Another 12 percent of libraries were developing such a policy. Libraries must be vigilant in providing free access to all information and letting the individual decide on its relevance to their own needs while letting parents, not librarians or library staff, decide what is appropriate for their children. The slow overall population growth in Pennsylvania conceals significant population growth in urban regions, especially in the eastern and southcentral areas of the state. This growth shows the characteristics of urban sprawl and raises questions of how best to relate transportation funding to planning. Urban sprawl characteristics are becoming evident in most of the urban areas of the state, raising questions for policymakers on how to adapt a transportation system to meet those needs while maintaining Pennsylvania's role as an avenue for through freight and passenger traffic.
Transportation is neither cause nor cure for urban sprawl.
Sprawl seems to be preceding transportation enhancement and is not generally a result of highway investments. Urban sprawl, including high levels of land consumption, continued movement of jobs from cities to suburbs, and low-density development, will continue and will not be greatly influenced by marginal changes in transportation funding. Demand reduction efforts will be seen as alternatives to transit in ways to reduce highway congestion, with the goal of reducing vehicle miles traveled, congestion at peak hours, and other critical problem areas. Three newly released reports titled Pennsylvania's Brain Drain Migration in the Mid-1990s, The Internet and Public Libraries, and Transportation and Population Change which focus on the topics highlighted above are available from the Pennsylvania State Data Center. The Pennsylvania State Data Center is the Commonwealth's official source of population and economic statistics and services.