branches. 

16. Improve training of librarians and other information professionals to better 

assist users of public information. 

Other Recommendations

17. Implement recommendations regarding NTIS in the Commerce 

Department. 

18. Improve Congressional oversight of public information dissemination 

laws. 

19. Review and harmonize all laws that deal with public information 

resources. 

20. Strengthen cooperative efforts to promote public information sharing. 

21. Improve “Government Information Life-Cycle Planning and 

Management.” 

22. Modernize current awareness systems for public information. 

23. Make consistent federal identifiers for information across all agencies. 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

24. Harmonize information identifiers at all levels of government—federal, 

state, local, and tribal. 

25. Evaluate pre-electronic government information for digital conversion. 

26. Develop guidelines regarding the availability of public information by 

branch and level of government. 

27. Develop a comprehensive inventory and database of public information 

resources. 

28. Specify the metadata by which agencies classify records prior to archival 

retention or disposal. 

29. Partner broadly, in and outside government, to ensure permanent public 

availability of public information resources. 

30. Identify the public’s most critical unmet requirements for public 

information resources. 

31. Identify the federal government’s most critical requirement for 

technologies to manage public information resources. 

32. Involve the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the effective 

management of scientific and technical information. 

33. Monitor cooperation between PIRA and the National Archives and 

Records Administration. 

34. Require that data elements set forth in the Government Paperwork 

Elimination Act be reported in XML (Extensive Markup Language) and 

review the impact of this requirement regularly. 

35. Ensure the availability of a trained federal workforce with skills in Internet 

Age technologies. 

36. Advance the recommendations of this Assessment report to other nations 

worldwide. 

In April 2001, the Commission held a hearing in Cincinnati on School Librarians: 

Knowledge Navigators Through Troubled Times. In calling for participation in the hearing, 

the Commission noted that: “The role of the school librarian or the school library media 

center must not be understated. The school library is the place where students develop the 

skills necessary to become effective information users capable of locating, interpreting, 

analyzing and evaluating information. The skills for life-long learning must begin at an early 

age through adequate, credible and up-to-date information, therefore, we must be certain that 

funds for school media center personnel and material are not diverted to other projects.” At 

the hearing, the Commission heard testimony on the role of the school librarian in student 

performance, curriculum, and literacy. The resulting information supported the 

Commission’s continued advocacy for improved federal government support for school 

libraries and media centers. 

Shortly after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the Commission began to look at the 

role of libraries in preparing for and responding to disasters. The result was Trust and 

Terror: New Demands for Crisis Information Dissemination and Management. The 

Commission proposed to expand the role of U.S. libraries in crisis information dissemination 

and management. The DVD, narrated by Walter Cronkite, noted that the nation's more than 

16,000 public libraries already form an extensive network of resources that can be 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

empowered to meet this need for crisis information. The Commission recommended that 

federal, state, and local government agencies put systems in place—and use them—to 

distribute essential, up-to-date information to public libraries. It further recommended that 

this be done in cooperation with the state libraries which can efficiently channel the 

information to appropriate libraries and library systems in each state and that the libraries and 

librarians, in turn, prepare to disseminate the information to people when and where it is 

needed. The Commission acknowledged that funding must be allocated from federal, state, 

and local emergency sources so that libraries can remain open for extended hours during 

crises—even 24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week, when necessary. 

In 2005, the Commission once again turned its attention to international information policy 

issues, issuing a report on The Role of Libraries in HIV/AIDS Information Dissemination in 

Sub-Saharan Africa. The goal of this NCLIS study was to explore how information is being 

disseminated in the part of the world where the impact of HIV / AIDS has been by far the 

greatest, and the resources of the countries impacted have been the smallest—Sub-Saharan 

Africa. In particular, the Commission examined the role of libraries—and library-like 

institutions—as change-agents in developing countries that must deal with high rates of 

illiteracy, how levels of information technology infrastructure, multiple languages, and 

cultural attitudes and practices were better suited for centuries past, not for the 21st century, 

anticipating that lessons learned from this investigation will be useful in the U.S. and 

elsewhere, wherever there are pockets of poverty, illiteracy, poor information technology 

infrastructure, and lack of sufficient libraries and information institutions to meet the needs 

of the people. 

Mass Digitization: Implications for Information Policy is a report from a symposium on 

“Scholarship and Libraries in Transition: A Dialogue about the Impacts of Mass Digitization 

Projects” held at the University of Michigan in March 2006. Among the recommendations in 

this report is a call for updating the Copyright Act to address the digital world. The report 

urged greater cooperation among libraries to avoid duplication of effort and make available 

their unique and rare materials. It called for greater attention to quality, authentication, and 

preservation and acknowledged the need for standards for interoperability and cross 

searching of digital repositories. Alternatives to the advertiser supported model, such as the 

open source model, need to be explored, especially with regard to sustainability. The 

information literacy skills of students and scholars need to be improved, and understanding 

changing user needs and preferences requires ongoing assessment and market research. 

Not all NCLIS information policy initiatives are in the form of studies, reports, and hearings. 

In many instances, NCLIS responds to inquires or initiates correspondence, consultations or 

resolutions in order to provide a rapid response to an emerging situation, particularly pending 

legislation. For example, in May 2005, NCLIS called on the President and Congress to 

support libraries as health information distribution centers, noting that this would position 

libraries as the central resource for providing citizens with consumer health information. The 

Commission noted that this was particularly important when they require health information 

in a critical or unusual situation and for helping citizens learn how to live a healthy lifestyle. 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

In November 2006, the Commission advised Congress to take action to ensure net neutrality 

and preclude legislation or regulations that would create tiered services on the Internet. 

Quoting from a 1992 hearing on allowing commercial traffic on the Internet, NCLIS 

reminded Congress that “It is essential as the network is structured that all commercial 

providers of network services receive equal treatment and that government policy in 

managing the network not favor any provider or set of providers over others.” The 

Commission also supported four principles adopted by the Federal Communications 

Commission (FCC) in 2005 to “encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote 

the open and interconnected nature of [the] public Internet,” noting that tiered service is 

contrary to those principles. 

NCLIS also recommended that Congress refrain from changes to the e-rate (the familiar 

program name of the extension of Universal Service authorized by Congress in the 

Telecommunication Act of 1996) to require all schools and libraries that receive federal 

funds to restrict access to digital social networking tools and online communities. Noting that 

proposed legislation is overly broad, the Commission expressed concern its passage could 

mean that “wikis, blogs, and even Amazon.com and Wikipedia could be construed as ‘social 

networking sites,’ a situation which would have negative effects on learning and the access to 

information and knowledge required for learning.” 

In 2007, noting that “a critical part of the comprehensive and renewed strategy to ensure that 

students learn to read and are effective users of information and ideas, is the requirement that 

every school have a school library and that school libraries be staffed by highly qualified, 

state certified school library media specialists,” the Commission urged Congress to provide 

adequate resources in the No Child Left Behind Act reauthorization to support school libraries 

and media centers. Later that year, NCLIS urged Congress to make permanent a moratorium 

on Internet access taxes. “To tax citizens for Internet access in order to fill out tax forms and 

Medicare forms required by the government is patently unfair and an economic burden for 

our citizens,” the Commission asserted, adding “If the government is increasingly requiring 

citizens to use the Internet, then federal, state or local taxes on its use should be prohibited.” 

While many voices are raised in the discussion of pending federal legislation and other 

information policy initiatives, the Commission has served a unique and important role as a 

permanent, independent agency within the federal government with the mandate to advise the 

President and Congress on national and international library and information policies, to 

appraise and assess the adequacies and deficiencies of library and information resources and 

services, and to develop overall plans for meeting national library and information needs. 

Though its mission is broad, addressing issues that affect every American, the resources 

available to the Commission are modest. Only twice since its inception has its annual 

appropriation exceeded $1 million. As a result, the Commission has always prioritized its 

activities to address a few key issues each year. Yet NCLIS has, since its inception, been a 

consistent voice for recognition that U.S. library and information resources are a national 

resource that should be strengthened, organized, and made available to the maximum degree 

possible in the public interest and remained dedicated to the assumptions so well articulated 

in its 1974 official program document, Toward a National Program for Library and 

Information Services: Goals for Action. 

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Principles of Public Information 

Preamble 

From the birth of our nation, open and uninhibited access to public information 

has ensured good government and a free society. Public information helps to 

educate our people, stimulate our progress and solve our most complex economic, 

scientific and social problems. With the coming of the Information Age and its 

many new technologies, however, public information has expanded so quickly 

that basic principles regarding its creation, use and dissemination are in danger of 

being neglected and even forgotten. 

The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, therefore, 

reaffirms that the information policies of the U.S. government are based on the 

freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, and on the recognition of public 

information as a national resource to be developed and preserved in the public 

interest. We define public information as information created, compiled and / or 

maintained by the Federal Government. We assert that public information is 

information owned by the people, held in trust by their government, and should be 

available to the people except where restricted by law. It is in this spirit of public 

ownership and public trust that we offer the following Principles of Public 

Information. 

Principles 

1. The public has the right of access to public information. 

Government agencies should guarantee open, timely and uninhibited access to 

public information except where restricted by law. People should be able to 

access public information, regardless of its format, without any special training or 

expertise. 

2. The Federal Government should guarantee the integrity and preservation 

of public information, regardless of its format. 

By maintaining public information in the face of changing times and technologies, 

government agencies assure the government's accountability and the accessibility 

of the government's business to the public. 

3. The Federal Government should guarantee the dissemination, 

reproduction, and redistribution of public information. 

Any restriction of dissemination or any other function dealing with public 

information must be strictly defined by law. 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

4. The Federal Government should safeguard the privacy of persons who 

use or request information, as well as persons about whom information exists 

in government records. 

5. The Federal Government should ensure a wide diversity of sources of 

access, private as well as governmental, to public information. 

Although sources of access may change over time and because of advances in 

technology, government agencies have an obligation to the public to encourage 

diversity. 

6. The Federal Government should not allow cost to obstruct the people's 

access to public information. 

Costs incurred by creating, collecting and processing information for the 

government's own purposes should not be passed on to people who wish to utilize 

public information. 

7. The Federal Government should ensure that information about 

government information is easily available and in a single index accessible in 

a variety of formats. 

The government index of public information should be in addition to inventories 

of information kept within individual government agencies. 

8. The Federal Government should guarantee the public's access to public 

information, regardless of where they live and work, through national 

networks and programs like the Depository Library Program. 

Government agencies should periodically review such programs as well as the 

emerging technology to ensure that access to public information remains 

inexpensive and convenient to the public. 

Conclusion 

The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science offers these 

Principles of Public Information as a foundation for the decisions made 

throughout the Federal Government and the nation regarding issues of public 

information. We urge all branches of the Federal Government, state and local 

governments and the private sector to utilize these principles in the development 

of information policies and in the creation, use, dissemination and preservation of 

public information. We believe that in so acting, they will serve the best interests 

of the nation and the people in the Information Age. 

Adopted by the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science 

June 29, 1990 

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Information Access for the American Public 

Background 

When the Commission was created by the U.S. Congress in 1970, access to information was 

very different than it is in 2008. During the ensuing 38 years that NCLIS has been advising 

the Congress and the President on policy issues, the world of information has been 

transformed from one where information is fixed in a particular geographic location (a 

physical library) to one that is global and known as the world wide web; from one that was 

paper-based to digital-based information and research accessible via a variety of electronic 

devices; from one that relied upon the collections of a particular institution to one where 

libraries throw open their collections on the Internet; from one that ‘relied’ on unreliable 

room-size computers, to one where multiple books are carried on a flash drive the size of a 

child’s finger. 

Through these vast changes NCLIS has appraised library and information services on behalf 

of the American people, reported its findings to the Congress and the President, and made 

recommendations to benefit the American public’s access to information. While their 

legislative mandate did not include advising libraries, the Commission has not been shy 

about recommending changes to better serve the American public, has in fact brokered some 

of the changes, and has applauded and recognized outstanding work, in the hope of 

encouraging other libraries to follow the honored peer. 

This section looks at the emphasis NCLIS has placed on assuring access to information and 

in realization that libraries created an informal network spread across the country, the 

Commission encouraged libraries and library systems to undertake the development of 

activities that would strengthen the infrastructure of libraries and information providers to 

provide better access to information services. Along the way, NCLIS strongly encouraged 

the Congress to amend legislation to include technology and its applications as a library 

service eligible for federal funding. 

The First Decade: 1970-1979 

In its first annual report NCLIS established the primacy of access as its focus, declaring that 

‘national equality of access to information is as important as equality in education.’ It 

immediately delved into copyright issues noting that a legal framework for resolving fair use 

issues in libraries and by library users needed a legislative solution and called on the 

Congress to enact a revision to the Copyright Act. 

During the early 1970s, NCLIS issued several recommendations concerning the Library of 

Congress (LC or the Library) and identified the role of the congressional and de facto 

national library in building a national library infrastructure accessible by libraries nationwide 

on behalf of their users. NCLIS urged the LC to seek to acquire 85 to 90% of the world’s 

output of written materials, noting that if materials were held at the LC, the country would 

derive broad national benefits, and research libraries alone would save $66 million. The 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Commission urged the Library to make its holdings available as the ‘library of final resort’ 

by lending them to other libraries, by purchasing additional copies for this particular purpose, 

and by creating microfilm copies as a preservation medium. The Commission further urged 

the Library of Congress to create a mechanism to distribute its cataloging data to other 

research libraries and information organizations and to expand its reference service to 

support a national system of bibliographic service. The reuse of cataloging data created by 

the LC would provide a standard way for a library user to access information in any library 

and would save local jurisdictions millions of dollars since the work would not have to be 

replicated in every local and academic library. 

Ensuring access to information about the federal government, the Commission noted that 

appropriate documentation, bibliographical and other information resources should be 

recognized in federal programs and that support for them should be included in Executive 

Orders and other implementing directives. 

In 1974, NCLIS, with a coalition of information advocates, brought about the enactment of 

PL93-58 which authorized a White House Conference on Library and Information Services, 

a conference that would focus on the importance of libraries and information in American 

society. 

In 1974 and 1975, NCLIS sponsored two conferences that focused on continuing education 

for librarians. CLENE, Continuing Library Education and Networking Exchange, emerged 

from the conferences and continues today as a principal organization in the development and 

delivery of continuing professional education for librarians and information professionals. 

During these same years, NCLIS focused on the very concrete portion of the national 

infrastructure, urging Congress to extend the Library Services and Construction Act which 

provided federal funds for local construction, the law mandating the distribution of federal 

funds for certain library services, and the development of a technology infrastructure at the 

local level. 

NCLIS in 1976 was riveted on federal information policy issues. It published the National 

Information Policy Report, urging that the U.S. set as a goal the development of a 

coordinated National Information Policy; recommending that the Executive Office of the 

President establish an Office of Information Policy and that an interagency federal Council 

on Information Policy be created. 

In FY1977, the Commission focused again on access to information in several of its actions. 

It recommended a staged process to increase state and federal funding for public libraries, 

recommending a formula of 20% federal funds, 50% state funds, and 30 % local funds. It 

urged that the Library Services and Construction Act be amended with a new title that would 

provide financial assistance to large urban public libraries. 

Directly rebutting those who would censor access based on community standards, the 

Commission issued its condemnation of the use of ‘local community standards,’ identifying 

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such use as a threat to accessibility and to citizens’ full exercise of rights guaranteed by the 

First and Fourteenth Amendments. 

Access to periodical literature featured prominently in the same year with the publication of 

The Role of the Library of Congress in the Evolving National Network. The report called for 

establishing a national periodicals center and an Advisory Committee to develop policy for 

coordinating the center and charged the Library of Congress to design plans for the center. 

Envisioned to serve individual libraries, the Commission was looking for an appropriate 

organization to assure access for the libraries and their users. An Advisory Committee 

developed a draft amendment to Title II of the Higher Education Act, but Congress took no 

action. 

Another broad access initiative was the 1979 NCLIS Conference on Libraries and Literacy 

which resulted in recommendations for libraries and for the Commission. Seeing the utility 

of using public libraries across the country for literacy efforts, the Conference recommended 

that libraries act as clearing houses and community resource centers to coordinate 

community-based literacy programs and that the libraries should develop plans to reach the 

non-literate members of the community who are not regular library users. For NCLIS, the 

recommendations included an expanded mission—to embrace a National Commission on 

Literacy and to create a national resource center for local and state literacy programs. 

Recommendations further sought federal legislation and funding that would identify local 

libraries as alternative education agencies and designate them to receive funds to conduct 

literacy programs; on their part, the libraries were to take the initiative to conduct local 

assessments of community needs and resources for improving literacy. 

The Second Decade: 1980-1989 

The White House Conference on Libraries Report issued in 1980 carried multiple 

recommendations affirming NCLIS’ continued interest in access to information and the need 

to build a strong infrastructure for libraries. It called for new legislation to replace LSCA 

and increased budgetary support for resource sharing among libraries and the innovative 

application of technologies to public and research libraries and argued for Federal 

Information Centers to be placed within libraries. The role of NCLIS as the Secretariat for 

the Conference and the recommendations produced by the Conference are covered in detail 

later in this report. 

In 1980, the Commission made several broad recommendations to the President and the 

Congress that would affect positively conditions of access to information. The Committee on 

the Right to Privacy recommended that the U.S. set a goal of coordinating a national 

information policy, establish an Office of Information Policy in the Executive Office of the 

President, create an interagency Council on Information Policy chaired by the Director of the 

recommended Office of Information Policy, and create an Advisory Committee to the Office. 

In the same year the Commission recommended establishing a task force on international 

cooperation to foster library and information science work related to UNESCO, provide a 

forum for discussion with countries involved in mutual cooperation, provide a clearinghouse 

for all U.S. public and private agencies interested in international information cooperation 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

and recommend policies to the Department of State. The following year NCLIS became the 

Secretariat for the UN National Commission for UNESCO General Information Program. 

In fiscal year 1981-82, the Commission worked with the American Library Association, the 

Council of State Library Agencies, and a congressional delegation recommending changes to 

the Library Services and Construction Act that would better deal with issues of library 

automation, the needs of special populations, and the problems of illiteracy. The 

Commission created its own specialization in special populations by establishing the 

National Rural Information Services Development Program—a population to which the 

Commission would continue to address its efforts for the next 20 years. 

During the same year the Nairobi Protocol was ratified by the Congress. Under this 

international instrument, signatories agreed to dismantle customs barriers for imported 

books; works of art; audiovisual material of educational, scientific, and cultural nature; and 

scientific equipment, appliances, and materials for the blind. The instrument also states that 

convertible currencies and import licenses should be granted for the purchase of books to be 

used in public libraries. 

The Florence Agreement, originally reached in 1950, was updated in 1976 through the 

adoption of the Nairobi Protocol which extended the free circulation principles to other 

cultural goods, particularly those using the technologies developed at that time, such as 

audiovisual materials. This international agreement particularly improved access for special 

populations to materials from abroad and improved access for all Americans to materials 

produced outside the U.S., and in turn made U.S.-produced cultural and educational materials 

more widely available abroad. 

The Commission partnered with the Special Library Association to create a task force which 

examined and produced a report on The Role of the Special Library in Networks and 

Cooperatives: Executive Summary and Recommendations. Ever mindful of the citizen 

searching for information, the Commission realized that many private and corporate 

organizations have libraries for their own business purposes. One of the myths was that the 

general public could not benefit directly from these libraries. Through this joint effort, the 

services and the collections of special libraries would become more widely known and more 

easily accessed. 

The Commission demonstrated its continuing focus on access to information for Americans 

in the 1990s through a series of recommendations that encompassed literacy training, 

technology demonstration programs, access to government produced information, and higher 

levels of funding for school library and media centers. Citing the prominent role that access 

to information has on citizens’ participation in the democratic process, the Commission 

recommended that Congress mandate open access to information through legislation that 

would require open access for public use to information received by the federal government 

or information that was created at public expense. They urged that uniform policies and 

standards for the management, preservation, and access to this information for the public be 

developed. These recommendations in FY1992 presage the debate that continues today to 

guarantee public access to research and information created at tax-payer expense. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

They recommended that the President and the Congress recognize and affirm that literacy for 

all remains a national priority by funding school library service through categorical grants 

administered by the Department of Education, that a national, library-based literacy training 

model be developed, and that funds be appropriated for demonstration grants. 

 

In similar fashion, they urged libraries to develop and support the use of a nationwide multitype library network that would improve resource sharing among libraries, thereby providing 

better access to information for the public, particularly in areas with little or no access. 

Noting the importance of local information to decision making, libraries were urged to 

collaborate closely with community service providers to distribute local information to their 

communities. 

The Commission’s recognition of the development of technology and networks to deliver 

information to the public was seen in their recommendation to the Congress to support and 

fund the National Research and Education Network (NREN) so that it would be available in 

all libraries and other information repositories and to provide additional funding through the 

Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) for libraries in rural areas to acquire NREN 

access terminals and other networking needs. 

For school library services the Commission recommended that the Department of Education 

establish its own office responsible for leadership of school media programs, and the 

Commission recommended federal incentive programs for states to assure that school media 

centers would be fully staffed by professional school library media personnel. 

Over the next couple of years the Commission continued to focus on literacy and library 

services for children and youth, advocating for demonstration grants for services to children 

offered by public libraries and parent / family education projects for early childhood services 

that also involved childhood support agencies. Libraries were encouraged to become 

partners with day care centers and other early childhood providers by offering the centers 

deposit collections and training in the use of library resources. For youth the Commission 

supported demonstration grants for services for young adults, demonstration grants to 

provide outreach services for at-risk youth by providing partnership with community youthserving agencies for young adults on the verge of risky behavior and those already in crisis. 

Public and school libraries were encouraged to form partnership programs to provide 

comprehensive services to youth and teens, with the libraries developing an agenda for 

research to document and evaluate how children and young adults develop abilities that make 

them information literate. They further encouraged school and public libraries to develop 

intergenerational demonstration programs that provide meaningful services to children and 

teens. 

The Third Decade: 1990-1999 

In 1992, the Commission issued its report, Pathways to Excellence: A Report on Improving 

Library and Information Services for Native American Peoples. The Report’s 

recommendations dealt with both access to library and information services and 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

strengthening the information infrastructure to support enhanced access. The Report called 

for adequate and consistent funding at all governmental levels to improve library and 

information services. The Report recommended a study that would document library and 

information services provided to Native Americans and the establishment of a national 

information policy for library and information services to the communities and recommended 

amending the Community Services Act to provide family literacy programs and culturally 

based programs that incorporate the oral tradition and Native American cultural materials. 

Other recommendations called for funds for a basic program of library and information 

technologies, including specialized training for Native American library and information 

services personnel. 

The Commission paid particular attention to the aged population in 1994-96 in preparation 

for its participation in the White House Conference on Aging. The Commission sought to 

define the priorities for library services needed by aging Americans. The Commission used 

the opportunity to make recommendations to the President and the Congress and to the 

library and information community. NCLIS recommended funding the expansion of 

traditional library development to include new technology centers to support lifelong 

learning, economic training, and senior-related information. The Commission called for 

public policy for a multi-agency approach to develop training modules for seniors, further 

recommending participation by geriatric associations and centers, university research centers, 

library associations, and federal, state, and local agencies. They recommended preferential 

rates be provided to libraries and similar institutions in telecommunications services. 

To libraries the Commission recommended expanding their role in electronic technology to 

heighten attention to the continuum of lifespan, to develop separate units to focus on services 

to the deaf community, and to offer programs drawing on the talents of all ages with the goal 

of strengthening society’s value for the contributions made by all generations. Libraries were 

further urged to make facilities accessible and to provide collections that were more 

accessible to the aged with disabilities. 

The 1996 National Survey of Public Libraries and the Internet: Progress and Issues 

recommended developing, operationalizing, and validating a range of performance measures 

that would be essential if public libraries intended to determine which networked information 

resources are effective for their users. The data could also be used to make known to federal, 

state, and local policy makers information and issues describing how public library 

involvement in the Internet affects the public good—beginning, albeit indirectly, to address 

the new role of public libraries to provide access across the digital divide. The Commission 

also recommended that the data could be analyzed to better plan and design public library 

involvement to best benefit the public. 

On September 30, 1996, the President signed into law the Library Services and Technology 

Act (PL 104-208), changing markedly the direction and distribution of federally funded 

library initiatives. The change from Library Services and Construction Act to the Library 

Services and Technology Act affirmed the increasing role of technology in delivering library 

services and providing access to information for the public. It brought to fruition a federal 

law change the Commission had recommended years before. The 1997 report on Public 

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Libraries and the Internet looked at the prominent role technology had already taken in the 

public library, and it explored specific actions that the federal government should take to 

ensure that access to government-produced and government-collected information was 

available to the public via their libraries. 

NCLIS remained focused on the Internet and its effect on information access for the public 

and in 1999 issued its report, Kids and the Internet. In its report, it again made 

recommendations to the government and to libraries. For the government, in this case local 

government bodies, the Commission recommended “that the governing body of school and 

public libraries, in order to meet its trustee responsibilities, should establish, formally 

approve, and periodically review a written acceptable use policy statement on Internet 

access.” While the commission stopped short of recommending filters to the governing 

bodies, they did suggest that “software – which can be turned on or off – and that restricts 

access to designated web site for specific Internet functions could be considered as a measure 

to protect children while they are using the Internet.” The Commission noted that libraries 

can provide Internet training and education and other awareness programs to parents, 

guardians, and teachers and alert them to both the promise and the perils of the Internet for 

children. 

The Final Decade: 2000-2008 

The Commission explored the convergence of the Public Sector and Private Sector in 

Information Services. In their 2000 recommendations they affirmed the applicability of the 

First Amendment to information products and services. They encouraged government 

agencies to utilize the most efficient information technologies, encouraged the setting and 

use of voluntary standards that will not inhibit further development of innovative information 

products and services, and supported statistical programs and research to provide the data 

needed to deal with information policy issues. They supported the use of libraries as active 

means for access to governmental information by the public. To further ensure public access 

to information, they recommended that the government not assert any federal government 

copyrights on information made available domestically, and they recommended using the 

nation’s libraries as information centers for distributing government information rather than 

creating new governmental units. 

In 2000, the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), an arm of the Department of 

Commerce, was to be closed due to insufficient funding. The information service was a 

principal distribution point for non-classified technical information to the public. In response 

to this possibility of diminished public access, the Commission called for appropriations to 

enable the agency to continue functioning while seeking an alternative business model to 

finance its operations. The Commission sought assurances that materials were not discarded 

and asked that reports on NTIS operations be submitted to the congressional oversight and 

appropriation committees and to NCLIS. 

Recognizing the strong relationship between school library media programs and student 

achievement and the importance of information literacy, the Commission returned to the 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

topic of school libraries in 2001. The Commission invited public comment at its hearing in 

Cincinnati, OH examining five questions: 

1. How is student performance affected by having a well-equipped library and 

professionally trained staff? 

2. How does the school librarian’s involvement in the development and active 

participation in the curriculum influence student success? 

3. How do school librarians help students develop the ability to identify, access, and 

evaluate information resources for problem solving, i.e., to move from literacy to 

information literacy? 

4. How do school librarians address, promote, and sustain literacy? 

5. What is the impact of federal government support for school libraries, and how 

should future needs be met? 

In September 2001, the Commission turned its attention to the role of information access in 

emergency preparedness and recovery. Following the attacks on the World Trade Center in 

New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, the Commission, like other federal 

agencies, reviewed its mandate in light of the tragedy. Through its earlier work with libraries 

and state library agencies, the Commission was keenly aware that the U.S.’s 16,000 public 

libraries form an unofficial nationwide distribution system for information needed and 

wanted by the public. The Commission’s first publication on the topic was Trust and Terror: 

A Proposal to Expand the Role of US Libraries in Crisis Information Dissemination and 

Management. The CD presentation was shown broadly to audiences of librarians to heighten 

their awareness of the pivotal role they could fulfill for vital and accurate information during 

a disaster. The Commission continued its work with other federal agencies, bringing this 

already-made network to the attention of Homeland Security and Emergency Management 

officials. NCLIS took a three-prong approach to link libraries and emergency preparedness: 

(1) bringing together stakeholders in emergency response and apprising them of the role 

libraries can play; (2) persuading library and information service leaders to identify the 

distribution of emergency preparedness information as a critical and natural role for libraries; 

and (3) promoting to the general public the idea that libraries can be the place to find the 

information they need for critical emergencies. During the subsequent floods from 

Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, libraries were the centers for information and were among the 

first public services restored. 

In organizing its activities, the Commission was guided by its strategic plan of April 2004. In 

the plan, the Commission established three goals for its work: 

• To appraise library and information services provided for the American people 

• To strengthen the relevance of libraries and information science in the lives of the 

American people 

• To promote research and development for extending and improving library and 

information services for the American people 

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To achieve its goals, the Commission undertook several strategic initiatives. Each initiative 

in turn resulted in specific policy advice or comment delivered to the President and to 

Congress as required by law. 

• The NCLIS initiative on health communication and the role of libraries in distributing 

consumer health information and in promoting healthy lifestyles for all Americans 

was designed to mobilize the resources of libraries to help solve a critical national 

problem: unhealthy lifestyles. Many citizens do not know where to go to find 

consumer health information and this initiative sought to expand the role of libraries 

in addressing this problem. The Commission’s goal was to enable libraries to play a 

key role in encouraging the development of healthy lifestyles and raise the standard 

of health literacy for all American citizens. The overarching objectives of the 

initiative were to identify methodologies and strategic partners to working with the 

Commission, to ensure that all libraries in America were empowered to respond to 

citizens’ health communication needs. 

Specific activities supporting this initiative were the 2004 NCLIS Blue Ribbon 

Consumer Health Information Recognition Awards for Libraries and the 2006 NCLIS 

Health Information Awards for Libraries and the Libraries and Health Information 

Forum, May 3, 2006. At the forum, the keynote speaker was Dr. J. Edward Hill, 

President, American Medical Association, and representatives of each of the ten 

finalists for the award described their specific programs in detail. These recognition 

activities were developed in partnership with the Chief Officers of State Library 

Agencies (COSLA), the National Library of Medicine / National Institutes of Health, 

the American Medical Association, The Henderson Foundation, Commissioner Mary 

H. (“Mitzi”) Perdue in memory of Frank Perdue, Thomson Gale, and the ProQuest 

Company. 

In its report to the President and the Congress, the Commission gave extensive 

examples of programs through the U.S. that provided excellent health information to 

their communities. 

• By 2005, information available on the Internet from commercial and private sources 

was augmented significantly as agencies and educational institutions began digitizing 

their holdings, particularly their special collections. This work was epitomized by the 

American Memory project by the Library of Congress and its many university 

partners. An announcement by Google that it had partnered with five major research 

libraries to digitize the millions of books in their general book collections changed 

dramatically the landscape for research information available via the Internet. That 

partnership was followed shortly by another collaboration spearheaded by the Internet 

Archive with other academic partners called the Open Content Alliance. While the 

Commission cannot endorse any specific commercial activity, Commission members 

were quick to applaud the concept and the participants. “Seldom has there been an 

occasion that so clearly brings together the mutual interests of readers, researchers, 

and library managers.” 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

The Commission’s work on digitization was realized in a 2006 symposium offered in 

partnership with the University of Michigan Library. The symposium, “Scholarship 

and Libraries in Transition: A Dialogue about the Impacts of Mass Digitization 

Projects,” was planned and organized by the University of Michigan Library staff and 

funded mainly by the University of Michigan and brought together some 300 

interested participants to discuss large-scale digitization and its implications for 

society. 

This NCLIS initiative in looking at the mass digitization of books and other materials 

for the purposes of preserving them for future generations and making them available 

to a much wider audience underscores its continuing emphasis on access to 

information. They sought to inform American citizens about the legal, social, 

economic, and other impacts of large-scale digitization and to identify opportunities 

for research and the development of policy recommendations as large-scale 

digitization is implemented through the larger field of library and information 

science. 

• NCLIS renewed its emphasis on the importance of early literacy by again looking at 

the role of school libraries and student achievement. This NCLIS initiative sought to 

identify how school libraries affect the achievement of excellence in learning in order 

to disseminate the information to community organizations, school administrators, 

local politicians with funding authority, the media, the larger educational community, 

and to all others who have an interest in the role of libraries in educational 

achievement. The purpose of the initiative was to raise the awareness of community 

leaders and other influential citizens about the value of school libraries and to provide 

them with scientific-based evidence that could be used as they address funding issues. 

Specific activities focus on identifying excellence in school library service delivery, 

including school library programs which support literacy efforts for students. 

• Related to the student achievement, the Commission made a commitment to support 

literacy efforts, especially in terms of reading initiatives, adult literacy (for those who 

cannot read enough to carry out basic life skills), and health literacy. This NCLIS 

initiative focused on a review and report on activities and programs that support adult 

literacy and family literacy (in which children and parents learn together the 

educational values of literacy across generations, with both children and parents 

pursuing educational goals). In connection with this initiative, the Commission 

partnered with Borders Books, Scholastic, the Chicago Public Schools Department of 

Libraries, the Quills Literacy Foundation, and Rotary International to expand local 

and regional “Battle of the Books” activities, with particular attention to the role of 

school libraries as the focus for these efforts. 

In 2006 the Commission devoted much of its time to focusing on two policy issues before the 

Congress: proposed changes to Internet neutrality and to legislation that would restrict 

eligibility for e-rate funding. In November, the Commission published a statement of its 

position on Internet neutrality (“net neutrality”), then being debated in the Congress. The 

Commission took the position that—with respect to Internet neutrality—Congress should 

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take action to assure that tiered access is prevented. In fact, according to a study done under 

contract for the Commission, the government has already taken a stand. In 1992, when 

Congress permitted commercial traffic on the Internet, the Committee report on the 

legislation noted that the change did not alter the “goals or characteristics” of the network. 

Congressman Rick Boucher, the Chairman of the House subcommittee that developed the 

legislation, explained during a hearing on the legislation: “It is essential as the network is 

structured that all commercial providers of network services receive equal treatment and that 

Government policy in managing the network not favor any provider or set of providers over 

others.” 

The Commission also referred to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as it has 

been suggested that the FCC handle net neutrality in a regulatory manner, but a position has 

been taken by the FCC. However, in August 2005, the FCC adopted and published four 

principles “to encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and 

interconnected nature of [the] public Internet.” While the principles have no legal force and 

have not been codified, the FCC Chairman stated at the time that these principles will be 

incorporated into the policymaking activities of the FCC. The four principles are: 

1. Consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice. 

2. Consumers are entitled to run applications and services of their choice (subject to the 

needs of law enforcement). 

3. Consumers are entitled to connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the 

network. 

4. Consumers are entitled to competition among network providers, application and 

service providers, and content providers. 

With respect to content on the Internet, NCLIS supported these principles in full and in its 

statement the Commission encouraged Congress to reiterate strongly the position it took 

when legislation permitting commercial traffic on the Internet was developed, noting that 

equal treatment of content is important to all information seekers. 

The Commission continued to monitor the e-rate program, as its implementation and any 

threats to its continuation or attempts to curtail the program would seriously affect public 

schools and libraries. The funding provided by the program enables libraries and schools to 

have access to telephone and Internet services, and without the program, that service would 

be seriously hampered. In November, 2006 the Commission published a statement of concern 

about proposed legislation that, if enacted, would require all schools and libraries which 

receive federal funds to restrict access to digital social networking tools and online 

communities. Particularly affected would be schools and libraries receiving discounted 

telecommunication services under the e-rate (the familiar program name of Universal 

Services, Section 245 of the Telecommunication Act of 1966). 

This overview of its work throughout its history makes clear the broad scope of the NCLIS 

mission. It has been the only government agency given the statutory responsibility that is the 

Commission’s very reason for being, to provide policy advice to the President and the 

Congress with respect to libraries and information science. In much of its work the 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Commission has involved others in its deliberations and collaborations. While its specific 

purpose and mission has been to advise the President and the Congress, the Commission has 

shared its recommendations broadly for the common good of the American people. 

Measuring Libraries and Access to Information 

Through most of its history NCLIS has been involved in library statistics and conducting 

surveys of libraries. To the Commissioners the statistics were important tools in evaluating 

how libraries were serving the public, how schools benefited from connecting students to the 

school libraries, and in measuring the effects of federal funding programs on library services. 

The benefits to libraries were equally valuable. Every library has to justify its funding 

request often in competition with other needed municipal services. The statistics allow 

libraries to compare and contrast their services and budgets with other comparable libraries, 

academic to academic libraries, public libraries to those of similar size or population, and 

school media centers to those of other districts. The statistics told the Commissioners how 

many volumes there are in the collections of academic libraries, how many branches were 

operated by public libraries, what the nationwide attendance was at children’s story hours, 

and how expenditures for school library media centers relate to total school expenditures, the 

answer to each question a data point in assessing the quality of library service and the access 

Americans had to information resources. 

In 1867, the U.S. Office of Education was established with the specific responsibility to 

collect statistics that would aid the people of the United States to establish and maintain an 

effective education system and promote the cause of education. Within nine years the 

agency had produced its first report on public libraries. 

Many attribute the passage of the Library Services Act in 1956 to the facts revealed by the 

statistics that library services in the rural areas of the nation were appalling. Stronger 

reporting by the states led to greater commonality in the definition of services measured and 

a better way of collecting information at the federal level. The National Center for Education 

Statistics (NCES) was established in 1965 with the responsibility for collection, analysis, and 

reporting of all education statistics. 

NCLIS has been a partner of NCES in collecting statistical information about libraries. The 

Commission’s role has been to serve as the liaison to the library community; to design, 

organize, and conduct training workshops for the state personnel involved in data collections; 

to provide technical assistance and monitor trends; and to provide advice to NCES on policy 

matters. Training programs, with appropriate instructions, manuals, meetings, etc., were 

essential to the national statistics program, both at the State and local levels for general 

understanding, accuracy or returns and compliance. The development of the Federal-State 

cooperative to collect library statistics and data has served many purposes. Local libraries 

need statistical data about their own operations to assess their current status and to plan for 

future enhancements. The statistics support budget requests and inform policy making at the 

local level. 

The final report of The Cooperative System for Public Library Data Collection: A Pilot 

Project in 1987 specifically addressed the Commission’s need for library-related data in 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

policy making: “legislative and administrative groups in the federal government will use 

them (the statistics) to plan, administer and monitor federal programs related to libraries.” 

Statistics are needed, for example, to support periodic review of legislation such as the 

Library Services and Construction Act. Statistics are also needed to help shape 

recommendations of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and to 

assist governmental and congressional officials in planning such programs as postal services 

legislation and telecommunications regulations—programs which have a substantial though 

indirect impact on library services. 

NCLIS Role in the White House Conferences on Libraries and 

Information Science

The First White House Conference on Library and Information Services, 1979 

For decades White House Conferences were a mechanism to bring together experts and 

advocates to develop policy recommendations on an important topic. White House 

Conferences have been held on topics as diverse as aging, productivity, and travel and 

tourism. The first proposal for a White House Conference on Library and Information 

Services (WHCLIS) was in 1957. It took more than twenty years of advocacy to obtain the 

authorization for the first White House Conference on Library and Information Services, 

which took place on November 15–19, 1979. 

Public Law 93-568 stated the goal of the conference as the development of recommendations 

“for the further improvement of the nation’s libraries and information centers and their use 

by the public,” and set seven considerations for the conference participants to address: 

1. Access to information and ideas is indispensable to the development of human 

potential, the advancement of civilization, and the continuance of enlightened selfgovernment. 

2. The preservation and the dissemination of information and ideas are the primary 

purpose and function of libraries and information centers. 

3. The growth and augmentation of the nation's libraries and information centers are 

essential if all Americans are to have reasonable access to adequate services of 

libraries and information centers. 

4. New achievements in technology offer a potential for enabling libraries and 

information centers to serve the public more fully, expeditiously, and economically. 

5. Maximum realization of the potential inherent in the use of advanced technology by 

libraries and information centers requires cooperation through planning for, and 

coordination of, the services of libraries and information centers. 

6. The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science is developing plans 

for meeting national needs for library and information services and for coordinating 

activities to meet those needs. 

7. Productive recommendations for expanding access to libraries and information 

centers will require public understanding and support as well as that of public and 

private libraries and information centers. 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

The legislation authorizing WHCLIS named NCLIS as the agency responsible for 

coordination and management of the process and administration of the federal funding, and it 

was a complex, multi-year process. State conferences began in September of 1977 and were 

held in nearly all of the states and many U.S. territories. Delegates included librarians, of 

course, but also many state and local officials, community and business leaders, educators 

and students, and other individuals reflective of the diverse population of library users and 

supporters. Each state conference developed its own resolutions and selected its own 

delegates to take those resolutions to Washington for WHCLIS. 

Several other pre-conferences were held. For example, there was a specific pre-conference 

for Native Americans living on or near reservations and another for the federal library 

community. In addition there were five themed conferences, one for federal funding of 

patterns for library and information services; another for library network structure and 

governance; a third on libraries and literacy; a fourth on international information exchange; 

and a fifth on citizen access to new communication and information technology. 

These state and themed pre-conferences resulted in thousands of resolutions that were 

analyzed and sorted into five theme areas under which the issues would be discussed at the 

conference. These were library and information services for meeting personal needs; 

enhancing life-long learning; improving organizations and the professions; effectively 

governing our society; and increasing international understanding and cooperation. 

WHCLIS passed 64 resolutions, 25 by voice vote and 39 by paper ballot, seeking a national 

information policy ensuring full access to publicly funded information, access to library 

positions and boards for deaf and disabled people, expansion of books and documents 

available in a machine-readable form, an omnibus bill addressing library services for Native 

Americans, and no-fee access to information in publicly supported libraries, among other 

topics. These resolutions were reviewed and approved for publication by the Committee of 

the Conference at its meeting in Chicago on January 5, 1980 and contained in the Final 

Report of the White House Conference. Also included in the Final Report was an outline for a 

proposed National Library and Information Services Act to implement many of the 

recommendations. 

The NCLIS Annual Report for 1979-1980 described the results of the White House 

Conference as follows: 

The resolutions call for changes of many kinds, and they also set some major 

goals: to reshape library and information services to serve the people in more 

useful and convenient ways, to maintain local control of these services, and to 

obtain greater economy and accountability from the institutions and organizations 

that provide the services. 

Resolutions urge libraries to take an increased role in literacy training; in 

improving access to information for all, including ethnic minority groups, blind 

persons, physically handicapped persons, and others who are not adequately 

served. They favor increased activity by the United States to encourage the free 

flow of information among nations. Many endorse the idea of the library as both a 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

total community information center and as an independent learning center. 

Generally, the resolutions support the concept of the library as essential to a 

civilized society, a concern the government must view with high priority in the 

decision-making process. Delegates to the Conference also emphasized the 

importance of technology and considered ways this nation can use it to improve 

library and information services. They discussed and refined such concepts as the 

linking of public telecommunications and the Postal Service with a new, 

expanded role for libraries. 

As complex and time-consuming as it was to hold the conference, in its aftermath there were 

many resolutions to address and initiatives to manage. The Commission began its follow-up 

on WHCLIS late in fiscal year 1980. One of its first actions was to implement the two 

resolutions of the WHCLIS calling for the convening of an Ad Hoc Committee on 

Implementation of the Resolutions of the White House Conference, and that meeting was 

held in Minneapolis in October. In addition to the work sessions at which they began the 

task of setting priorities, the Ad Hoc Committee organized itself as a continuing independent 

body, the White House Conference on Library and Information Services Taskforce 

(WHCLIST). After an intensive three days and nights in Minneapolis, WHCLIST agreed 

upon a governance structure consisting of four officers, chosen at large, and five public 

members with five alternates who are in the profession, elected on a regional basis. This 

group is called the Steering Committee. The delegates reviewed the 64 resolutions from the 

WHCLIS and made recommendations on the tasks to be undertaken to accomplish the goals 

of each resolution, on which groups should act as agents for the tasks, and on what time 

frame should be established for each task. 

Having completed its function as a catalyst to the organization of WHCLIST, and respecting 

WHCLIST’s desire to function as a separate, independent group, the Commission turned its 

attention to its own activities in response to various resolutions of the White House 

Conference. Three new task forces were established: Task Force on Community Information 

and Referral Services; Task Force on the Role of the Special Library in Nationwide 

Networks and Cooperative Programs; and Task Force on Library and Information Services to 

Cultural Minorities. 

The need for a Task Force on Community Information and Referral Services was based on 

the premise that, if the library is to become the first place in the community to which people 

turn when seeking information services to meet their needs, it must provide the library user at 

all socio-economic and cultural levels with information and, where appropriate, referral to 

sources (e.g., governmental, community, neighborhood or voluntary organizations) that can 

provide answers and assistance. The Task Force defined appropriate roles for libraries in the 

provision of such services and to define ways in which libraries can more effectively fulfill 

those roles. Its recommendations were used to support improvements in the Library Services 

and Construction Act (LSCA). 

The Task Force on the Role of the Special Library in Nationwide Networks and Cooperative 

Programs was established to examine ways of making the under-utilized and often 

inaccessible resources of the nation's special libraries available to emerging nationwide 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

networks and making the resources of networks available to the special libraries. By helping 

to bring this very large constituency (more than 10,000 special libraries in the United States) 

into the mainstream of networking and cooperative programs, the Task Force sought to make 

a major contribution to improving the effectiveness of the nation's use of its knowledge 

resources. 

The Task Force on Library and Information Services to Cultural Minorities was established 

to explore the development of programs that would encourage ethnic groups in local 

communities to cooperate in the planning, delivery, and evaluation of library programs, 

community information, and cultural and educational centers. The Task Force was also asked 

to identify the means for determining the strength of existing collections and develop criteria 

and methods for expanding and improving cultural minority materials for library and 

information services such as bilingual materials and foreign language books, films, and tapes. 

Also as a result of WHCLIS, NCLIS joined with the Library of Congress and the Federal 

Library Committee in a study of governmental (federal, state, and local) library resources and 

services around the United States in order to identify ways to improve coordination among 

government libraries and information services to meet both national and local needs. 

The Second White House Conference on Library and Information Services, 

1991 

At the first conference there was a call for a second conference within a decade. This time the 

advocates were successful in obtaining Congressional support and in 1988 the President 

signed Public Law 100-382, authorizing the second White House Conference on Libraries 

and Information Science, which took place on July 9-13, 1991. The three conference themes 

were library and information services for literacy, democracy, and productivity. 

Once again the legislation authorizing WHCLIS named NCLIS as the agency responsible for 

coordination and management of the process and administration of the federal funding, and it 

launched a complex, multi-year process. 

State pre-conferences began in 1990 and were held in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, 

and many U.S. territories. Special themed pre-conferences were again held on library 

services for Native Americans, federal libraries, and networking. More than 100,000 preconference delegates once again represented a broad array of librarians, other state and local 

officials, community and business leaders, educators and students, and other individuals 

reflective of the diverse population of library users and supporters. Each state conference 

developed its own resolutions and selected its own delegates to take over 2,500 resolutions to 

Washington for WHCLIS. There were 984 delegates and alternates and close to 1,000 

honorary delegates, international guests, and observers at the national conference. 

Information 2000: Library and Information Services for the 21st Century was the final report 

of the 1991 White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services. The letter 

transmitting the final report to the President stated: “This Nation stands with the world at a 

major crossroads. Technological advances present dramatic new information challenges 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

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 live.” The President, George H.W. Bush, in turn, transmitted the report 

to Congress, saying: 

The Conference Report makes it clear that library and information services are 

changing rapidly in response to an increasingly complex and global society. As 

we strive for a more literate citizenry, increased productivity, and stronger 

democracy, we must make certain that our libraries and information services will 

be there to assist us as we lead the revolution for education reform. As I stated in 

my speech at the White House Conference, “Libraries and information services 

stand at the center of this revolution.” 

The WHCLIS delegates approved 95 recommendations, with two top priorities being on 

services for children and youth and the information superhighway. In December 1991, the 

White House Conference and the American Library Association supported a national 

teleconference on “Library and Information Services Action Agenda” to review the 

resolutions and plan for their implementation. In its 1991-1992 Annual Report the 

Commission synthesized the priority recommendations from WHCLIS as follows: 

1. Availability and Access to Information (Theme: Democracy) 

That the President and Congress support increased appropriations for all types of library 

and information services under existing law. 

That NCLIS conduct a forum to develop a coordinated national research and 

development agenda for information technologies to generate innovative approaches to 

meet the information needs of all potential library and information service users. 

That Congress mandate open access to information through federal legislation, including 

public information received by the federal government or created at public expense, 

regardless of format. That uniform policies and standards for management, preservation, 

and access to such public information be developed. 

2. Education Services for Diverse Needs (Theme: Literacy) 

That the President and the Congress invigorate student learning and literacy through 

legislation to support and fund: 

• School library services (through categorical aid administered through a dedicated 

office and program at the Department of Education); 

• Public library children and young adult services (including partnerships with relevant 

organizations and library-based salaried Kids Corps projects); 

• Research public and school library partnerships, participation in the nation-wide 

network, and education for service to children and young adults. 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

That appropriate demonstration grants and technology also be funded. 

That literacy for all remains a national priority, with emphasis on training for culturally 

disadvantaged rural and urban minorities and access to training for the disabled. That the 

Congress support and fund library literacy programs; development of a national librarybased literacy training model, new technologies and equipment, and quality literacy 

materials; and administration of LSCA Titles 6 and 8 as non-discretionary programs 

through the States. 

3. Information Networks Through Technology (Theme: Productivity) 

That libraries develop and support the use of a nationwide multi-type library network for 

improved resource sharing, including interlibrary loan, particularly among small, lowdensity population, rural, tribal, and urban libraries. That local libraries also collaborate 

with community service providers for universal access to community information and 

referral services. 

That Congress enact legislation creating and funding the National Research and 

Education Network (NREN), the information superhighway which should be available in 

all libraries and other information repositories and whose governance structure should 

represent all interested constituencies. That the Congress provide additional LSCA 

funding for NREN access terminals and other networking needs of small and rural 

libraries. 

As it had after the 1979 conference, NCLIS focused its own activities in response to various 

WHCLIS resolutions. For example, in the early 1990s, the Commission held 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. 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. 

Calls for a third White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services did not gain 

traction. The time and costs necessary to hold a traditional White House Conference seemed 

an insurmountable barrier, and the White House itself moved toward a different model for 

White House Conferences, as smaller and shorter meetings of experts without the complex 

pre-conferences and delegate selection and as Internet-based meetings allowing broad, 

simultaneous participation without long lead times and statutory authorization. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

III. Future Research Agenda 

NCLIS Future Research Topics 

Introduction 

Identification of issues for action by the Commission may come from the Commissioners 

themselves, through a request from Congress, the White House or a federal agency, or as 

recommendations from other individuals and organizations. In this instance, the Commission 

initiated a contract to seek the views of opinion leaders in the fields of library and 

information science, representing various types of libraries, as well as for-profit and not-forprofit providers of information resources and services. The contractor was asked to identify 

at least 50 such individuals and consult with them to determine their views on the major 

information policy issues that need to be addressed in the next 12 to 18 months, obtaining at 

least 35 responses. The contractor was also asked to develop a set of questions and distribute 

them to selected organizations for additional input. The contractor was asked to evaluate the 

data gathered through this process and select two or three research / policy initiatives for the 

Commission or its successor to implement. This report presents the prioritized responses, 

based on both importance of the issue and the feasibility for meaningful action by the 

Commission or its successor. 

M

The library and i

ethodology 

nformation community is a broad one – composed of librarians, vendors, 

ation 

• Research, college, law, corporate, public, and school libraries 

ation industry leaders 

ys 

g rights’ holders 

 in creating and managing digital 

l libraries and U.S. national libraries 

 activities 

ach interviewee was asked to make two or three recommendations—from their 

perspective—of how NCLIS could develop an agenda that addresses problems or issues the 

educators, researchers and scholars, technology specialists, supporting associations and 

research institutes, funding sources both private and public, and library users and inform

seekers. For this research, the authors conducted interviews with leaders from: 

• Technology companies and publishing houses 

• Library associations 

• University faculty 

• Scholars and inform

• Intellectual property specialists and attorne

• Open access proponents 

• Organizations representin

• Organizations and libraries deeply involved

intellectual assets 

• State libraries 

• Foreign nationa

• Foundations which have provided support for library

• Library and information science educators 

E

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

interviewee faces on a regular basis with information policy, access to informatio

information technology as an integral part of professional life. The foreign interviewees 

were not asked to make specific recommendations for changes in U.S. policy; rather, they 

were asked to reflect on policy issues encountered in working on collaborative internation

projects that were simple for them to handle but vexing for their U.S. colleagues. 

From the interviews, conducted via email, in person, and by telephone, the results 

n, or using 

al 

were 

ompiled, and the authors, each familiar with NCLIS operations and research, have chosen 

opic for Research: Public Libraries, Their Changing Role in U.S. Society and 

easuring Their Societal Value 

dels? Are these models sustainable into the future? 

od 

to 

ld 

vity 

nd broadband access in public libraries. As user demand for video streaming, social 

 public 

n 

olicy 

hat new media has had as it is or is not added to 

e collections? What have libraries chosen to exclude from the collections, not to censor 

c

the four topics that are recommended to the Commission. The remaining topics 

recommended by the interviewees could also be the subject of research, and they will be 

briefly addressed at the end of this paper. 

T

M

Specific requests were made for a model to describe who is using public libraries and for 

what purpose. What are the usage mo

Are they affordable? Are they understood by the library professionals? Are they understo

and accepted by funding entities? Are the same services available at all public libraries, 

urban, suburban, rural or tribal? Should the services be the same? Without access to 

libraries with similar collections and services, has the library community permitted, albeit 

unintentionally, a tiered level of service to develop that privileges some and continues 

disenfranchise others, comparatively speaking? Is there a baseline of services, collections,

and access that all public libraries must meet? Should the Commission establish a thresho

or baseline of service that is a ‘national right’? Can a ‘good public library’ be defined? 

Data from a recent study released by the American Library Association looks at connecti

a

networking, and the need to download complex applications increases, libraries have to 

provide high speed connectivity and broadband access. The survey shows that 62% of

libraries have broadband, but more than one-third of public libraries have much slower 

connectivity. The Congress has spent some time looking at broadband policy options, but 

their discussion has not been informed from the perspective of the library community, 

particularly public libraries, which are sometimes a user’s only connection to the informatio

highway. NCLIS could lead the discussions, documenting the need for a policy that 

recognizes the important role libraries perform, and would seek an accommodation for them 

in the policy. Broadband policy and Internet neutrality are examples of information p

respondents expect NCLIS to address. Multiple respondents believe that the single most 

important thing the Commission could do, is to coordinate and bring coherence to 

information policy that is developed across various government agencies having now no 

central agency charged with its coordination. 

What has been the impact on public libraries t

th

information, but because the budget only stretches so far? With web-based information 

widely available, electronic games in every handheld device, and on-demand TV structured

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

to an individual’s taste and schedule, what role does the public library have—or should t

library have—in such a personalized information world? 

Rural public libraries raise additional issues to be addresse

he 

d. While several library scholars 

ave spent their careers studying rural libraries, no national level agency has a clear mandate 

 service, rural libraries often suffer from a lack of professional 

adership and staff trained in technology and automation. Many of the libraries cannot 

eammatic needs and funding support, and setting a 

riority agenda in critical and priority areas are ripe areas for NCLIS research and 

y 

several models produced that measure the value of a public 

l asuring the value of access to information and technology 

l and 

 of the 

s 

d as a nation begin to calculate the 

alue of libraries to the national economy. Library advocates would indeed welcome a 

pport 

h

or mission to address and coordinate their needs or to establish priorities for their programs 

of service or support them at a threshold level. Interviewees espouse a need for a champion 

at the national level. Census data tracking the retirement migration of ‘baby boomers’ 

predict a higher demand as they retire from urban areas with high expectations for extensive,

high quality library service. 

Even at their current level of

le

sustain public access computing for communities most in need of such access. They do not 

have sufficient automation resources to participate in state- or region-wide consortia, stat

wide networks or resource sharing programs. Many suffer from a lack of affordable access 

to broad band connectivity or have none. 

Documenting the needs, identifying progr

p

collaboration with others. 

Value of a Public Librar

The last ten years have seen 

ibrary to a community. Me

through public libraries as a critical gateway in ensuring that the economic, educational, 

health, and other benefits that come with such access can undergird requests for nationa

local funding. Several studies have examined libraries in specific cities; others have 

recommended a methodology for calculating state-wide benefits. But interview respondents 

requested that NCLIS commission a methodology that can be applied broadly by each

segments of the library community, resulting in methodologies for public libraries, for school

libraries, and for academic libraries. With an agreed upon set of models for use by the 

various kinds of libraries, work could be done to establish the value of a single library to its 

community, of a state network of public libraries to the state economy, and of the state’

school libraries to the educational performance standards. 

If such studies were performed across the country, we coul

v

validated, replicable methodology to use as a basis for measuring a library’s impact on the 

economy, the educational attainment, and the quality of life. Having data to refute the 

conjecture that a library represents only overhead to its community is needed. Library 

advocates would then have a firmer foundation for championing additional financial su

from funding bodies to maintain services when threatened or establish new libraries or 

expanded programs of service. 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

In addition to the replicable methodology, respondents asked that the resulting measures also 

 particular focus requested for research is the impact of e-government on public libraries. 

at 

ng 

ith 

he converse is also worth research. As governmental units remove information from the 

h, 

owledge 

opic for Research: Digital Libraries 

focused attention on the library in the digital 

e 

d 

terviews repeatedly turned to the role of libraries in a digital world and the role of 

 digital 

ear. 

document the value of libraries through success stories and anecdotes that celebrate the 

impact they have in supporting local small businesses, families, recreation, and the 

community. 

A

One of the reasons that governments—federal, state, and local—distribute information via 

the Internet is to get wider dissemination and deeper penetration of their community. But 

most librarians accustomed to working with government publications will usually concur th

government information—the piece a user wants and needs today—is not always readily 

found. Libraries of all types rely heavily on access to government information for satisfyi

a variety of user needs: census data, small business loans, grants, scholarships, and keeping 

track of the local jurisdiction. For those without access to the Internet at home and for those 

lost in the trail of documents, the public library is the place they go. Local governments 

frequently require that job and benefits applications be filed online—the user seeks help w

the format and the inputting. 

T

Internet, users are denied access to information that can affect their research, personal healt

or financial condition. Examples of the challenges are the roles of libraries and information 

services in addressing 21st century global challenges with the need for constant access to 

reliable research information on such issues as: global climate change research, assured 

access to clean water and sanitation, development of systematic treatments for and 

prevention of infectious diseases common to animals and humans, and scientific kn

and information on nutrition, food quality, and safety. 

T

A considerable number of recommendations 

world. If one approaches studying the library from a functional perspective rather than as a

concentration of content, the entire proposition of what is a library can be rethought. How 

does one define the community served by a digital library? What is its mission, and what ar

the services? How are these linked to a specific community as contrasted to the larger worldwide circle of people who might want to use the library or its collections? What has been the 

impact of Google as a search engine on the library’s traditional role of finding answers to 

questions? What has been and what is likely to be future impacts on libraries of Google an

other mass digitization efforts? 

In

librarians in that milieu. Increasingly the products of our culture are digital—born in

form, accessible only electronically, and available for preservation only in digital form. 

Recent statistics estimate that 161 exabytes of digital information was produced just last y

The amount of digital information produced in a single year exceeds that in all of the written 

texts produced throughout human history. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

The explosion in use and availability of digital information has the advantage of increasing 

access and lowering the conventional barriers of time and location. The global knowledge 

economy is driven by access to digital information. But there are disadvantages. Unlike clay 

tablets, papyrus, and even paper, digital preservation media are extremely fragile and require 

an active—not passive—preservation strategy. Digital technologies change constantly and 

many digital objects are rendered inaccessible as the underlying technologies are outdated. 

Many digital objects are being preserved without sufficient metadata to provide the 

contextual information necessary to understand the full meaning of the object. Interviewees 

thought that this is primarily because the responsibility for providing and preserving the 

necessary metadata typically has not been assigned to or assumed by any particular 

individual or organization. Others interviewees concluded that after years of testing and 

applying various schemas for digital preservation, there remains a lack of a viable, 

sustainable, replicable economic model. 

The questions posed for NCLIS to explore in future research revolve around the role(s) of 

libraries and librarians in preserving digital cultural products for use by future generations. 

Will libraries have a role in preserving digital objects other than published text? What roles 

should libraries play in the collection, access, archiving, and managing of data and data sets 

in the U.S. in support of scientific research? What is the role libraries should play in the 

evolution of cyber infrastructure developments? Are there viable economic models for 

digital preservation organizations that will allow both the organizations and the materials to 

persist over multiple decades? What partnerships are necessary between librarians and 

archivists as one set, and computer, data, and cyber infrastructure scientists and technologists 

as the other? What unique skills and capabilities do librarians bring to the issues involved in 

complex preservation situations? What types of institutions and organizations are needed to 

provide reliable, decade’s long digital preservation? 

These intense questions can be illustrated by a historian’s frustration working actively in 

producing ground breaking digital scholarship. The biggest issue digital scholars face is the 

longevity of their work. If one produces scholarship as a book, it gets printed and shelved as 

a book somewhere in a library even if in just the largest of the research libraries. But a 

digital work that is more than a PDF file, a work that requires the processing power of a 

system of hardware and software, one that uses any form of client / server queries presents 

obstacles to its longevity. The complex arrangement of hardware, software, and middleware 

and its tailoring to a particular research problem or question requires ongoing maintenance 

and engagement by some institution to assure that it works as originally designed even as the 

technology changes around it. And scholars often use a suite of systems to produce a work—

each of them has to be kept in synch, creating more demand for constant and persistent 

management and systems coordination. Scholars are per force becoming technologists, some 

enthusiastically, some reluctantly. Without active preservation, the work will become 

inaccessible to future students and scholars, a particular issue in disciplines where issues are 

researched longitudinally. 

Other interviews focusing on digital libraries posed more fundamental questions worthy of 

deep research. If a purely digital library were constructed, what would its mission be? How 

would its community be defined, and what services would it offer? What people would be 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

needed, and how would needed skill sets be defined? What are the characteristics that make 

an online library a ‘real’ library’ as opposed to just a website? Are more or other types of 

virtual libraries likely to develop in the future? For purposes of copyright, should they be 

treated as libraries under Section 108 of the Copyright Act? 

Others suggest that the roles and functions of American libraries in a Google-dominant future 

should be researched. Questions suggested are: How should libraries position (or reposition) 

their resources, missions, and services given the increasing dominance of Google's 

commercial search service? Can libraries take advantage of this trend to reinvigorate and 

revitalize the roles they play in our institutions, communities, and nation? What are the 

implications of the public and private sector roles in this increasingly complex arena? 

Others postulate that without a policy framework for libraries, considered as a public good, 

the legal framework for the music and movie industries is likely to prevail. Specific 

recommendations to NCLIS are to conduct a series of national summits on topics that are 

part of a policy framework. Others call for the establishment of a national open lab in 

information research, conducting studies that look at the cognitive edge in learning in a 

digital environment, that speed the diffusion of innovations, and that create a culture for 

change. 

If one looks at the globalization of information, other policy implications emerge: What are 

the economic, social, and policy implications for the creation, exchange, and use of 

information content and services in an increasingly global and interconnected world? How 

can the United States develop information policies and alliances needed to balance our 

freedom, security, and prosperity? 

Others suggest that privacy is an important component of information policy, particularly as 

it interplays with information security. What constraints threaten information privacy and 

security in a world increasingly dependent on global networked information technologies? 

What government policies are needed to balance competing interests in this complex mix of 

conflicting needs? 

Topic for Research: Building and Sharing Collections 

While the primary purpose of building an academic library collection is to support the 

teaching and research programs of the university, much of their collections are duplicated 

across many institutions—in the same state or even in the same city. Yet there are no 

institutional mechanisms for sharing collections, digital, digitized or print. Further, they 

assert, copyright law prevents the academic libraries from making optimal use of digital 

technology, and they are looking for an accommodation with rights holders, especially for 

out of print works that provide little or no revenue stream to the rights holders but are an 

integral part of academic scholarship. They attribute the decrease in institutional buying 

power and the subsequent decline in the breadth and richness of collections to the 

commoditization of information. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

Academic administrators suggested other areas for information policy research that affect 

college and university campuses. They say that the changes in copyright laws that occurred 

during the 1990s have resulted such that a teacher or student who wishes to comply fully 

with the law now faces severely restricted access or often has a significant financial burden. 

They recommend that research on the ‘real cost’ of access to library materials would cut 

through stereotypes and might lead to a sustainable, market-based system of scholarly 

communication. 

Specifically, they recommend that NCLIS analyze copyright law and fair use in the 21st 

century, especially the copyright laws' impact on restraining the development of truly rich, 

participatory, engaged, and example-rich research (including historical, sociological, 

political, and scientific research in the academic and nonprofit sector). The current copyright 

regime, developed from the mindset of a print-centric world of information scarcity, is now 

providing a functional monopoly on content (audio, video, text), effectively precluding, for 

example, analysis of the historical development of the civil rights movement (most footage, 

news photographs, stories, and other material being “owned” and operationally impossible to 

obtain, for a university-based historian). The same argument can be made about nearly 

anything that happened between 1923 and today. The impact on libraries is fairly selfevident, in hampering access and re-use by the public. A radical proposal from an 

interviewee included a seven-year absolute copyright, followed by a nonprofit exemption for 

scholarly / academic / public work. 

Topic for Research: Disaster Planning and Relief Efforts 

Until the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, not too many people thought of the public 

library as an important player in disaster preparation or relief efforts. Some respondents 

recommended that NCLIS focus in this area—in addition to the work that was done on Trust 

and Terror, a publication NCLIS released soon after the terrorist attacks in 2001. Many 

libraries are already equipped with broadband public access computers and staff with 

expertise in finding information and guiding others through the process. While each public 

library is a part of a local jurisdiction, looked at geographically, they form a network across 

the country. To many users, they are already a third place—not home and not work or 

school, but a community gathering space in which all are welcome. The libraries that stayed 

in business or immediately set up shop after the hurricanes were the principal source of 

access to accurate information about the disaster and relief possibilities and a link to worried 

families and friends. If organized in advance, and with training in advance, the library can be 

a center for improving community resilience. 

Other Areas of Research Recommended to the Commission 

Copyright 

Issues in intellectual property were raised by most respondents to the survey for this study, 

including some that, if clarified, could form the basis of discussions among parties on various 

sides of the copyright debate. Questions arising from the Library of Congress Section 108 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Study Group suggest research in the application of Technological Protection Measures 

(TPMs), trends in licensing and e-reserves, copying for use in Inter-Library Loans (ILL), and 

the development of totally virtual libraries. 

Internet 

Research recommended to be undertaken related to the pervasiveness of the Internet 

includes: how the manner and style of information and communication exchange has been 

affected by the Internet. The impact of the Internet on learning styles and information 

delivery in the classroom has been the focus of research in various sectors of the educational 

communities, but no study has sought to integrate them from kindergarten to post-graduate 

studies. 

The global village is a phrase attributed to the way the Internet has streamlined and speeded 

communication around the world—but some wonder how the Internet has changed 

information delivered in the local village. Has the Internet replaced or supplanted the 

traditional neighborhood or community newsletter? Is the information packaged now for the 

random reader or for the intended consumer? 

Library Education 

Library educators point to the dual requirements for educating students to work in a paperbased library environment and in a digital environment. Several schools have focused all 

their curricula on the requirement for educating digital-savvy librarians, leaving a smaller 

number to train children’s librarians and school librarians. With the forward looking focus 

on the digital world, doctoral students are avoiding research in traditional library scholarship. 

The lack of Ph.D. level teaching faculty for traditional library subject matter now hampers 

offering the curricula needed to produce the number of children’s librarians or school 

librarians needed nationwide. 

Current Model of Scholarly Publishing – Is It Sustainable? 

Respondents likened the consortia model for purchasing scholarly serials to the development 

of ‘scholarly Sam’s Clubs’ which has lowered the unit price for a serial, but because of the 

publishers’ techniques of bundling a package of serials, academic libraries are too often 

collecting material they do not really want or need for the institution’s collections. The net 

result is that the libraries have had to prune serials from their collections. They suggest 

looking to the recording industry for a prediction of the future. One used to be able to buy 

45s (print journal subscriptions), the industry then moved to albums (prepackaged collections 

of journals), and now the preferred method is to buy individual tunes via the Internet. Some 

predict that limited funds will push libraries in this direction, and usage will be the factor that 

determines what survives the shift. Even if the long tail theory is applied, niche markets 

create demand, can that hold true for esoteric journals for which there is a very limited 

audience at best? If one follows that argument through the life cycle of library materials, the 

role of preservation and the role of building deep and rich research collections are abandoned 

to the marketplace. Respondents asked if leaving the U.S. scholarly output in the hands of 

the private sector is in the long term national interest. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

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They recommended an analysis of the library's and public sector's roles in supporting 

scholarly, academic, and nonprofit publishers and their infrastructures. The current 

predominant model of “free market” is clearly failing for content that is scholarly / academic, 

especially in fields that have limited markets—often traditionally produced by university 

presses and specialty scholarly publishing houses. Because “the market” cannot support these 

kinds of publications does not mean that the value of the material, especially in a library 

context, is low—just that the value may be more long-term (humanities, social sciences). 

And some recommended a new role for academic libraries in scholarly communications—

acting less as “concentrations of content” and more as arbiters of scholarly, academic, and 

societal significance and value. Perhaps libraries, universities, and scholarly societies could 

perform in a “good housekeeping seal of approval” model, identifying valued or valuable 

content, both traditionally published and openly published in digital venues. 

School Libraries 

In the rapidly developing electronic information world, how does society balance the 

continuing need for physical public and school libraries with the need to support electronic 

access? This is a problem not limited to public and school libraries, as libraries on all 

academic campuses are concerned with the question of “the library as place.” However, on 

most campuses there is still an acceptance of the need for physical libraries—even if their 

function is changing. Is there a strong social mission that requires the continued investment 

in physical structures, people, and collections, while also offering and instructing on 

electronic access to information sources? Given the tightness of local government budgets, 

how are decisions made and how should they be made on choices between bricks and bytes?
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Appendix A. Enabling Legislation 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

Consolidation of NCLIS’ Legislation* 

Public Law 91-345 

July 20, 1970 

As amended by Public Law 93-29, Section 802, May 3, 1973, 

Public Law 102-95, August 14, 1991, Public Law 104-208, Title II, Section 3, September 30, 1996 and Public 

Law 108-81, Title IV, Section 401, 402, (505 Repealed), September 25, 2003 

An Act 

To establish a National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress 

assembled, That this Act may be cited as the “National Commission on Libraries and Information 

Science Act” 

STATEMENT OF POLICY 

SEC. 2. 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. 

COMMISSION ESTABLISHED 

SEC. 3. There is hereby established as an independent agency within the executive branch, a National 

Commission on Libraries and Information Science (hereinafter referred to as the 

“Commission”). 

CONTRIBUTIONS 

SEC. 4. The Commission is authorized to, solicit, accept, hold, administer, invest in the name of the 

United States, and utilize gifts, bequests, and devises of services or property, both real and 

personal, for the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the Commission. Gifts, 

bequests, and devises of money and proceeds from sales of other property received as gifts, 

bequests, or devises shall be deposited in the Treasury and shall be available for 

disbursements upon the order of the Commission. 

FUNCTIONS 

SEC. 5. (a) The Commission shall have the primary responsibility for developing or recommending 

overall plans for, and advising the appropriate governments and agencies on, the policy set 

forth in section 2. In carrying out that responsibility, the Commission shall— 

(1) advise the President and the Congress on the implementation of national policy by 

such statements, presentations, and reports as it deems appropriate; 

(2) conduct studies, surveys, and analyses of the library and informational needs of the 

Nation, including the special library and informational needs of rural areas, or 

economically, socially, or culturally deprived persons, and of elderly persons, and the 

means by which these needs may be met through information centers, through the 

libraries of elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education, and 

through public, research, special, and other types of libraries; 

(3) appraise the adequacies and deficiencies of current library and information resources 

and services and evaluate the effectiveness of current library and information science 

programs; 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

(4) develop overall plans for meeting national library and informational needs and for the 

coordination of activities at the Federal, State, and local levels, taking into consideration 

all of the library and informational resources of the Nation to meet those needs; 

(5) be authorized to advise Federal, State, local, and private agencies regarding library 

and information sciences; 

(6) promote research and development activities which will extend and improve the 

Nation’s library and information-handling capability as essential links in the national and 

international communications and cooperative networks; 

(7) submit to the President and the Congress (not later than January 31 of each year) a 

report on its activities during the preceding fiscal year; and 

(8) make and publish such additional reports as it deems to be necessary, including, but 

not limited to, reports of consultants, transcripts of testimony, summary reports, and 

reports of other Commission findings, studies, and recommendations. 

(b) The Commission is authorized to contract with Federal agencies and other public and 

private agencies to carry out any of its functions under subsection (a) and to publish and 

disseminate such reports, findings, studies, and records as it deems appropriate. 

(c) The Commission is further authorized to conduct such hearings at such times and places 

as it deems appropriate for carrying out the purposes of this Act. 

(d) The heads of all Federal agencies are, to the extent not prohibited by law, directed to 

cooperate with the Commission in carrying out the purposes of this Act. 

MEMBERSHIP 

SEC. 6. (a) The Commission shall be composed of the Librarian of Congress, the Director of the 

Institute of Museum and Library Services (who shall serve as an ex officio, nonvoting 

member), and fourteen members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and 

consent of the Senate. Five members of the Commission shall be professional librarians or 

information specialists, and the remainder shall be persons having special competence in or 

knowledge of the needs of our society for library and information services, at least one of 

whom shall be knowledgeable with respect to the technological aspects of library and 

information services and sciences, and at least one other of whom shall be knowledgeable 

with respect to the library and information service and science needs of the elderly. One of 

the appointive members of the Commission shall be designated by the President as Chairman 

of the Commission. A majority of members of the Commission who have taken office and are 

serving on the Commission shall constitute a quorum for conduct of business at official 

meetings of the Commission . The terms of office of the appointive members of the 

Commission shall be five years, except that— 

(1) a member of the Commission appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the 

expiration of the term for which the member's predecessor was appointed, shall be 

appointed only for the remainder of such term; and 

(2) any member of the Commission may continue to serve after an expiration of the 

member's term of office until such member's successor is appointed, has taken office, and 

is serving on the Commission 

(b) Members of the Commission who are not in the regular full-time employ of the United 

States shall, while attending meetings or conferences of the Commission or otherwise 

engaged in the business of the Commission, be entitled to receive compensation at a rate 

fixed by the Chairman, but not exceeding the daily equivalent of the maximum rate 

authorized for a position above grade GS-15 of the General Schedule under section 5108 of 

title 5, United States Code, for each day (including travel-time) during which the members 

are engaged in the business of the Commission. While so serving on the business of the 

Commission away from their homes or regular places of business, they may be allowed travel 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5, 

United States Code, for persons employed intermittently in the Government Service. 

(c) (1) The Commission is authorized to appoint, without regard to the provisions of title 5, 

United States Code, covering appointments in the competitive service, such professional 

and technical personnel as may be necessary to enable it to carry out its function under 

this Act. 

(2) The Commission may procure, without regard to the civil service or classification 

laws, temporary and intermittent services of such personnel as is necessary to the extent 

authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, but at rates not to exceed the 

rate specified at time of such service for grade GS-18 in section 5332 of title 5, United 

States Code, including travel time, and while so serving on the business of the 

Commission away from their homes or regular places of business they may be allowed 

travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 

of title 5, United States Code, for persons employed intermittently in the Government 

service. 

AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS 

SEC 7. There are authorized to be appropriated $911,000 for fiscal year 1992 and such sums as may 

be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year thereafter to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

------------------------- 

*The official source of statutes in effect as of a certain date is the United States Code. NCLIS legislation is in 

Title 20, Chapter 34, parts 1501-1506. Various editions of the US Code are available online. (The address is 

http://uscode.house.gov/title_20.htm.) 

NCLIS – updated October 30, 2003

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

PUBLIC LAW 102-95—AUG. 14, 1991 105 STAT. 479 

Public Law 102-95 

102d Congress 

An Act

To improve the operation and effectiveness of the United States National 

Commission on Libraries and Information Science, and for other purposes. 

Aug. 14, 1991

[S. 1593] 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

United States of America in Congress assembled,

Section 1. Short Title 

This act may cited as the “National Commission on Libraries and 

Information Science Act Amendments of 1991”. 

SEC. 2. COMMISSION ESTABLISHED. 

Subsection (b) of section 3 of the National Commission on Libraries and 

Information Science Act (hereafter in this Act referred to as the “Act”) 

(20 U.S.C. 1502(b)) is repealed. 

SEC. 3. CONTRIBUTIONS 

Section 4 of the Act (20 U.S.C. 1503) is amended to read as follows: 

“SEC. 4. CONTRIBUTIONS. 

“The Commission is authorized to accept, hold, administer, and utilize 

gifts, bequests, and devises of property, both real and personal, for the 

purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the Commission. Gifts, 

bequests, and devises of money and proceeds from sales of other 

property received as gifts, bequests, or devises shall be deposited in the 

Treasury and shall be available for disbursement upon the order of the 

Commission.” 

“SEC. 4 FUNCTIONS. 

Paragraph (6) of section 5(a) of the Act (20 U.S.C. 1504(a)(6)) is 

amended by striking “the national communications networks” and 

inserting “national and international communications and cooperatives 

networks”. 

National 

Commission on 

Libraries and 

Information Science 

Act Amendments of 

1991. 

20 USC 1501 note. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

105 STAT. 480 PUBLIC LAW 102-95—AUG. 14, 1991 

SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP. 

Subsection (a) of section 6 of the Act (20 U.S.C. 1505(a)) is amended— 

(1) after the third sentence thereof, by inserting the following new 

sentence: “A majority of members of the Commission shall 

constitute a quorum for conduct of business at official meetings of 

the Commission.”; and 

(2) in the fourth sentence thereof by striking “(1) the terms of office” 

and all that follows through “time of appointment,” and inserting 

“(1) the term of office of any member of the Commission shall 

continue until the earlier of (A) the date on which the member’s 

successor has been appointed by the President; or (B) July 19 of the 

year succeeding the year in which the member’s appointed term of 

office shall expire,”. 

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

Section 7 of the Act (20 U.S.C. 1506) is amended to read as follows: 

“Sec. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

“There are authorized to be appropriated $911,000 for fiscal year 1992 

and such sums as may be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year 

thereafter to carry out the provisions of this Act”. 

 Approved August 14, 1991. 

 _________________________ 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 1593: 

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 137 (1991): 

July 30, considered and passed Senate. 

Aug. 1, considered and passed House. 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

SEC. 703 U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science 

Public Law 104-208 

Title II, Section 3 

September 30, 1996 

An Act 

(a) FUNCTIONS. 

Section 5 of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Act (20 

U.S.C. 1504) is amended— 

(1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (d) as subsections (d) through (f), respectively; 

and 

(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following: 

“(b) The Commission shall have the responsibility to advise the Director of the Institute for 

Museum and Library Services on general policies with respect to the duties, powers and 

authority of the Institute of Museum and Library Services relating to library services, 

including— 

“(1) general policies with respect to— 

“(A) financial assistance awarded under the Museum and Library Services Act for 

library services; and 

“(B) projects described in section 262(a)(4) of such Act; and 

“(2) measures to ensure that the policies and activities of the Institute of Museum and 

Library Services are coordinated with other activities of the Federal Government. 

“(c)(1) The Commission shall meet not less that 1 time each year in a joint meeting with the 

National Museum Services Board, convened for purposes of providing advice on general 

policy with respect to financial assistance for projects described in section 262(a)(4) of such 

Act. 

“(2) All decisions by the Commission and the National Museum Services Board with respect 

to the advice on general policy described in paragraph (1) shall be made by a 2/3 majority 

vote of the total number of the members of the Commission and the National Museum 

Services Board who are present. 

“(3) A majority of the members of the Commission and a majority of the members of the 

National Museum Services Board shall constitute a quorum for the conduct of business at 

official joint meetings of the Commission and the National Museum Services Board.”. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

(b) MEMBERSHIP. 

Section 6 of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Act (20 U.S.C. 

1505) is amended- 

(1) in subsection (a)- 

(A) in the first sentence, by striking “Librarian of Congress” and inserting “Librarian of 

Congress, the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (who shall serve as 

an ex officio, nonvoting member),”; 

(B) in the second sentence— 

(i) by striking “special competence or interest in” and inserting “special competence 

in or knowledge of; and 

(ii) by inserting before the period the following: “and at least one other of whom 

shall be knowledgeable with respect to the library and information service and 

science needs of the elderly”; 

(C) in the third sentence, by inserting “appointive” before “members”; and 

(D) in the last sentence, by striking “term and at least” and all that follows and inserting 

“term.”; and 

(2) in subsection (b), by striking “the rate specified” and all that follows through “and while” 

and inserting “the daily equivalent of the maximum rate authorized for a position above 

grade GS-15 of the General Schedule under section 5108 of title 5, United States Code, for 

each day (including travel-time) during which the members are engaged in the business of 

the Commission. While”. 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science 

Public Law 108-81 1

Title IV 

September 25, 2003 

An Act 

SEC. 401. AMENDMENT TO CONTRIBUTIONS. 

Section 4 of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Act (20 

U.S.C. 1503) is amended by striking ‘‘accept, hold, administer, and utilize gifts, bequests, 

and devises of property,’’ and inserting ‘‘solicit, accept, hold, administer, invest in the 

name of the United States, and utilize gifts, bequests, and devises of services or 

property,’’. 

SEC. 402 AMENDMENT TO MEMBERSHIP. 

Section 6(a) of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Act (20 

U.S.C. 1505(a)) is amended-- 

(1) in the second sentence, by striking `and at least one other of whom shall be 

knowledgeable with respect to the library and information service and science 

needs of the elderly'; 

(2) by striking the fourth sentence and inserting the following: `A majority of 

members of the Commission who have taken office and are serving on the 

Commission shall constitute a quorum for conduct of business at official 

meetings of the Commission'; and 

(3) in the fifth sentence, by striking `five years, except that' and all that follows 

through the period and inserting `five years, except that-- 

`(1) a member of the Commission appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to 

the expiration of the term for which the member's predecessor was appointed, 

shall be appointed only for the remainder of such term; and 

`(2) any member of the Commission may continue to serve after an expiration of 

the member's term of office until such member's successor is appointed, has taken 

office, and is serving on the Commission.'. 

SEC. 505. REPEALS. 

(a) NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE 

ACT- Section 5 of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Act 

(20 U.S.C. 1504) is amended-- 

(1) by striking subsections (b) and (c); and 

(2) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), and (f) as subsections (b), (c), and (d), 

respectively 

 

1 To reauthorize the Museum and Library Services Act, and for other purposes

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Appendix B. NCLIS Chairs 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

U.S. National Commission on 

Libraries and Information Science 

Chairpersons 

1970 - 2008 

Mr. Burkhardt of Bennington, Vermont was the former Vice 

Chairman of the National Advisory Commission on Libraries 

(1966-68). Frederick Burkhardt was nominated to the Commission 

on July 15, 1971 by President Richard Nixon. Mr. Burkhardt was 

renominated on April 15, 1976 by President Ford and reappointed 

Chairman on August 2, 1976 with a term expiring on July 19, 

1980. Mr. Burkhardt submitted his resignation on March 13, 1978 

to pursue his writing and research commitments abroad. 

Frederick Burkhardt 

Chairman 1970-78 

Chairman Emeritus 

President Jimmy Carter nominated Charles Benton as a Member of 

the Commission on August 21, 1978. President Carter named Mr. 

Benton Chairman of NCLIS following his Senate confirmation of his 

nomination on October 11, 1978. At the time of his nomination Mr. 

Benton was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Films, Inc., 

Wilmette, Illinois. Mr. Benton was renominated to the Commission 

on July 31, 1980. Upon his confirmation of his reappointment by the 

Senate, Mr. Benton was redesignated Chairman. Mr. Benton is 

currently Chairman, Public Media, Inc. of Chicago, IL, and 

President of the Benton Foundation based in Washington, D.C. Mr. 

Benton's term expired in 1985. Charles Benton 

Chairman 1978-82 

Chairman Emeritus

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Elinor Hashim of Norwalk, CT, was confirmed by the Senate as 

Chairman of the Commission on October 1, 1982. At the time, Ms. 

Hashim was Supervisor of Reference and Technical Services, 

Perkin-Elmer Corporate Library in Norwalk, CT. Elinor Hashim 

was former OCLC Government Relations Officer in Newington, 

CT. Ms. Hashim served as NCLIS Acting Executive Director in 

1986. 

Elinor M. Hashim 

Chairman 1982-86 

Chairman, Emeritus 

President Reagan nominated Kenneth Tomlinson as the fourth 

Chairman in October 1986. At the time of his nomination Mr. 

Tomlinson was Executive Editor, Reader's Digest, Pleasantville, 

New York. During his chairmanship the Commission celebrated 

15 years of activities under Public Law 91-345. Mr. Tomlinson 

resigned from the Commission in May 1987. The President had 

assigned him to another post. 

Kenneth Y. T

 Chairman

omlinson

 1986-87 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

Jerald Newman was confirmed by the Senate as a Member of 

NCLIS on December 21, 1982. At the time of his appointment 

Mr. Newman was President & Chief Administrative Officer and 

Trustee of The Bowery Savings Bank in New York, New York. 

President Reagan named Mr. Newman NCLIS Chairman on May 

13, 1987. Mr. Newman has over 40 years experience with 

computer and microform technologies and automated systems. 

Mr. Newman's term expired July 19, 1992. Jerald C. Newman 

Chairman 1987-90 

Chairman Emeritus 

Charles Reid of Ft. Lee, New Jersey, was nominated as NCLIS 

Chairman by President George Bush in February 1990. Mr. Reid 

had chaired NCLIS' Committee on Library and Information 

Services to Native Americans and Program Review Committee. Mr. 

Reid also served as Chair of NCLIS Ad hoc Committee on the 

Library of Congress, formed in December 1989. Charles Reid 

served as Chairman of the 1991 White House Conference on 

Library and Information Services (WHCLIS). The Charles E. Reid 

Branch Library was dedicated on June 25, 1994. Charles E. Reid 

Chairman 1990-92 

Chairman Emeritus 

—B-4 — 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

s,

 o

J. Michael Farrell of Washington, D.C. was confirmed as a 

Member of NCLIS on October 15, 1990. President George Bush 

designated J. Michael Farrell Chairman of the Commission on 

March 11, 1992. At the time of his appointment, Mr. Farrell was a 

partner in the law firm of Manatt, Phelps, Phillips, & Kantor. Mr. 

Farrell served as General Counsel for the U.S. Department of 

Energy. In addition, he served as a Member on the Commission for 

the Study of Alternatives to the Panama Canal from 1988-1991. 

Mr. Farrell's term expired July 19, 1993. 

J. Michael Farrell 

Chairman 1992-93

In November 1993, Mrs. Simon was appointed by President 

Clinton as the Chairperson of the U.S. National Commission on 

Libraries and Information Science. She was nominated to a 

second term on November 6, 1997. Mrs. Simon was a member of 

the District of Columbia and Illinois Bars. She belonged to 

several organizations, including The League of Women Voter

The American Library Association, the American Association

University Women, the District of Columbia Bar Association, the 

Illinois Bar Association, and the Women's Bar Association of 

Illinois. In January 1997, Mrs. Simon was appointed Adjunct 

Professor of Library Affairs at Southern Illinois University in 

Carbondale, Illinois. Mrs. Simon died on Sunday, February 20, 

2000 following her gallant struggle with cancer. 

f 

Jeanne Hurley Simon 

Chairperson 1993-2000

— B-5 — 
US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

Martha Gould brought a wealth of experience gained through a 

distinguished career in both public and state libraries. Beginning 

her professional career as a children's librarian at the New York 

Public Library, from 1984 - 1995 she directed the Washoe 

County Library in Reno, Nevada, where she also held positions 

as Public Services Librarian and Assistant Director. Mrs. Gould 

is now a consultant. She was nominated to a second term on 

January 29, 1998. Mrs. Gould was designated Chairperson on 

Friday, March 3, 2000 and served until July 19, 2003. 

Martha B. Gould 

Chairperson 2000-2003 

Dr. Challinor serves as the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee 

of the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of 

Women in America at Radcliffe College, and she is a member of 

the Madison Council at the Library of Congress. In addition, she is 

a Director of Knight-Ridder, Inc., a newspaper and electronic 

publisher responsible for 29 daily newspapers and a variety of 

business, financial, professional, science, and technology on-line 

retrieval, database, and CD ROM services. Mrs. Challinor was 

designated Chairperson on July 20, 2003 and served until January 

28, 2004. Joan R. Challinor 

Chairperson 2003-2004 

—B-6 — 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Since 1975, Dr. Fitzsimmons has provided a full range of 

information services for high tech companies. Her firm, 

Information Strategists, founded in 1987, features 

development of technical information centers, corporate 

information audits, electronic online and Internet information 

resources, database creation and maintenance, customized 

market research, and patent searches. From 1996-1999, Dr. 

Fitzsimmons was involved with several projects at the U.S. 

Patent and Trademark. From 1993-1996, she was associated 

with CENDI; Dr. Fitzsimmons served as the information 

specialist for 10 years at Aerodyne Research, Inc. Dr. 

Fitzsimmons also has served as the Chairman of the 

the U.S. Public Printer (1993-94) and received the Public 

Printer's Distinguished Service Award. She was a Presidential appointee to the Advisory 

Board of the 2nd White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services (1991

based on her understanding of Information technology, chaired the conference's Technolo

Committee. She is also a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Special 

Libraries Association (SLA), and the American Association for the Advancement o

(AAAS). 

Beth Duston Fitzsimmons 

Chairperson 2004-current 

Depository Library Council to 

) and 

gy 

f Science 

— B-7 — 
US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

—B-8 — 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Appendix C. Current Commissioners 

— C-1 — 
US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

 

Current Commission Members 

C. Beth Fitzsimmons, Ph.D. (2004-) 

NCLIS Chairman (2004-2008); Chair, Technology Committee, 1991 White House 

Conference on Library and Information Services; Advisory Committee Member, 1991 White 

House Conference on Library and Information Services; Delegate, 1979 White House 

Conference on Library and Information Services, President, Information Strategists (Ann 

Arbor, MI) 

Bridget L. Lamont (2004-) 

NCLIS Vice Chairman (2004-2008), State Librarian, 1991 White House 

Conference on Libraries and Information Science, Director of Policy Development, State of 

Illinois; former Director, Illinois State Library (Springfield, IL) 

José A. Aponte (2004-) 

Director, San Diego County Library; Member, Advisory Council, the Laura Bush Foundation 

for America's Libraries Advisory Council (San Diego, CA) 

Sandra F. Ashworth (2004-) 

Director, Boundary County District Library; Recipient, 2002 National Award for Library 

Service; Recipient, 2003 Idaho's Brightest Star Award (Bonners Ferry, ID) 

Edward L. Bertorelli (2004-) 

Director, Benefits & Employee Programs, Massachusetts Highway Department; Member, 

Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (Vice-Chairman 1998-1999; Chairman in 

2000-2002) (Milford, MA) 

James H. Billington, Ph.D. (Ex-Officio, 1987-) 

Librarian of Congress; Former Director, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars 

(Arlington, VA) 

Jan Cellucci (2005-) 

Member, President’s Advisory Council on the University Library, University of British 

Columbia; Former Goodwill Ambassador, Canadian Association of Research Libraries; 

Former Associate University Librarian, Boston College (Hudson, MA) 

Carol L. Diehl (2004-) 

Former Director, Board of Education, Manawa School District; Former Director of Library 

Media Services and Grant Consultant, School District of New London, Wisconsin; Delegate, 

1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services (Appleton, WI) 

Allison Druin, Ph.D. (2004-) 

Associate Professor, College of Information Studies and Member, Human-Computer 

Interaction Lab, University of Maryland; Research Leader, International Children's Digital 

Library (Chevy Chase, MD) 

— C-2 — 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Patricia M. Hines (2004-) 

Former Executive Director, National Council on Education Research; former Chief of Staff, 

Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy; former Deputy Director, Office of Policy 

Development, Executive Office of the President (Mayesville, SC) 

Colleen E. Huebner, Ph.D. (2004-) 

Associate Professor of Health Services, Director, Maternal and Child Health Program, 

School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington (Seattle, WA) 

Stephen M. Kennedy (2004-) 

Former Director, State and Local Government Marketing, Honeywell-Bull Information 

Systems; Former CFO/CIO, State of New Hampshire (Concord, NH) 

Deanna Marcum, Ph.D. (Alternate for the Librarian of Congress, 2006-) 

Associate Librarian for Library Services, Library of Congress; former president of the 

Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) (Arlington VA) 

Mary H. Perdue (2004-) 

Founder, Healthy U of Delmarva; Author and Columnist; Past President, American AgriWomen; recipient, [Maryland] Governor's Citation for Outstanding Service (Salisbury, MD) 

Anne-Imelda Radice, Ph.D. (Ex-Officio, 2006-) 

Director, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS); former acting assistant chairman 

for programs, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH); former acting chairman, 

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) (Washington, DC) 

S. Diane Rivers, Ph.D. (2005-) 

President and CEO, Quality Educational Systems, Inc.; Developer, QuESt – Quality 

Educational Systems: Tools for Transformation, American Society for Quality (Birmingham, 

AL) 

Herman L. Totten, Ph.D. (2004-) 

Regents Professor and Dean (2005-2007), School of Library and Information Sciences, 

University of North Texas; Past President, Texas Library Association (TLA); recipient, 2001 

Melvil Dewey Award, American Library Association (ALA) (Denton TX) 

— C-3 — 
US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

 

— C-4 — 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Appendix D. Former Commissioners 

— D-1 — 
US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

 

Former Commission Members 1970 – Present 

Each name is followed by dates in parentheses indicating the years of service as a Commissioner. Positions 

held with the Commission, such as Chairman and Vice Chairman, are listed below the name in italics with the 

years of service noted. The professional affiliation during the time of service on the Commission is indicated. 

Where known, the current assignment and place of residence or year of death is provided in parentheses. 

C.E. “ABE” ABRAMSON (1995-2001) 

Founding and current Trustee of the Missoula Public Library Foundation (Missoula, MT) 

SHIRLEY GRAY ADAMOVICH (1992-1996) 

Commissioner, Department of Cultural Affairs, and New Hampshire State Librarian 

(Durham, NH) 

ANDREW A. AINES (1971-1976) 

Acting NCLIS Executive Director (1980) (Deceased 1996) 

HELMUT A. ALPERS (1980-1984)

Vice President, General Bookbinding Company (Gates Mills, OH) 

GORDON M. AMBACH (1980-1985) 

Advisory Committee Member, 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information 

Services; Member, Board of Trustees, The CNA Corporation; Former Executive Director, 

Council of Chief State School Officers; Former President, University of the State of New 

York and Commissioner of Education (Washington, DC) 

WALTER ANDERSON (1995-2001) 

Chairman, CEO and Publisher, Parade Publications; member, National Advisory Board, 

Literacy Volunteers of America; member, Board of Advisors, National Center for Family 

Literacy (New York, NY) 

WILLIAM O. BAKER (1971-1975) 

Former President, Bell Telephone Laboratories (Morristown, NJ) 

PATRICIA BARBOUR (1985-1988) 

Member, Executive Board, American Research Institute (Dearborn Heights, MI) 

JOSEPH BECKER (1971-1974; 1974-1979) 

President, Becker and Hayes, Inc. (Deceased 1995) 

CHARLES BENTON (1978-1980; 1980-1985) 

NCLIS Chairman (1978-1982); Chairman Emeritus (1982- ); Chairman, 1979 White House 

Conference on Library and Information Services; Chairman, Public Media, Inc. (Chair and 

President, Benton Foundation; Chicago, IL) 

— D-2 — 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

REBECCA T. BINGHAM (1998-2002) 

Retired Director, School Library Media Services, Jefferson County Public Schools in 

Louisville, KY; former President of the American Association of School Librarians 

(Louisville, KY) 

DANIEL J. BOORSTIN (1975-1987) 

Librarian of Congress (Librarian Emeritus, Library of Congress) (Deceased 2004) 

FREDERICK BURKHARDT (1971-1975; 1976-1978) 

NCLIS Chairman (1971-78); Chairman Emeritus (1978- ); Vice Chairman, National 

Advisory Committee on Libraries (1966-1968); President, American Council of Learned 

Societies (historian and author; Bennington, VT) (Deceased 2007) 

ROBERT W. BURNS, JR. (1978-1981) 

Assistant Director of Libraries for Research Services, Colorado State University (Fort 

Collins, CO) 

LEVAR BURTON (1995-2001) 

Actor, producer, director and author; host and co-executive producer of “Reading Rainbow” 

(Los Angeles, CA) 

DANIEL W. CARTER (1985-1989; 1989-1991)

Acting NCLIS Executive Director (1988); President, Daniel Carter Consulting (Deceased 

2001) 

DANIEL W. CASEY (1973-1978; 1985-1989; 1989-1995) 

Advisory Committee Member, 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information 

Services; communications executive (Deceased 1995) 

JOAN R. CHALLINOR (1995-2005) 

NCLIS Chairperson (2003-2004); NCLIS Vice Chairman (2000-2003); Chairperson, 

Advisory Committee, Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe 

Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University (Washington, DC) 

HAROLD CROTTY (1971-1972; 1972-1975) 

President, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (Deceased 1986) 

CARLOS A. CUADRA (1971-1974; 1974-1979; 1980-1984)

President, Cuadra Associates; former General Manager, SDC Service (Los Angeles, CA) 

CAROL K. DIPRETE (1990-1991; 1991-1996) 

Dean for Academic Services, Roger Williams University (Director of Libraries, Zayed 

University; East Greenwich, RI) 

— D-3 — 
US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

 

LESLIE W. DUNLAP (1971-1975) 

Dean, Library Administration, The University of Iowa Libraries (Iowa City, IA) 

LEE EDWARDS (1986-1990) 

NCLIS Vice Chairman (1988-1990); Delegate-at-Large, 1991 White House Conference on 

Library and Information Services; Director, Institute on Political Journalism, Georgetown 

University; former Senior Editor, The World & I (Alexandria, VA) 

J. MICHAEL FARRELL (1990-1993) 

NCLIS Chairman (1992-93); Member, Rules Committee, 1991 White House Conference on 

Library and Information Services; Attorney at Law (Washington, DC) 

WANDA L. FORBES (1985–1988; 1988-1993)

Former School Librarian; former Member, South Carolina Commission on Higher Education 

(Columbia, SC) 

DIANE B. FRANKEL (1996-1999) 

Ex-officio; Director, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) (San Francisco, CA) 

MARY S. FURLONG (1994-2000) 

CEO and founder, Third Age Media, Inc. and Senior Net (San Francisco, CA) 

FRANK GANNON (1986–1990) 

President, Frank Gannon Productions; former Editor, Saturday Review (New York, NY) 

MARTIN GOLAND (1971-1977) 

President, Southwest Research Institute (Deceased 1997) 

MARTHA B. GOULD (1994-2003) 

NCLIS Vice Chairman (1994-2000), NCLIS Chairman (2000-2003), Retired Director, 

Washoe County Library System, named Nevada Librarian of the “Years” in 1993, (Reno, 

NV) 

JOSĖ-MARIE GRIFFITHS (1996-2002) 

Dean and Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Information & 

Library Science; a nationally and internationally known information scientist, researcher and 

teacher (Chapel Hill, NC) 

JOAN H. GROSS (1978-1982) 

Psychotherapist; former Assistant for Public Affairs, New York City, Department of 

Housing, Preservation and Development (Northampton, MA) 

— D-4 — 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

ELINOR H. HASHIM (1981-1986) 

NCLIS Chairman (1982-1986); Chairman Emeritus (1986); Interim Executive Director 

(1986); Government Relations Officer and Program Director, Special Libraries, OCLC, Inc. 

(Newington, CT) 

JACK E. HIGHTOWER (1999-2005) 

NCLIS Vice Chairman (2003-2004); Counsel, Hilgers and Watkins, Austin (Austin, TX) 

PAULETTE H. HOLAHAN (1980-1985, 2000-2001) 

Deputy Judicial Administrator for Public Information, Louisiana Supreme Court (New 

Orleans, LA) 

CLARA STANTON JONES (1978-1982) 

Former Director, Detroit Public Library; Former President, American Library Association 

(Oakland, CA) 

JOHN E. JUERGENSMEYER (1982-1987)

Attorney, Juergensmeyer and Associates (Elgin, IL) 

NORMAN KELINSON (1992-1995) 

President, Universal Financial Services (Davenport, IA) (Deceased 2002) 

JOHN KEMENY (1971-1973) 

President, Dartmouth College (Deceased 1992) 

FRANCIS KEPPEL (1979-1983) 

Director, Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies (Deceased 1990) 

BYRON LEEDS (1982-1986)

Vice President, Post Graphics, Inc. (Flander, NJ) 

MARIAN P. LEITH (1976-1980) 

Assistant Director and Federal Program Director, North Carolina State Library (Salinas, CA) 

LOUIS A. LERNER (1971-1972; 1972-1977) 

Publisher, Lerner Home Newspapers (Deceased 1985) 

BEN-CHIEH LIU (1991-1993) 

Professor of Management and Information Science, Chicago State University (Lisle, IL) 

JOHN G. LORENZ (1971-1975 while representing the Librarian of Congress) 

Acting NCLIS Executive Director (1990); Coordinator, NCLIS Library Statistics Program 

(1987-1997); Deputy Librarian of Congress; Acting Librarian of Congress (Cranberry 

Township, PA) 

— D-5 — 
US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

 

FRANK J. LUCCHINO (1994-1999)

Controller, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh, PA)

JAMES E. LYONS (1991-1993) 

Publisher, University Press of America, Inc. (President, University Press of America; 

Washington, DC) 

ROBERT S. MARTIN (2001-2005) 

Ex-officio; former Director, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) (Denton, TX) 

MARILYN G. MASON (2000-2001) 

Retired, Director of the Cleveland Public Library; former Director of the White House 

Conference on Library and Information Service (Seattle, WA) 

BESSIE BOEHM MOORE (1971-1973; 1973-1978; 1979-1983; 1984-1988) 

NCLIS Vice Chairman (1972-1988); NCLIS Vice Chairman Emeritus (1988- ); Vice Chair, 

1979 White House Conference on Library and Information Services; Advisory Committee 

Member, 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services; Former 

Executive Director, State Council on Economic Education (Deceased 1995) 

L. QUINCY MUMFORD (1971-1975) 

Librarian of Congress (Deceased 1982) 

FRANCES H. NAFTALIN (1978-1982) 

President, Minneapolis Public Library Board (Minneapolis, MN) 

GEORGE H. NASH (1987-1990) 

Author, historian, and biographer of Herbert Hoover (South Hadley, MA) 

JERALD C. NEWMAN (1982-1987; 1987-1992) 

NCLIS Chairman (1987-1990); Advisory Committee Member, 1991 White House Conference 

on Library and Information Services; President, Transnational Commerce Corporation 

(North Woodmere, NY) 

RAYMOND J. PETERSEN (1988-1991) 

Executive Vice President, Hearst Magazines (New York, NY) 

MARGARET PHELAN (1985-1989) 

Acting NCLIS Executive Director (1988); President, Phelan Business Research (Deceased 

2005) 

CHARLES E. REID (1988-1993) 

NCLIS Chairman (1990-1992); Chairman Emeritus (1992); Vice Chairman, 1991 White 

House Conference on Library and Information Services; Senior Vice President, Prodevco 

Group (Ft. Lee, NJ) 

— D-6 — 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

RALPH A. RENICK (1975-1977) 

Vice President / News Director, WTVJ News (Deceased 1991) 

KAY W. RIDDLE (1991-1995) 

Political activist; Board Member, Adams County Public Library System (Northglenn, CO) 

BOBBY ROBERTS (1993-2004) 

Director, Central Arkansas Library System (Little Rock, AR)

DONALD L. ROBINSON (2000-2001) 

Director of the Washington Internship Program of Boston University; Adjunct Professor at 

Boston University, the University of Houston and Texas Southern University; co-founder of 

the Congressional Internship Program; President of Robinson Associates, Inc. (Wellfleet, 

MA) 

CATHERINE D. SCOTT (1971-1976) 

NCLIS Vice Chairman (1971-1972); Librarian, Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian 

Institution (Washington, DC) 

BEVERLY SHEPPARD (1999-2001) 

Ex-officio; former Acting Director, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) 

(Washington, DC) 

JEAN HURLEY SIMON (1993-2000) 

NCLIS Chairman (1993-2000), member of the Bar in the District of Columbia and Illinois, 

author of Codename: Scarlett (Deceased 2000)

PHILIP A. SPRAGUE (1979-1983) 

Advisory Committee Member, 1979 White House Conference on Library and Information 

Services; Associate Administrator for Management Assistance, Small Business 

Administration (Deceased 1999) 

GARY NEIL SUDDUTH (1993-1997) 

President and CEO, Minneapolis Urban League (Deceased 1997) 

ELEANOR H. SWAIM (1988-1989; 1989-1994) 

NCLIS Vice Chair (1991-1993); Chairman, North Carolina State Library Commission 

(Salisbury, NC) 

HORACE E. TATE (1978-1981) 

Georgia State Senator and Executive Director, Georgia Association of Educators (Deceased 

2002) 

BARBARA J. H. TAYLOR (1986-1990; 1991-1995) 

Librarian General, Daughters of the American Revolution (Deceased 2002) 

— D-7 — 
US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

 

— D-8 — 

KENNETH Y. TOMLINSON (1986-1987) 

NCLIS Chairman (1986-1987); Executive Editor, Reader's Digest (Middleburg, VA) 

JOEL D. VALDEZ (1994-1999) 

Senior Vice President for Business Affairs, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ) 

SALLY JO VASICKO (1987-1989) 

Chairperson and Professor, Political Science Department, Ball State University (Assistant 

Dean, University College, Ball State University; Muncie, IN) 

JOHN E. VELDE, JR. (1971-1974; 1974-1979)

Advisory Committee Member, 1979 White House Conference on Library and Information 

Services; Velde, Roelfs and Company (Deceased 2002) 

MARGARET S. WARDEN (1980-1984)

Advisory Committee Member, 1979 White House Conference on Library and Information 

Services; Member, Montana State Advisory Council for Libraries; former Montana State 

Senator (Deceased 2005) 

WILLIAM A. WELSH (1976-1988 while representing the Librarian of Congress) 

Deputy Librarian of Congress (Bethesda, MD) 

ROBERT S. WILLARD (1994; 1994-1998) 

Executive Director (1998-2004); Acting NCLIS Executive Director (1998); At-Large 

Delegate to the 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services; Group 

Facilitator, 1979 White House Conference; former Vice President, Government Relations, 

Lawyers Cooperative Publishing (University Park, MD) 

JULIA LI WU (1973-1978; 1982-1987; 1987-1992) 

Head Librarian, Virgil Junior High School and President, Board of Directors, Los Angeles 

Community College District (Los Angeles, CA) 

MILDRED E. YOUNGER (1976-1980) 

Member, Board of Directors, Los Angeles Library Association (Beverly Hills, CA) 

ALFRED R. ZIPF (1971-1973)

Executive Vice President, Bank of America (Deceased 2000) 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Appendix E. Senior Staff 

— E-1 — 
US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

 

— E-2 — 

U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science 

History of Executive Directors, Deputy Directors, 

Associate Executive Director and Office Locations 

Executive Directors 

Madeleine C. McCain (acting) – June 2006-current 

Trudy Bellardo Hahn – May 2005-May 2006 

Trudi Bellardo Hahn (interim) – November 2004-April 2005 

Madeleine C. McCain (acting) – March 2004-October 2004 

Robert S. Willard– June 1998-February 2004 

Robert S. Willard (acting) – February 1998-June 1998 

Jane Williams (acting) – June 1997-January 1998 

Peter R. Young – August 1990-May 1997 

John G. Lorenz (acting) – July-August 1990 

Susan K. Martin– August 1988-June 1990 

Margaret Phelan (acting) – August 1988 

Daniel Carter (acting) – February-July 1988 

Vivian J. Arterbery – November 1986-January 1988 

Elinor M. Hashim (acting) – September-October 1986 

Toni Carbo Bearman– November 1980-August 1986 

Andrew A. Aines (acting) – July-November 1980 

Alphonse L. Trezza– November 1974-June 1980 

Roderick G. Swartz (acting) – October 1974 

Charles H. Stevens – January 1972-September 1974 

Deputy Directors 

Judith C. Russell – August 1998-December 2002 

David Hoyt – 1987 

Sarah G. Bishop – June 1983-February 1987 

Douglas S. Price – March 1975-April 1983 

Roderick G. Swartz – 1971-December 1974 

Associate Deputy Director, Associate Director, Associate Executive Director 

Mary Alice Hedge, 1971-1998 

NCLIS Offices

(all in Washington, DC)

1800 M Street, NW; Suite 350 North Tower – March 2005-Current 

1110 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 820 – April 1993-February 2005 

1111 18th Street, NW, Suite 310 – 1987-March 1993 

7th & D Streets, SW, Suite 3122 – February 1983-1986 

1717 K Street, NW, Suite 601 – 1971-January 1983 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Appendix F. NCLIS Publications 

— F-1 — 
US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

 

US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES 

AND INFORMATION SCIENCE (NCLIS) 

(1971 to 2006) 

Reports produced as a result of Surveys, Studies, Forums, Hearings, Task Forces, 

Conferences, and Policy (1973-2006) 

Continuing Library and Information Science Education, Final Report. Elizabeth W. 

Stone. May 1974. 

Resources and Bibliographic Support for a Nationwide Library Program, Final Report. 

Vernon E. Palmour and others. August 1974. 

Library and Information Service Needs of the Nation. Proceedings of a Conference on 

the Needs of Occupational, Ethnic, and other Groups in the United States. 1974. 

Toward a National Program for Library and Information Services: Goals for Action. 

1975. 

Elements of Information Resources Policy. February 1975. 

National Program for Library and Information Services (Final Draft). March 1975. 

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Federal Funding of Public Libraries. Government 

Studies and Systems, Inc. December 1976. 

National Information Policy. Report to the President of the United States submitted by 

the staff of the Domestic Council Committee on the Right to Privacy. Published by 

NCLIS. 1976. 

Improving State Aid to Public Libraries. Urban Libraries Council. Published by NCLIS. 

February 1977. 

National Inventory of Library Needs, 1975: Resources Needed for Public and Academic 

Libraries and Public School Library / Media Centers. Boyd Ladd. published March 

1977. 

Effective Access to Periodical Literature: A National Program. Vernon E. Palmour. 

April 1977. 

Library Photocopying in the United States: With Implications for the Development of a 

Copyright Royalty Payment Mechanism. King Research, Inc. October 1977. 

Toward a National Program for Library and Information Services: Goals for Action, A 

Summary. October 1977. 

— F-2 — 
MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

A Computer Network Protocol for Library and Information Science Applications. 

Prepared by the NCLIS / National Bureau of Standards Task Force on Computer 

Network Protocol. December 1977. 

American National Standards Committee Z39: Recommended Future Directions. 

Prepared by the NCLIS Task Force on American National Standards Committee Z39 

Activities and Future Directions. February 1978. 

The Role of School Library Media Program in Networking. Prepared by the NCLIS Task 

Force on the Role of the School Library Media Program in the National Program. 

September 1978. 

Toward a National Program for Library and Information Science: Goals for Action. An 

Overview. September 1978. 

The Role of the Library of Congress in the Evolving National Network. Lawrence F. 

Buckland and William L. Basinski. 1978. 

A Comparative Evaluation of Alternative Systems for the Provision of Effective Access to 

Periodical Literature. Arthur D. Little, Inc. October 1979. 

Problems in Bibliographic Access to Non-Print Materials: Project Media Base: Final 

Report. A project of the NCLIS and the Association for Educational 

Communications and Technology. October 1979. 

White House Conference on Library and Information Services – Summary. 1979. 

The Final Report – Summary Information for the 1980s. White House Conference on 

Library and Information Services. March 1980. 

Hearings Held at the American Library Association Annual Conference, San Francisco, 

California. Task Force on Library and Information Services to Cultural Minorities. 

November 1981. 

Public Sector / Private Sector Interaction in Providing Information Services. Prepared 

by the NCLIS Public Sector / Private Sector Task Force. February 1982. 

Toward a Federal Library and Information Services Network: A Proposal. 1982. 

Joint Congressional Hearing on the Changing Information Needs of Rural America: The 

Role of Libraries and Information Technology. July 1982. 

Final Report to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science from the 

Community Information and Referral Services Task Force. July 1983. 

— F-3 — 
US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

 

The Role of the Special Library in Networks and Cooperatives: Executive Summary and 

Recommendations. NCLIS / SLA Task Force Report. June 1984. 

To Preserve the Sense of Earth From Space: Report of the National Commission on 

Libraries and Information Science Panel on the Information Policy Implications of 

Archiving Satellite Data. August 1984. 

Information and Productivity – Implications for Education and Training. Report of a 

joint UK / US Seminar held at Cranfield, England. 27-30 July 1984. 

The NARBIN Report. Report of the National Advisory Board on Rural Information 

Needs Planning Committee. April 1985. 

The Role of Fees in Supporting Library and Information Services in Public and Academic 

Libraries. April 1985. 

Censorship Activities in Public and School Libraries, 1975-1985. A Report to the Senate 

Subcommittee on Appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human 

Services, and Educational and Related Agencies. March 1986. 

NCLIS Sponsored Assessments of Information Needs: A Review and Summary. Barbara 

Chappell. July 1986. 

Conference on Access: Information Distribution, Efficiency and Protection. The Institute 

for Research on Public Policy, The British Library and the National Commission on 

Libraries and Information Sciences. Background Papers. 1986. 

Hearing on Sensitive But Not Classified Information. A Public hearing held by the 

National Commission on Libraries and Information Science at the Library of 

Congress. 1988. 

Information Literacy and Education for the 21st Century: Toward and Agenda for Action. 

A Symposium sponsored by the US National Commission on Libraries and 

Information Science and the American Association of School Librarians. 1989. 

Principles of Public Information: Preamble. June, 1990. 

Strategic Plan for the Development of Library and Information Services to Native 

Americans. February 1991. 

Statistical Compendium. Sandra Milevski. 1991. 

Selected Statistics: Addressing the Areas of Concern to the 1991 White House 

Conference on Libraries and Information Services. 1991. 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Information 2000: Final Report of the 1991 White House Conference on Library and 

Information Services. November 1992. 

Information 2000: Summary Report of the 1991 White House Conference on Library and 

Information Services. November 1992. 

Report to the Office of Science and Technology Policy on Library and Information 

Services’ Roles in the National Research and Education Network. November 1992. 

Open Forum on Recommendations of the White House Conference on Library and 

Information Services. 1992. 

Pathways to Excellence: A Report on Improving Library and Information Services for 

Native American Peoples. 1992. 

Pathways to Excellence: Summary Report on Improving Library and Information 

Services for Native American Peoples. 1992. 

Open Forum on Children and Youth Services: Redefining the Federal Role for Libraries. 

Report on May 1993 forum in Boston. July 1993. 

Open Forum on Children and Youth Services: Redefining the Federal Role for Libraries. 

Report on December forum in Des Moines. 1993. 

Library and Information Services Policy: A Forum Report. 1993. 

Toward A Just and Productive Society. Kathleen de la Pena McCook. 1993. 

Briefing and Open Forum on Children and Youth Services: Redefining the Federal Role 

for Libraries. Sacramento, CA. 1994. 

Libraries and the National Information Infrastructure: Proceedings of the 1994 Forum 

on Library and Information Services Policy. 1994. 

Public Libraries in the Internet: Study Results, Policy Issues, and Recommendations. 

Charles R. McClure, John Carlo Bertot, and Douglas L. Zweizig. 1994. 

Public School Library Media Centers in 12 States: Report of the NCLIS / ALA Survey. 

Mary Jo Lynch, Pamela Kramer, and Ann Weeks. 1994. 

The National Information Infrastructure and the Recommendation of the 

1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services. Taylor Walsh. 

1994. 

Hearing on the Federal Role of Libraries: Planning for the Reauthorization of the Library 

Services and Contraction Act (LSCA). Incline Village, Nevada. 1995. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

 

Internet Costs and Cost Models for Public Libraries: Final Report. Charles R. McClure, 

John Carlo Bertot, and John C Beachboard. 1995. 

Toward the 1995 White House Conference on Aging: Priorities and Policies for Library 

and Information Services for Older Adults. Proceedings of a National Pre-White 

House Conference on Aging (February 3, 1995, Philadelphia, PA). 1995. 

White House Pre-Conference on Aging, Recommendations. February 1995. 

Changes in Library and Information Services, Library and Information Services Forum. 

May 1995. 

The 1996 National Survey of Public Libraries in the Internet: Progress and Issues. 

Charles R. McClure, John Carlo Bertot, and Douglas L. Zweizig. 1996. 

Summary Report of the 1996 Forum on Library and Information Services Policy on 

Impact of Information Technology and Special Programming on Library Services to 

Special Populations. May 20-21, 1996. 

Library and Information Services Policy Forum Proceedings “Library Services and 

Technology Act (LSTA) State Grant Program: Implications for Use of and Additions 

to National Library Data.” September 15-16, 1997. 

The 1997 National Survey of U.S. Public Libraries and the Internet: Final Report. 

December 1997. 

Policy Issues and Strategies Affecting Public Libraries in the National Networked 

Environment: Moving Beyond Connectivity. Charles R. McClure and John Carlo 

Bertot. December 1997. 

Assessment of and Planning for NCLIS Role in Library Statistics Cooperative Program 

(LSCP). Howard Harris. October 1997, Revised June 1998. 

Moving Toward More Effective Public Internet Access: 1998 National Survey of Public 

Library Outlet Internet Connectivity. March 1999. 

Report on the Assessment of Electronic Government Information Products. Westat, Inc. 

March 30, 1999. 

Library and Information Services for Individuals with Disabilities: An NCLIS Hearing in 

Washington. DC. July 8, 1999. 

Kids and the Internet: The Promise and the Perils. 1999. 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Preliminary Assessment of the Proposed Closure of the National Technical Information 

Service (NTIS): A Report to the President and the Congress. March 16, 2000. 

Public Sector / Private Sector Interaction in Providing Information Services: Report to 

the NCLIS from the Public Sector / Private Sector Task Force. October 2000. 

Comprehensive Assessment of Public Information Dissemination, Final Report, Volume 

1, Volume 2, Volume 3, and Volume 4 (draft). January through June, 2001. 

Policy Issues and Strategies Affecting Public Libraries In the National Networked 

Environment: Setting Agendas and Extending Research Report prepared by: John 

Carlo Bertot and Charles R. McClure. December 2001. 

Trust and Terror Brochure. July 2002. 

Trust and Terror: New Demands for Crisis Information Dissemination and 

Management. A Proposal to Expand the Role of US Libraries in Crisis Information 

Dissemination and Management. Narrated by Walter Cronkite. December 2002 (CDROM format) 

This CD-ROM describes the proposal of NCLIS to expand the role of libraries as an 

essential component of U.S. crisis information dissemination and management. The 

CD-ROM (with brochure included) of this presentation is available free while 

supplies last by contacting the NCLIS office (email info@nclis.gov; telephone 202-

606-9200). Brochures without the CD-ROM are also available free while supplies 

last. 

The Role of Libraries in HIV / AIDS Information Dissemination in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

2005. 

The NCLIS Health Information Awards for Libraries and the Libraries and Health 

Information Forum, Final Report. May 3, 2006. 

Mass Digitization: Implications for Information Policy Report from Scholarship and 

Libraries in Transition: a dialogue about the Impacts of Mass Digitization Projects, 

Symposium held on March 10-11, 2006, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 

Michigan. May 9, 2006. 

Numbered “Related” Papers (1974-1977) 

Related Paper No. One. Relationship and Involvement of the State Library Agencies with 

the National Program Proposed by NCLIS. Alphonse F. Trezza. November 1974. 

Related Paper No. Two. Role of the Public Library in the National Program. Allie Beth 

Martin. October 1974. 

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US NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

 

Related Paper No. Three. The Relationship and Involvement of the Special Library with 

the National Program. Edward G. Strable. November 1974. 

Related Paper No. Four. The Independent Research Library. William D. Budington. 

October 1974. 

Related Paper No. Five. The Information Service Environment Relationships and 

Priorities. Paul G. Zurkowski. November 1974. 

Related Paper No. Six. Manpower and Educational Programs for Management, 

Research, and Professional Growth in Library and Information Services. Robert S. 

Taylor. October, 1974. 

Related Paper No. Seven. School Library Media Programs and the National Program for 

Library and Information Services. Bernard M. Franckowiak. November 1974. 

Related Paper No. Eight. National Program of Library and Information Services of 

NCLIS: Implication for College and community College Libraries. Beverly P. Lynch. 

December 1974. 

Related Paper No. Nine. The National Library Network Its Economic Rationale and 

Funding. Robert M. Hayes. December 1974. 

Related Paper No. Ten. Intellectual Freedom and Privacy Comments on a National 

Program for Library and Information Services. R. Kathleen Molz. December 1974. 

Related Paper No. Eleven. International Library and Information Service Developments 

As They Relate to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. 

Foster E. Mohrardt. December 1974. 

Related Paper No. Twelve. An Economic Profile of the US Book Industry. Curtis G. 

Benjamin. November 1974. 

Related Paper No. Thirteen. The Role of the Information Center in the National 

Commission on Libraries and Information Science Program for the Improvement of 

National Information Services. Herman W. Weisman. November 1974. 

Related Paper No. Fourteen. The Relationship of the Government and the Private Sector 

in the Proposed National Program. David Carvey. November 1974. 

Related Paper No. Seventeen. The Future of Federal Categorical Library Programs.

Robert W. Frase. March 1975. 

Related Paper No. Twenty-two. Quantitative Date Required to Support and Implement A 

National Program for Library and Information Service. Theodore Samore. July 

1977. 

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MEETING THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Related Paper No. Twenty-three. Urban Information Centers and their Interface with the 

National Program for Library and Information Services. Jane E. Stevens. May 

1975. 

Related Paper No. Twenty-five. The Role of Not- for- Profit Discipline – Oriented 

Information-Accessing Services in the National Program of Library and Information 

Services. Fred A. Tate. December 1975. 

Related Paper No. Twenty-six. The Impact of Machine Readable Data Bases on Library 

and Information Services. Martha Williams. April 1975. 

Other Publications, Reports (1978-2006) 

Information for Successful Living: Programs That Work for Third Agers and Beyond. 

(no date – probably in the early 1970s) 

Public Libraries Who Should Pay the Bills? 1978. 

Our Nation’s Libraries: An Inventory of Resources & Needs. 1978. 

The Changing Role of Public Libraries: New Technology for Libraries. A conference 

background paper prepared under the joint auspices of the American Library 

Association, National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, Urban 

Libraries Council and National Citizens Emergency Committee to Save Our Public 

Libraries. 1979. 

Directory of Selected Associations and Informal Groups in the Library / Information 

Field. 1984 (final edition). 

An NCLIS Library Statistical Sampler. October 15, 1985 (reprint from Library Journal). 

The White House Conference on Library and Information Services, 1991, National 

Associations and Organizations, Call for Participation. (published 1989) 

The White House Conference on Library and Information Services. 1991. (published 

1989) 

Principles of Public Information, Preamble. June 29, 1990. 

The United States Commission on Libraries and Information Science. (no date, probably 

in the early 1990s) 

The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science: A Fact Sheet. 

January 1991. 

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The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. (draft 1/15/91) 

Library Statistics Cooperative Program, Prepared for the National Center for Education 

Statistics by the US National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. 

1997. 

Kids and the Internet: The Promise and the Perils. Practical Guidelines for Librarians 

and Library Trustees. October 1, 1998; Revised April 1999. 

Library Statistics Cooperative Program. 1999. 

Sister Libraries, A White House Millennium Council Project. 1999. 

Sister Libraries, A White House Millennium Council Project. Project Summaries From 

Designated Sister Libraries. September 1999. 

Sister Libraries, A White House Millennium Council Project. Project Summaries from 

Designated Sister Libraries. (as of ) June 2000. 

NCLIS Brochure: Advancing Public Access to Knowledge Through Library and 

Information Services. August 2001. 

Library Statistics Cooperative Program Brochure. Prepared for the National Center for 

Education Statistics by the US National Commission on Libraries and Information 

Science. 2002. 

NCLIS Brochure (bi-fold). April 2004. 

NCLIS Brochure (tri-fold). April 2005. 

NCLIS Position Paper on Information Services for the Elderly. May 2005. 

The Booming Dynamics of Aging: From Awareness to Action - Report by Commissioner 

Sandra Ashworth. April 2006. 

FSCS Brochure (Federal-State Cooperative System for Public Library Data), Prepared by 

the FSCS Steering Committee. November 2005. 

NCLIS Brochure (tri-fold). March 2006. 

NCLIS Annual Reports 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1971-1972 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1972-1973 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1973-1974 

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NCLIS Annual Report – 1974-1975 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1975-1976 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1976-1977 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1977-1978 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1978-1979 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1979-1980 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1980-1981 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1981-1982 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1982-1983 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1983-1984 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1984-1985 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1985-1986 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1986-1987 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1987-1988 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1988-1989 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1989-1990 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1990-1991 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1991-1992 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1992-1993 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1993-1994 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1994-1995 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1995-1996 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1996-1997 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1997-1998 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1998-1999 

NCLIS Annual Report – 1999-2000 

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Appendix G. NCLIS Timeline 

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NCLIS Timeline 

Year Event 

1970 NCLIS established by Public Law 91-345. 

1971 First Commission Meeting; Commission advocates all Federal program funding support 

appropriate documentation and bibliographical information. 

1972 Commission recommends expanded role for Library of Congress; studies application of 

new technologies. 

1973 Commission conducts hearings to develop a national program for library and 

information services. 

1974 Commission publishes Toward a National Program for Library and Information 

Services: Goals for Action; Commission joint sponsor of conference on copyright. 

1975 NCLIS sponsors 1st of three trilateral conferences with UK and Canada on the role of 

information in the economy. 

1976 NCLIS issues National Inventory of Library needs; report on the role of the Library of 

Congress in a national network. 

1977 NCLIS examines the role of school libraries in a national network; evaluates 

standardization efforts. 

1978 

NCLIS publishes reports on: The Role of the Library of Congress in the Evolving 

National Network; Toward a National Program for Library and Information Science: 

Goals for Action. 

1979 First White House Conference on Libraries & Information Services. 

1980 NCLIS conducts oversight hearings on LSCA. 

1981 NCLIS publishes its analysis of Public Sector / Private Sector Interaction in Providing 

Information Services. 

1982 NCLIS publishes the results of its studies on library and information services for cultural 

minorities. 

1983 NCLIS begins partnership with State Department on international library, information, 

and archival programs. 

1984 NCLIS issues report on policy implications of archiving satellite data. 

1985 Commission coordinates Congressional hearing on changing information needs of rural 

America. 

1986 NCLIS sponsors 1st of three trilateral conferences with UK and Canada on the role of 

information in the economy. 

1987 Adoption of trilateral Glenerin Declaration on the role of information in the economy. 

1988 NCES and NCLIS establish the Federal-State Cooperative Statistics program for public 

library data. 

1989 NCLIS co-sponsors symposium on Information Literacy and Education for the 21st 

Century. 

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NCLIS Timeline 

Year Event 

1990 NCLIS adopts its Principles of Public Information. 

1991 Second White House Conference on Libraries & Information Services. 

1992 NCLIS completes investigation of library and information services for Native 

Americans. 

1993 NCLIS leads forums on library and information services for children and young adults. 

1994 NCLIS conducts 1st study on public libraries and the Internet. 

1995 NCLIS conducts 2nd study on public libraries and the Internet; advices Congress on 

changes to LSCA. 

1996 

NCLIS conducts 3rd study on public libraries and the Internet; conducts hearing on 

Libraries, Interactive Services, and the Information Superhighway; LSTA becomes law, 

creating IMLS and new responsibilities for NCLIS. 

1997 NCLIS conducts 4th study on public libraries and the Internet; begins study on Federal 

agency publishing practices. 

1998 NCLIS conducts 4th study on public libraries and the Internet; passes resolution on 

Important Role of Libraries in the Lives of America's Children 

1999 NCLIS conducts hearings on Libraries and Information Services for Individuals with 

Disabilities and Kids and the Internet: The Promise and the Perils. 

2000 NCLIS conducts 4th study on public libraries and the Internet; advises against the 

closure of NTIS; begins comprehensive assessment of government information. 

2001 

NCLIS conducts hearing on School Librarians: Knowledge Navigators Through 

Troubled Times; prepares Trust and Terror: New Demands for Crisis Information 

Dissemination and Management. 

2002 Congress rejects Executive Branch attempt to close NCLIS; Agency is funded. 

2003 NCLIS, the National Forum on Information Literacy and UNESCO sponsor “Towards 

An Information Literate Society” conference in Prague. 

2004 NCLIS establishes Blue Ribbon Award for health information; adopts a new strategic 

plan for the Commission's work. 

2005 

Commission reports on Role of Libraries in HIV/AIDS Information Dissemination in 

Sub-Saharan Africa; urges Congress to support libraries as health information 

distribution centers. 

2006 

Commission co-sponsors symposium on Mass Digitization: Implications for Information 

Policy; advises Congress to enact legislation to ensure net neutrality and to refrain from 

adding restrictions to obtain e-rate funding for technology in libraries. 

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— G-4 — 

NCLIS Timeline 

Year Event 

2007 NCLIS advocates for support for school libraries as part of the No Child Left Behind 

reauthorization; Public Law 119-161 provides funding for NCLIS to close. 

2008 NCLIS publishes its final report: Meeting the Information Needs of the American 

People; Commission office closes March 30. 



 

U.S. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE