ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 3 4 2 /C&RL News Clinton budget and HEA Library program s The Clinton Administration’s FY 1994 budget request of April 8, 1993, w ould elimi­ nate all Higher Education Act library programs ($18.4 mil­ lion). The rationale unfortu­ nately repeats tired old Bush and Reagan Administration rhetoric w hich claims librar­ ies can use their ow n or their institution’s budgets to share resources beyond their own cam puses or localities, and claims there is no demonstrated need for train­ ing o f library personnel. The largest Library Services and Construc­ tion Act program for improvement o f public library services w ould be increased by 14 p er­ cent or almost $12 million. However, the in­ crease in one important LSCA program is more than offset by the proposed elimination of other W ash in gton H otlin e Carol C. Henderson The recent reauthoriza­ tion of the HEA library pro­ grams tied them in to the Clinton/Gore emphasis on e l e c tr o n ic n e tw o r k in g ; many Internet/NREN pro­ jects at libraries are already being su p p o rted by these programs. The II-A technol­ o gy p ro g ra m alo n e c u r­ rently has 260 applications p e n d in g for $35 m illion w o rth o f assistan ce, b u t only $3.8 million in fund­ ing. The II-B library education program w as just expanded in FY92 to support doctoral candi­ dates to alleviate faculty shortages, and to de­ velop youth services and science reference li­ brarians—em phases badly need ed and geared specifically to the education goals. Zero funds w ould leave many doctoral candidates stranded with no funds to continue their programs. Clinton Budget Request for HEA and LSCA Library Programs Library p rogram FY 1993 FY94 Admin. (a m o u n ts in thou sand s) A pprop. R equest H igh er Education Act $18,425 0 Title II-A, college library tech. 3,873 0 II-B, library education 4,960 0 II-B, research & demonstrations 2,802 0 H-C, research libraries 5,808 0 VI sec 607, foreign research materials 982 0 Library Services & C onstruction Act $128,626 $114,700 Title I, public library services 83,227 95,000 II, pub. lib. construction 16,584 0 III, interlibrary cooperation 19,749 19,749 * *IV, Indian library services V, foreign language materials 968 0 VI, library literacy programs 8,098 0 *2% o f LSCA I, II, & III LSCA titles for construction/renovation, foreign language materials, and library literacy pro­ grams. The LSCA total w ould drop by $14 mil­ lion or almost 11 percent. Of the 24 programs proposed for elimination in the Department of Education budget, about one-fourth are library programs— a heavier hit than any other area of the budget. The Clinton technology initiative recom ­ mends pilot projects to connect schools, librar­ ies, and hospitals to networks like the Inter­ n et. T his in itia tiv e a s su m e s th a t a lre a d y (continued on page 348) Carol C. Henderson is deputy executive director o f ALA ’s Washington Office; bitnet: cch@alawash.org mailto:cch@alawash.org 3 4 8 /C&RL News sports journals of its day. Brilliant, vain, and pompous, Apperley peppered his personal let­ ters with juicy gossip, details about his hunting tours, complaints about other writers’ work and the casually dropped names of prominent mem­ bers of royalty, nobility, and the sporting world. The 11-volume archive, containing some 1,200 of Apperley’s letters, papers, and manuscripts, was purchased from a New York rare book and manuscript dealer with funds from the Scott endowment. The Sol Eisen Collection of Canadiana has been acquired by the U niversity o f Wa­ terloo Library. The collection contains 170 rare volumes, including one of the few books pub­ lished in the Montagnais dialect, Nehiro-Iriniui A iam ihe M assinahigan, printed by William Brown in 1767. Also included in the collection are several imprints of great rarity not listed in Patricia Fleming’s Upper Canadian Imprints, 1801-1841; A Bibliography. Included in this category are a children’s book, First Book fo r Children, printed in 1826; an 1839 edition of Wilson's Border Tales; and two almanacs which were previously unknown: The Upper Canada A lm a n a c a n d D irectory o f 1831 an d The Toronto Farm er’s a n d M echanic’s A lm anac (1838). The collection also contains the only known extent copies of Swift’s York Country Al­ manac and the Upper Canada Almanac for 1837. Over 2 00 letters and documents w ritten by and to Sam Houston (1793-1863) have been acquired by Rice University. Included in the acquisition are correspondence from would-be Texas colonizers, Henri Castro and Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels, and documents and letters pertaining to Indian affairs, including correspon­ dence with Houston’s Cherokee foster father John Jolly and with Bowles, chief of Texas’s Cherokee Nation. Another portion of the col­ lection focuses on Sam Houston’s term as Presi­ dent of the independent Republic of Texas and his administrations’ relations with the U.S. gov­ ernment, including letters and documents to and from Daniel Webster, Zachary Taylor, John C. Calhoun, and James Buchanan. ■ (Washington Hotline continued from page 342) Selected other library FY 1993 FY94 Admin. and related program s Approp. Request GPO Superintendent of Documents 29,082 33,707 Natl. Center for Educ. Statistics 77,850 125,000 NCLIS 889 904 Library of Congress 334,316 364,352 National Agricultural Library 17,715 17,915 National Archives 160,045 189,182 Natl. Endowment for the Arts 174,460 174,593 Natl. Endowment for the Humanities 177,413 177,491 Natl. Hist. Pubs. & Records Com. 5,000 4,000 National Library of Medicine 116,743 116,979 (incl. Medical Lib. Asst. Act) Postal revenue forgone 121,912 91,434 connected college and research libraries will share resources electronically with schools and public libraries. HEA library program s are needed to help these libraries put their re­ sources on the network for access beyond their own campuses. Strong Congressional Support Shown Library Legislative Day participants on April 20 helped library champion Representative Dale Kildee (D-Mich.) solicit cosigners on a letter Kildee spearheaded to support restoration of HEA and LSCA programs proposed for elimi­ nation to FY93 levels of funding. At this writ­ ing, Kildee’s office was putting the letter in fi­ nal form with signatures of 76 House members. The letter was addressed to Chairman William Natcher (D-Ky.) of the Labor, Health and Hu­ man Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over li­ brary program funding. Academic and research librarians w ho have not yet contacted their leg­ islators to urge restoration of the zeroed out library programs could still do so. ■