ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


February 1991 /1 1 3

Participants in 
pre-WHCLIS activities 
frame resolutions

by Patricia A. Wand,

Chair, ACRL Task Force on WHCLIS

Despite several unforeseen hitches on the na­
tional level and the inevitable politics that accom­
pany a major undertaking o f  this nature, activities 
leading up to the White House Conference on 
Libraries and Information Service are on schedule 
and gaining momentum. The profession is abuzz 
and enthusiasm increases in quantum leaps with 
each pre-conference event.

T o date, 30 states and territories have held pre­
conference activities. Issues that need to be ad­
dressed on the national level are being received 
regularly in the W H CLIS Office as various states 
finalize their resolutions. Many states are compil­
ing local agendas as well.

At the 1990 Virginia Governor’s Conference, for 
example, the resolutions written on November 11 
addressed numerous issues, including:

• the role o f  libraries in econom ic development 
and international relations,

• education for information professions,
• confidentiality and censorship,
• cultural diversity and populations with special 

needs,
• access to information including that gener­

ated by federal and state governments,
• developing an electronic network such as the 

proposed National Research and education Net­
work (NREN),

• information literacy and life-long learning 
needs o f  citizens,

• measuring and promoting library services,
• preservation, and
• funding.
Delegates from Virginia who will attend the 

White House Conference in July, 1991, were cho­
sen during the Governor’s Conference and were 
directed to carry 16 o f  the 22 Virginia resolutions to 
the national conference.

Most pre-conference events are sponsored by 
states and territories who will send a designated

T h e  W h it e  H o u s e  C o n f e r e n c e  O n  
L i b r a r y  A n d  I n f o r m a t i o n  S e r v i c e s  

1991

number o f  delegates to the White House Confer­
ence. One group, however, was called together to 
focus on a single, overarching issue: networking.

The Library o f  Congress Network Advisory 
Committee invited over 60 representatives from 
various library and information profession associa­
tions to meet for two days in D ecem ber to write 
resolutions and develop an action plan for the ’90s 
that addresses the interdependence o f  libraries and 
their need for connectivity. The “ Networks for 
Networkers II” Conference emerged from the 
concern that electronic networking may be over­
shadowed in the White House Conference agenda 
by the myriad o f  other legitimate needs o f libraries.

The Conference was coordinated by Henriette 
D. Avram and framed around background papers 
and discussion groups. Papers by Lewis Bran- 
scomb and Brian Kahin, Ken Dowlin, Peter Ly­
man, Clifford Lynch, Nina Matheson, Howard 
McGinn, Douglas Van Houweling, and Fred Wein­
garten were distributed before and presented for 
discussion during the conference.

Participants wrote seven resolutions emphasiz­
ing the need for the proposed National Research 
and Education Network (N REN ) to include all 
types o f  libraries and be accessible in all socio­
econom ic populations. The resolutions also high­
lighted the leadership role that well-prepared in­
formation professionals must take in a democratic 
society where an informed citizenry is the linchpin. 
Libraries and information centers are urged to 
forge new partnerships with public and private 
service providers and users to meet the diverse 
needs o f  society.

These are but two examples o f  events happening 
across the country and in the territories to heighten 
awareness and prepare delegates who will meet 
July 9-13, 1991, in the Washington Convention 
Center for the second White House Conference on 
Libraries and Information Service. ■  ■