ALAWON v4n65 (July 17, 1995)
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v4n65

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                                                             ISSN 1069-7799
                                  ALAWON
                      ALA Washington Office Newsline
                     An electronic publication of the
              American Library Association Washington Office

                            Volume 4, Number 65
                               July 17, 1995

   In this issue: (67 lines)
     LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CORE SERVICES MAY BE AT RISK IN SENATE
          ACTION NEEDED:  URGE SENATORS TO FUND LC AT FY96 REQUEST LEVEL,
                          AND RESIST FLOOR AMENDMENTS TO CUT CORE
                          FUNDING
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        LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CORE SERVICES MAY BE AT RISK IN SENATE

Interlibrary loans from the Library of Congress to libraries throughout the
country would be suspended if Congress cuts core LC services by $16.6
million to save the Office of Technology Assessment.  H.R. 1854, the FY96
Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill, is scheduled for action in the
Senate Appropriations Committee on July 18, and may be taken up on the
Senate floor as early as Thursday, July 20.

Senate floor amendments are anticipated similar to those adopted during
House action on H.R. 1854.  The House-passed bill saves OTA by
incorporating it in LC's Congressional Research Service, and by cutting
core LC services by $16.6 million to fund OTA.  OTA is a very useful
technological assessment arm for Congress, and ALA supports its
continuation; but does not support doing so by crippling Library of
Congress activities in support of Congress, other libraries, and the
nation.  House sponsors indicated their intent at a later stage to find
other sources of funding for OTA, but funds available in the Legislative
Branch appropriations are very tight.  The LC cut language has not been
changed so far, and Senators may look to the same source.

Core Library of Congress services include cataloging, preservation,
reference, reading rooms, and infrastructure and support services
undergirding all LC functions.  Interlibrary loan is heavily staff
dependent, has already been hit hard by staff cutbacks, and cannot continue
to operate with a further cut of this magnitude. The Library anticipates
that interlibrary loan service to other libraries would be completely
suspended.

Cataloging on which other libraries depend would be reduced by over one
million items; preservation would be reduced by nearly 50,000 items.  Loss
of 300 additional staff, including key language and area specialists, will
also put at risk the expertise on which the Library's foreign acquisitions
are based, and thus threaten the comprehensiveness of the collections.
Some reading rooms would be closed; the need for furloughs might shut most
of LC for a month in FY96.

ACTION NEEDED:  The implications of this deep cut are quite serious, and
will have ramifications affecting all Senate constituents.  Please contact
all Senators immediately (202-224-3121 is the Senate switchboard) to help
educate them to the permanent damage a $16.6 million cut in the core
section of LC's budget would cause.  Urge them to fund the Library of
Congress at the requested level for FY96, and to resist floor amendments
that would damage the Library's ability to serve Congress and the nation.


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ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library
Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC
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Fax: 202-547-7363.  Contributing to this issue:  Carol H. Henderson and
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