ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries July/August 1991 / 445 White house conference packs a mighty punch b y P a t r i c i a A . W a n d Chair, ACRL Task Force on WHCLIS T h e W h i t 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 D e leg a te s r e p r e s e n t varied persp ectiv es Approximately 650 delegates will be responsible for reviewing issues and formulating resolutions during the upcoming White House Conference. Jean Curtis, Executive Director of the Confer­ ence, noted recently that the delegation accurately mirrors the residents in 50 states, the District of Columbia, six U.S. territories, native Americans and the Federal Library Community. “The Confer­ ence delegates represent a diverse population in terms of geography, professions and socio-eco- nomic backgrounds. This provides balance and credibility to the outcome of the Conference.” One hundred fifty-nine delegates are library and information professionals. They work in various types of libraries: 31% in public libraries, 20% in school library media centers, and 18% (29 dele­ gates) work in academic libraries. Besides the 22 academic librarian delegates cited in previous is­ sues of C &RL News, two more have notified this author of their selection: Puerto Rico: Haydee Munos-Sola, University o f Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus; Luisa Vigo-Cepeda, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. Along with librarians and information specialists there are delegates who are library trustees and supporters, government officials, and the general public. Women comprise 59% of the total group. Nearly 60% of the delegates have degrees beyond the four-year baccalaureate. Over half of the dele­ gates who are government officials are elected members of local governments— state, city, or county. The remainder are employees of local or federal governments. C o n fe ren ce sch ed u le full Planners of the White House Conference on Libraiy and Information Services, July 9-13,1991, packed a tight schedule into the four days and expect full participation from delegates. All dele­ gates will deliberate issues in topic group meetings and then draft recommendations that will be final­ ized by the Conference Recommendations Com­ mittee. The original 2,500 issues have already been consolidated and summarized to some extent but delegates are still faced with many hours of review and discussion. Topic group meetings are sand­ wiched between a full agenda of keynote speakers, lectures, plenary sessions, and receptions. E x p erts address c o n fe re n c e Three experienced people were named chair­ man, co-chairman and vice-chairman of the White House Conference. Charles Reid, chairman, is a life-long user and supporter of libraries who is cur­ rently chairman of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. Richard Ak- eroyd, co-chairman, is the state librarian of Con­ necticut and served as a staff member for the first White House Conference in 1979. Joseph Fitzsim­ mons, vice-chairman, has been president and CEO of University Microfilms International for 15 years. All three of these leaders will address delegates as will a host of other notables, including possibly President George Bush. Keynote and other speak­ ers are Congressman Major Owens (D-NY); James Billington, Librarian of Congress; Mary Futrell, former president, National Education Association; William Esrey, president, United Telecommunica­ tions; and Deborah Kaplan, Association Director for Public Education, World Institute on Disabil- ity. The topic of a special session, “The Great De­ bate,” is the future of library and information serv­ ices. Arthur Miller, Harvard University Law School, will moderate and panelists are: Clement Bezold, executive director, Institute for Alternative Futures; Robert Houk, U.S. Public Printer; Char­ les McClure, professor, Syracuse University; An­ thony Oetinger, professor, Harvard University; Amy Owen, state librarian, Utah; Phyllis Steckler, president, Orynx Press; Charles Robinson, direc- 446 / C&RL News tor, Baltim ore County Public Library; Jack Simpson, CEO, Mead Data Central; and Don Wilson, archivist of the United States. It is clear that the White House Conference on Library and Information Services 1991 will provide leadership and vision for all players in the informa­ tion age. Publications and additional information about the Conference may be requested from the office of the White House Conference on Library and Information Services 1991,1111 8th Street, N.W., Suite 302, Washington D.C. 20036; phone (202) 254-5100. ■ ■ Bloomfield College hosts “The Multicultural Library: The Way of the Fu tu re” On May 3, 1991, Bloomfield College, Bloom­ field, New Jersey, along with the Essex Hudson Regional Library Cooperative, sponsored a forum entitled “The Multicultural Library: The Way of the Future.” Keynote speakers were Bloomfield College president John F. Noonan and Alex Boyd, d irecto r o f the Newark Public Li­ brary. T he pro­ gram featured a panel discussion with Bloomfield College library di­ rector Danilo H. Figueredo; Kath­ leen Johnson, as­ sistant general counsel, and Ste­ phen Gargulinski, educational media supervisor, of the Jersey City Public Schools; and Ra- mya Subram a- Jo h n F. Noonan, Jo an nian, librarian of a n d Danil the Non-English Collection of the Newark Public Library. During the panel discussion, Figueredo stressed that any library seeking to become multicultural must first define for itself what a multicultural li­ brary is. He pointed out that the time for needs assessments is well past, and that libraries must seek to determine how people are getting their information, while pointing out that “outreach programs” have generally failed. He asserted that it is wrong to concieve of a multicultural framework as involving only minorities: a multicultural society includes everyone. Figueredo urges libraries to select materials for themselves, rather than letting that task fall to a vendor, and to make a commit­ ment to giving full cataloging to these materials. Ultimately, there must be corresponding pro­ grams, resources, and services in a library for each of the cultural components of the community a library serves. Founded in 1868 and located one mile from Newark, Bloomfield has a student body of 1,700, representing 51 different nation­ alities. When Noonan first ar­ rived on campus in 1987, he re­ vised the institu- tio n ’s mission s t a t e m e n t , which now states that the college is to be “preparing stu­ dents to func­ tion at the peak o f their potential in a multiracial, multicultural so­n e R. Euster, Alex Boyd, c ie ty .” Sin ce o H. Figueredo then each course in the curriculum has been brought into line with this new mission statement. In 1988, the col­ lege was awar-ded one of four Excellence Initiative Grants from the New Jersey Department of Higher Education. For Noonan, the library is a vital link in his plans to implement the new mission, using the analogy that libraries are "a mirror of society as well as an image in front of the mirror.” Figueredo adds that “Libraries are no longer passive places. They are, and rightly should be, participants in the process of social change. They are and should be offering programs, cultural events, and collections pertain­ ing to specific ethnic groups in the groups’ respec­ tive languages, for example.” ■ ■