Library union officials and the president of the American Library Association testified strongly in favor of Dr. Billington's proposed 5.8 percent budget increase last week.
On March 7, the day after the Librarian presented his proposed FY 1997 budget request of $373 million (including the authority to spend $28.3 million in receipts) to Congress, a House subcommittee heard testimony from public witnesses on the legislative branch appropriations bill, which governs Library spending. LC's FY 1996 budget is $352.4 million, including the authority to spend $27.7 million in receipts. LC's receipts come from the Copyright Office and the Cataloging Distribution Service.
One member of Congress and representatives from two associations and two labor unions testified on parts of the bill before Rep. Ron Packard's House Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee. The new fiscal year will start Oct. 1.
Mr. Packard (R-Calif.) is chairman of the panel. Rep. Dan Miller (R-Fla.) also attended the hearing.
Christine Shollenberger, president, AFSCME 2910, said that AFSCME 2910 members "wholeheartedly support" the Librarian's proposed FY '97 budget. She told Rep. Packard that labor-management relations had improved at LC since Harry Yee was named chief of labor relations in April 1995. She said Local 2910 reached agreements with LC managers in 22 bargaining situations last year.
Ms. Shollenberger said AFSCME members are looking forward to the "Internal University" organized by Hiram Davis to develop employee skills without additional expense.
She said she hopes the Library will consider a hiring freeze, as well as "buy-out" legislation, to ease the effects of reductions in force (RIFs). Ms. Shollenberger said she hopes the Library can avoid the negative effects of RIFs, such as "low morale, loss of productivity and lawsuits."
Mr. Packard agreed but said, "In the normal transition to modernize, agencies must downsize some areas and upgrade other areas to retain their overall staffing levels. It's normal and must be dealt with by those who administer the agency."
Dennis M. Roth, president of the Congressional Research Employees Association (CREA), told Mr. Packard that the members of CREA "strongly support" Dr. Billington's request for funding to cover mandatory pay and price increases in the FY 1997 budget. Mr. Roth said he realized that Congress will be trying to balance the budget in the next seven years but pointed out that due to tight budgets CRS had "done only minimal hiring over the past decade."
"The vast majority of our staff started working in the late 1970s and early 1980s. . . . [M]any will begin retiring over the next five to 10 years. CRS has reached the critical point where it needs to begin cultivating its next generation of workers," he said.
Betty Turock, president of the American Library Association (ALA), testified on behalf of ALA, the American Association of Law Libraries and the Association of Research Libraries. "We are grateful for your long and steady support of the Library of Congress," she told Mr. Packard, "and want you to remember that LC, the library of elected representatives, is also the de facto national library of the United States."
Ms. Turock also said she supported Dr. Billington's budget increase request. Specifically, she praised and asked continued support for: the National Digital Library Program, the Global Legal Information Network, the American Folklife Center, the National Film Preservation Board, security measures, preservation work, arrearage reduction and the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.
Ms. Turock told Packard the Copyright Office is an essential part of the Library and any attempt to separate it would have a detrimental effect.
James Gashel, director of Governmental Affairs, National Federation of the Blind, testified in support of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). "Of the 40,000 new books published in English in this country each year, only a fraction of these ever find their way into braille or sound-recorded forms designed for use by the blind. Apart from volunteer groups and some other specialty producers, NLS is the only book and magazine reproduction source at work for blind people," Mr. Gashel said.
"The program meets the needs of nation's blind. . . . It's the only way we get books," he said. The program serves more than 750,000 blind or physically handicapped individuals each year, Mr. Gashel said.
Mr. Gashel said he strongly supported completion of the centralized braille facility that Congress partially funded last year. "The braille centralization plan has been developed through a collaborative process with substantial involvement by blind consumers. . . . The goal of consolidating the distribution of the braille collection is very sensible, and the plan is well thought out," he said.
Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers (R-Mich.) appeared before the panel to speak about efforts to standardize, upgrade and network the computers in House members' offices. He said that House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) asked him to help lead the effort because of his experience automating the Michigan Senate when he served in that body.
