The Impact Of Federal Legislation On Academic Libraries

Federal aid to libraries is a fairly recent phenomenon in the \nlibrary field. Librarians began their first serious bid for some funds \nto help extend library services to rural areas just after World War II \nand, after about a decade of effort, succeeded in getting the first Library \nServices Act in 1956 which thus became the first of a considerable \nbody of federal legislation dealing with libraries of various \nkinds. \nAs I try to describe the impact of the various bills on a particular \ntype of library in this instance, the academic library an important \nconsideration must be kept in mind; namely, that a bill for \none area which paves the way for or influences the action on a subsequent \nbill relating to another area provides an impact on this second \narea which is just as vital and real as if the bill had been originally \ndesigned for that area. \nThis certainly is the case with the Library Services Act. Then \nfew seemed really interested in libraries: no administration would \nput the item in its budget, sponsors had to be searched out and persuaded, \nand even many of our friends were hesitant to come out and \nvote for libraries, partly because many still did not realize what \nbooks and libraries could do and what they could mean to people. \nApparently almost no one at that time anticipated how popular \nlibrary legislation would become, and it was not until about five years \nago, when the extension of the Library Services Act was voted out of \nthe House Rules Committee by the most overwhelming vote ever \ngiven such a measure in the House, that people in and out of Congress, \nincluding the Administration, suddenly realized it was a popular \nthing to support libraries. From there on, library bills have \nmultiplied and have been Administration bills, and the question has \nbeen not whether or not to support, but how much and how wide the \napplication will be.