Appended to this document is a statement of principles adopted by the American Library Association. Although the ALA statement was developed at the national level, it is appended for your information because the Association feels that there is a relationship between the ALA statement and the TLA statement similar to the relationship of Federal and State telecommunications legislation and regulation. Support for Existing Programs Continued support for existing and successful programs, such as Project Link, TexShare and the Texas Library Connection, is essential. Project Link provides a valuable service to public libraries with Internet access by negotiating agreements with database vendors for statewide public library access and identifying valuable information resources on the Internet. Funding to ensure a sufficient level of access for all Texas public libraries is critical.
Most school libraries have no sufficient level of access for all Texas public libraries is critical.
It does its job well and deserves continued support, but it was not designed to provide Internet access for students. The information needs of students will not be fully addressed until the school libraries and individual classrooms have access to the Internet. The Texas Library Connection is designed to provide access to a statewide database of school library holdings as well as access to online full-text databases. With support for increased cooperation and collaboration, these projects could become valuable components of a statewide network providing access to the National Information Infrastructure for all Texans. We believe that a clear vision for the future network to be created with the grant funds is critical in developing a plan for a statewide infrastructure.