The Impact of the Federal Library Services and Construction Act.

(LSCA) first enacted in 1956 as the Library Services Act, provided $626 million to the states and territories of the United States for the extension and improvement of library services through June 30, 1974. This, the first in a succession of library aid programs to be enacted in the 1950s and 1960s, may turn out to be the most durable of library development programs. As Fry has detailed elsewhere in this volume, the legislation has been amended and the program expanded throughout the 18-year period. A full evaluation of the accomplishments of LSCA is yet to be made, and the purpose of this article is to identify some of the forces which have shaped the program, and to comment on aspects of the program which may be significant as the nation considers library services in its bicentennial year. The current LSCA authorization extends through fiscal year 1976. Not only will Congress and the library community be discussing the LSCA program as it comes up for renewal, but it can also be expected that the program will be the subject of extended citizen discussion in 1976 as the states prepare for participation in the White House Conference on Library and Information Services. The Library Services Act program has been described in a number of articles and reports. A series of publications prepared by the Library Services Branch of the U.S. Office of Education and issued over the period 1958-63 summarized the programs of the states and territories. The 1963 publications include printed reports from each of the states for the first five yearsof the program. The 1961 Allerton Park Institute