By GAIL FINEBERG
Dr. Billington, in presenting the Library's fiscal year 2000 budget to the House Subcommittee on Legislative Appropriations on Feb. 10, laid out the Library's 21st century view of a vast collection of materials in both traditional and digital formats — all readily available to Congress and the American people.
For fiscal year 2000, the Librarian requested a total of $383.7 million in net appropriations and $33.1 million in authority to use receipts, representing a net increase of $20 million (5.5 percent) over fiscal 1999.
This increase includes $16.6 million to pay for mandatory pay raises (driven largely by a January 2000 pay raise of 4.4 percent) and price-level increases, as well as $3.4 million (net) to support "automation building blocks" and other new or expanded efforts to acquire, preserve and serve information.
Asked by the subcommittee chair, Rep. Charles H. Taylor (R-N.C.), how the Library will make a transition from paper and related formats to digital formats, Dr. Billington responded: "We have a plan. We are working on ways of getting access to the entire digital universe, not just what we are digitizing but that which is coming into being in exclusive digital format."
During the next five years, Dr. Billington said, the Library will ensure that Congress and the American people have access to "wholly re-engineered traditional collections," which will include digital formats that the Library is producing from its historical collections as well as electronic products that LC acquires from outside sources. Two automation building blocks are the Legislative Information System and the National Digital Library Program, he said.
By re-engineering internal processes with its new Integrated Library System and Electronic Cataloging Publication System, and by retraining its work force to become "knowledge navigators," the Library will make its resources available to Congress and the American people, Dr. Billington and Deputy Librarian Donald L. Scott told the subcommittee.
In support of this plan, the Library asked for $4.8 million in fiscal year 2000 for "automation building blocks" (see "Budget 2000 Statement").
Taylor thanked the Librarian for expounding on details contained in his written statement and added: "It has been my experience over the six years I have been on the Appropriations Committee that the Library has done an excellent job in trying to accomplish this with limited funds. I understand that we all could spend more money, perhaps, if we had it, but I would like to commend you."
Speaking in support of the Library's proposed fiscal year 2000 budget was American University Librarian Patricia Wand, representing the American
Library Association, Association of Research Libraries, American Association of Law Libraries, Medical Library Association and Special Libraries Association.
Saul Schiderman, president of AFSCME Local 2910, spoke in favor of the fiscal year 2000 budget request. He also asked for additional congressional support of a subsidy for LC employees using public transportation to commute to and from work. The Library requested funding for this subsidy in fiscal 1993, but did not receive additional funds. LC did not request a transit subsidy for fiscal 2000.
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Director Daniel P. Mulhollan requested a total of $71.3 million for CRS salaries and expenses, including $559,052 in fiscal year 2000 to continue to hire replacement staff in the second year of a multiyear plan to ensure continuity of service to Congress as employees eligible to retire exit CRS.
Dennis Roth, president of the Congressional Research Employees Association (CREA), spoke in support of the CRS budget request and also of a $1.5 million item in Library's proposed budget to replace 20-year-old Madison Building furnishings with "ergonomically correct workstations."
American Bar Association representative Janet S. Zagorin and former Rep. William Orton supported a request for $8 million for the Law Library, including $548,852 in fiscal 2000 to hire 8.5 full-time employees to ensure adequate staffing for research and reference services, security of rare book collections and book retrieval services; and $188,250 for contractual services to keep current the filing of looseleaf inserts containing the latest laws, administrative rules and regulations, and legal interpretations.
Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters asked for support of a total of $11.4 million for the Copyright Office, which reflects a 17 percent decrease from fiscal 1999, in anticipation of increased revenue from higher copyright registration fees. She asked for more personnel to support CORDS and to process a backlog of copyright claims; fees would offset these expenses.
James Gashel, representing the National Federation of the Blind, supported the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, which submitted a fiscal year 2000 budget request of $48 million for salaries and expenses.
In addition to Chairman Taylor, members of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee are Reps. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), Jerry Lewis
(R-Calif.), Kay Granger (R-Texas), John E. Peterson (R-Penn.), Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.), John P. Murtha (D-Penn.) and Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.).
Budget 2000 Statement
The following is excerpted from Dr. Billington's written statement submitted Feb. 10 to the House Subcommittee on Legislative Branch Appropriations.
… The Library's proposed fiscal year 2000 budget supports the Library's mission and strategic plan, which charts our course into an increasingly electronic future. Libraries are a link in the human chain that connects what happened yesterday with what might take place tomorrow; they are the base camps for new discovery in the Information Age; they must include and integrate both traditional and digitized materials.
The Library's budget request totals $383.7 million in net appropriations and $33.1 million in authority to use receipts — a net increase of 5.5 percent ($20 million) over fiscal 1999. Most of this increase ($16.6 million) is needed simply to fund mandatory pay raises (driven largely by the January 2000 pay raise of 4.4 percent) and unavoidable price-level increases; $3.4 million (of the $20 million total increase) is needed to meet critical growing workload increases (net of program decreases).
Growing workload decreases total $8.25 million, including a $4.8 million decrease resulting from higher copyright fee receipts, a $2.25 million decrease resulting from two no-year projects (i.e., Meeting of the Frontiers and Lewis and Clark Bicentennial) that were funded in fiscal 1999, and a $1.2 million decrease resulting from a planned reduction in the Integrated Library System project costs.
Growing workload increases totaling $11.6 million are offset by the decreases of $8.25 million, which result in a net increase of $3.4 million. Major increases include: $4.8 million for automation building blocks; $1.6 million for a staff succession program; $1.4 million for improved collections security; $.7 million for the Copyright registration process (funded by receipts); $.7 million for the Law Library; $1.5 million for a multiyear James Madison building workstation modernization project; and $.3 million for operational funding of the National Audio-visual Conservation Center… .
The Library of Congress programs and activities are funded by four salaries and expenses (S&E) appropriations, which support congressional services, national library services, copyright administration, library services to blind and physically handicapped people and management support. A separate appropriation funds furniture and furnishings.
Automation Building Blocks
The Library is putting in place automation building blocks that will ensure a solid foundation for continuing into the next century its historic leadership role of delivering information services to Congress and the nation, setting
bibliographic standards (saving libraries hundreds of millions of dollars by supplying them with bibliographic data) and providing free electronic access to knowledge and information for life-long learners everywhere.
Key automation building blocks for the future include:
- Integrated Library System (ILS). The ILS is scheduled to be operational at the beginning of fiscal year 2000 and will change the work patterns for more than half the Library's staff. The fiscal year 2000 budget incorporates a planned decrease of $1,197,000 (from $3,544,000 to $2,347,000), which is $270,000 less of a decrease than projected two years ago in the original budget because of higher software maintenance costs. The ILS will coordinate and make more efficient all the Library's basic functions, such as acquisitions, cataloging, and research and loan services, but will require a major redirection of resources to implement. As a result, the Library projects a slight short-term increase in its arrearage during fiscal years 1999 and 2000. The Library expects that any major savings from the ILS would begin to accrue at the end of fiscal year 2000 and begin appearing in the Library's fiscal year 2001 budget.
- Electronic Resources Information Project. An important phase of the transition to an increasingly electronic future is the development of an approach to handling digital materials. The Library is requesting a fiscal 2000 increase of $964,764 for an initiative that consists of two parts: (1) a three-year project, at $520,836 per year, to develop and implement policies and procedures and the access management system necessary for incorporating into its collections and services the electronic products the Library acquires from others via copyright deposit, gift and purchase; and (2) a permanent base increase of $443,928 to fund the technical staff necessary to support the handling of electronic services in the custodial divisions. Just as the National Digital Library Program provided national leadership for the transition to a digital environment through conversion of archival materials delivered on the Internet, the Electronic Resources Information Project will provide leadership in the integration of material in electronic form into our traditional operations with books and other hard copy materials. This effort is a necessary initial step and a key part of the comprehensive plan for integrating all digital collections.
- Global Legal Information Network (GLIN). GLIN is a cooperative international network in which nations are contributing electronically the full, authentic text of statutes and regulations to a database hosted by the Law Library of Congress. GLIN is the digital future of the Law Library, and an increase of $396,000 is requested to support GLIN's expanding from 12 to approximately 30 countries by the year 2004: an addition of three to four countries per year. The Library plans to use receipts provided by participants and sponsors of GLIN to help support GLIN development, but these receipts will not be sufficient to ensure success until a critical mass of countries is achieved.
- Copyright Office Electronic Registration, Recordation and Deposit System (CORDS). CORDS is the electronic future of the Copyright Office and provides the public with an electronic means to submit copyright claims and documents, which streamlines internal processing. Development, as well as testing, will continue through successive phases with an increasing number of electronic registrations over the Internet.
- In the year 2004, the Library expects to receive at least 100,000 works (out of a total of more than 700,000 works) in digital form — such as census data, films, music, encyclopedias, scientific papers and legal documents. An increase of $143,988 (funded by receipts) is requested to expand the CORDS system into new formats, provide online customer support, support increasing digital storage needs and enhance technical capabilities.
- Automation Infrastructure Support. An increase of $3,250,000 is requested to fund automation infrastructure support items: (1) $1.9 million to upgrade the Library's digital voice switch, which has been in operation for more than a decade and will not be able to support the Library's growing telecommunications requirements in the 21st century; (2) $600,000 to increase computer server storage and capacity, which is necessary to meet the growing demand of the millions of transactions processed daily; (3) $500,000 to fund additional security and disaster recovery measures, which are becoming increasingly critical with the growth of online systems; and (4) $250,000 to support the first phase of a central financial management system replacement project.
The Library is undertaking an institution-wide planning effort to coordinate these building blocks and other digital initiatives in order to provide the most effective information services for the 21st century. The Library is also seeking advice and counsel from the National Academy of Sciences as part of our planning process. Re-engineering traditional functions and adding digital content are critical elements of the planning. The overall transition to modern electronic services Library-wide will be a multiphase, multiyear process.
Fiscal year 2000 marks the end of the initial five-year National Digital Library (NDL) program, and the Library will present, in next year's budget, its plans for the future of our digital programs. The highly successful NDL program serves as a catalyst for institutional change, in addition to making possible access by millions of Americans to the Library's vast holdings. A recent PC Magazine review of the Top 100 Web sites stated: "We've raved about the Library of Congress for years, and it just keeps getting better." We plan to build on our successful five-year NDL program to ensure public availability of additional high-quality content.
With regard to the Library's year 2000 (Y2K) readiness for automated operations, the Library has identified 99 mission critical systems and is on-schedule for making these systems Y2K compliant by Sept. 30, 1999. The General Accounting Office conducts regular reviews of our progress in reaching Y2K compliant automated operations and reports quarterly to Congress on our progress.
Succession Program
The Library's ability to serve Congress and the nation depends in large part on its expert staff, particularly those who have intimate familiarity with the special collections or fluency in foreign languages.
In 1996, Library Services undertook an analysis of its vulnerability to retirements and determined that by fiscal year 2004, 50 percent (1,077) of its staff would be eligible for retirement. An additional concern is the need to provide upward mobility opportunities for motivated technicians who have demonstrated their ability to move into professional positions. To respond simultaneously to both of these needs, the Library requests $1,010,016 to initiate a cost-effective Library Services Career Enhancement and Succession Plan that will give existing staff opportunities to advance to critical professional positions while also enabling the Library to recruit a new corps of junior technicians. Without the additional funding for technician positions, our newly promoted (and higher paid) curators will be forced to devote time to technician-level assignments, which would not be a cost- effective use of resources.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) faces a similar challenge. One-half of CRS's staff of analysts, attorneys and reference librarians will be eligible to retire by the year 2006. To address this challenge, CRS began a research capacity risk assessment process in 1996 and identified the specific subject areas where staff were likely to retire in the next few years. CRS foresees reduced analytic capacity in a significant number of subject areas as early as the year 2000; these losses will accelerate and affect almost every area of legislative support to Congress by 2004.
Rebuilding this capacity requires a multiyear learning period during which new staff develop the breadth and depth of knowledge of the specific issues as well as of the legislative process. To meet these challenges, CRS has developed a multiyear plan to begin hiring replacement staff. In fiscal 1999, Congress provided $435,858 to begin this hiring process, using the Graduate Recruit Program and the Law Recruit Program. The fiscal 2000 request seeks $559,052 to continue to hire staff to ensure the continuity of services to Congress, while remaining within the full-time equivalent level provided in the fiscal 1999 budget.
Security of Library Staff, Collections and Facilities
During 1998, the Library's House and Senate oversight committees approved our comprehensive Security Plan, and Congress approved supplemental appropriations totaling $16,975,000 for the Library's physical security. These two congressional actions provide a framework for the security of the Library's collections, facilities, staff, visitors and other assets. As a result, additional security measures will be put in place during fiscal years 1999 and 2000: the recruitment of additional police, the installation of entry screening equipment at all public entrances, the design and installation of additional perimeter security enhancements and the design and development of an improved intrusion detection system. The Library is working with the Capitol Police and the Architect of the Capitol to complete a memorandum of understanding, which will ensure proper coordination of all security efforts.
The supplemental appropriations in fiscal 1999 did not provide additional funds for collections physical security initiatives. Thus, for the fiscal year 2000 budget, the Library is requesting an increase of $1,352,201 to support three key collections security enhancements.
- Reader Registration. The Library's Security Plan specifies, as a minimum standard, the identification of all patrons requesting material from the collections. The Library is requesting an increase of $466,791 to implement this minimum standard in all reading rooms.
- Marking and Tagging Library Materials. The Library's Security Plan specifies, as a minimum standard, the marking and tagging of most material. Congress approved and funded the marking and tagging of materials received via copyright deposit starting in fiscal 1999, and the Library requests $476,378 to expand marking and tagging to other sources of acquisitions (i.e., gifts, exchanges, purchases).
- Contract Security Monitors. The Library is requesting an increase of $370,188 to improve the enforcement of security standards by placing security monitors in five additional reading rooms where unique materials often of great value are used — Law, Geography and Map, Music, Prints and Photographs, and Rare Book and Special Collections. Contract security monitors are now used in the Manuscript and Main reading rooms to ensure that each patron is registered, enforce personal belongings restrictions, monitor the activities of visitors, and examine materials being removed. The Library asks that this successful program be expanded to these five additional important reading rooms.
Law Library
The Law Library of Congress maintains the largest collection of legal materials in the world and also houses a unique body of foreign-trained lawyers to supply legal research and analysis, primarily for the Congress, on the laws of other nations, international law and comparative law. More than 200 jurisdictions are covered by Law Library specialists, some 80 percent of the sovereign entities of the world that issue laws and regulations. The Law Library utilizes this talent to maintain and develop the breadth and depth of a demanding collection, as well as to provide reference services whenever either chamber is in session (as mandated by the Congress). These are daunting responsibilities. The U.S. Courts, the executive branch, and the legal community also depend heavily on the Law Library's collections.
The Law Library has been creative in attempting to meet its responsibilities, particularly with the development of its Global Legal Information Network, but funding for 8.5 FTEs ($548,852) is crucially required. The funding would ensure adequate staffing for research and reference services, improve the security of the rare book room collections, and improve book retrieval services. The Law Library is also requesting $188,250 for contractual services to maintain the filing of looseleaf inserts. The integrity and currency of legal publications — which contain laws, administrative rules and regulations, and legal interpretations — must be maintained to be of continuing value to Congress.
Copyright Office
The Library's Copyright Office promotes creativity and effective copyright protection — annually processing more than 650,000 claims (representing more than 850,000 copies of works transferred to the Library), of which 550,000 claims are registered for copyright. The Copyright Office also responds annually to more than 395,000 requests for information.
On July 1, 1999, the Copyright Office plans to increase its filing fees and other statutory fee services. The new schedule of proposed fees was presented to Congress for consideration at the beginning of February. The basic filing fee for registering a claim will increase from $20 to $30, and other statutory fees, such as those for filing renewals or recording a document, will also increase. These increases, coupled with the fee changes for special services which went into effect July 1, 1998, represent increases in some cases of as much as 225 percent. We expect fee increases to boost the Office's receipts by $4.8 million in fiscal year 2000. The new fee structure should provide 70 percent cost recovery for registration, recordation and related services. The Register's statement provides a more detailed explanation of the proposed increase.
The ability of the Copyright Office to serve the nation effectively requires restructuring and streamlining operations. The Library requests approval to use part of the additional receipts ($694,212) to redesign the workflow and to bolster its core staff of examiners, which will ensure the timely processing of claims for registration. To improve public service, efficiency, security, cash management and contain costs, the Copyright Office must redesign its workflow and hire additional examiners.
The Library also requests authority to use part of the additional receipts to fund further growth of the CORDS effort ($143,988, see automation building blocks) and to fund newly imposed storage costs ($268,204) levied by the National Archives and Records Administration.
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
The Library administers a 67-year-old cooperative effort with state and local agencies and the United States Postal Service to provide free braille and recorded materials for blind and physically handicapped persons. The Library selects and produces full-length books and magazines in braille and on recorded disc and cassette and provides special playback equipment. We distribute reading materials and playback machines to a network of cooperating regional and subregional (local) libraries, who circulate those materials to eligible borrowers and returned to libraries by postage-free mail.
The fiscal year 2000 budget maintains program services by funding mandatory pay and price level increases totaling $1,209,000. The budget also supports the exploration of alternative digital technological possibilities that would provide a less costly, more efficient, internationally acceptable, user-friendly delivery system.
Library Buildings and Grounds
The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is responsible for the structural and mechanical care and maintenance of the Library's buildings and grounds.
In coordination with the Library, the AOC has requested a capital budget of $9,405,000, an increase of $6,238,000. The AOC capital budget includes funding for six projects totaling $6,350,000 in appropriations, that were requested by the Library. Library-requested projects, as well as AOC identified projects, are prioritized based on critical need and in accordance with both the Library's Strategic and Security Plans. The six projects support four important areas:
(1) the security of our collections by providing additional electronic card readers, alarm devices and other protections ($1,400,000);
(2) the preservation of the Library's collections as a result of improved environmental conditions for exhibit space ($450,000);
(3) the support for and oversight of initial construction efforts at the National Audio-visual Conservation Center ($500,000); and
(4) the acquisition of additional storage space by funding a second collections storage module at Fort Meade, Md. ($4,000,000). Properly storing the Library's collections in secure, safe and environmentally sound facilities is the most important step toward preserving our collections for future generations.
I urge the Committee to support the Architect's Library Buildings and Grounds budget and his position that reinvestment in the existing infrastructure is necessary and a prudent measure for the long-term support of legislative branch operations.
Audio-Visual Conservation Center
The Library's House and Senate oversight committees have approved a Master Plan option for the renovation of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Va., which provides for the donor to retain ownership of the center through Phase I (2001). As a result, the Library requests an increase of $290,000 to fund fiscal 2000 operating costs, which are estimated to be $509,000. When ownership of the center is transferred to the AOC, these operating costs will be reallocated between the AOC and the Library, in accordance with normal Library Buildings and Grounds budget practices. In August 1998, the Library began to store film at the center.
National Film Preservation Foundation
The Library is requesting an increase of $250,000 to fund the government's matching grant in accordance with section 209 of Public Law 104-285. To date, the National Film Preservation Foundation has received pledges totaling $1.2 million ($500,000 in actual receipts) from private persons and state and local governments. The $250,000 increase would fund the government's matching share and support the preservation of our film heritage.
James Madison Building Workstation Modernization Project
The Library is requesting an increase of $1,528,000 to begin a five-year accelerated workstation modernization project in the James Madison Building. We have replaced employee workstations in the Thomas Jefferson and John Adams buildings with modern furniture and equipment as a result of the renovation project.
Furniture and equipment installed 20 years ago in the James Madison Building, during an era of typewriters and long before the introduction of personal computers, must now be replaced to provide for ergonomically correct workstations in all three of the Library's Capitol Hill buildings. Poor workstation design contributes to the risk of injuries and lower staff productivity. An increase is required to complete the project within five years instead of the 16-plus years the current level of resources would require.
Proposed Legislation
During the 105th Congress, the Library's oversight and appropriations committees agreed upon authorizing legislation for the American Folklife Center (AFC) and the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. The Library is moving expeditiously to secure all appointments to the AFC board and to realize the master plan for the Culpeper site approved last December. During the last Congress, we also secured legislation for a commemorative coin to be issued in April 2000 in observance of the Library's Bicentennial. In discussing the Library's plans for its Bicentennial with our oversight committees, we stressed the continuing need for the Library to have improved statutory authority for its revolving and reimbursable funds. The 105th Congress approved a revolving fund to improve the accountability and statutory basis for the Cooperative Acquisitions Program. We will be seeking similar authority during this Congress to address the business operating needs of the Federal Research Division and FEDLINK, each of which serves a wide constituency within the federal government. The bill is our top legislative priority for the 106th Congress. Passage of such legislation would address a critical element of our five-year legislative plan to improve and stabilize the Library's business operations.
Office of Inspector General
The Library requests an increase of $139,343 to fund two professional auditors in the Office of the Inspector General. The two auditors would concentrate on reviews of the Library's physical security and automated systems, both areas of critical importance to our operations.
The Library's Bicentennial
The Library will use its Bicentennial in the year 2000 less to celebrate our past than to leave a legacy for the future. We have crafted — almost entirely with privately raised funds — a multifaceted Bicentennial Program "to inspire creativity in the years ahead by stimulating greater use of the Library of Congress and libraries everywhere." Bicentennial projects include: reconstituting Thomas Jefferson's original library; a "Favorite Poem" project spearheaded by the Library's Poet Laureate; a national photography contest, "Beyond Words: Celebrating America's Libraries," jointly conducted with the American Library Association; and a "Local Legacies" project to document unique local traditions from congressional districts throughout the nation for possible inclusion in the American Folklife Center's collections.
The kick-off event later this year for the Bicentennial will be a symposium on the Frontiers of the Mind in the 21st Century, which will bring together at the Library leading thinkers in various disciplines to talk about the way their field will change in the 21st century. The concept of "Gifts to the Nation" is central to the Bicentennial effort.
Ms. Fineberg is editor of The Gazette, the Library's staff newspaper.