In spite of severe budget constraints and other difficulties, the Library made major gains on several key fronts in 1993 as it continued to ready itself for the 21st century.
"Looking back," said Suzanne Thorin, LC chief of staff, "we achieved some real breakthroughs, thanks to extra effort and smart work by the staff, some crucial help from the Library's supporters, new technology and the fruition of projects begun several years ago. We have our priorities in order, and it is beginning to pay off."
To the general public, the Library's unprecedented exhibits -- notably the Vatican Library treasures and the Dead Sea Scrolls -- were the headline-grabbers, reinforced by publications, television coverage and online access via Internet and America Online.
Scholars, librarians and students around the world were no less impressed by their new access to the Library's vast bibliographic data base (LC's "electronic card catalog") after it came online via Internet last summer.
Congressional leaders were on hand as Librarian of Congress James H. Billington accepted the Library's 100 millionth item -- a series of rare early 19th century watercolors by John Rubens Smith of America's cities and landscapes, purchased with the help of the Madison Council, the Library's private sector support group.
Librarians across the country noted LC's successful campaign to reduce its backlog of uncatalogued items (mostly in nonbook formats); the Library reached its 1993 goal three months ahead of schedule, having processed 12.2 million items since March 1990.
The Library's own managers were pleased by the acquisition of 100 acres of land at Fort Meade, Md. -- to be used as a site of a long-planned secondary storage facility housing the Library's expected growth in its collections through 2050.
"These were the most publicized achievements," said Ms. Thorin."
But we also accomplished a lot of important, but less glamorous work during 1993. The staff -- and the Congress -- should be proud of what was done in all categories. We're getting more efficient. Under our strategic plan, we're fixing old problems and testing new technology. We've got momentum now. If this momentum isn't halted by new budget cuts, we can continue making significant progress in service to both Congress and the country into the 21st century. Our record in 1993 shows what we can do."
The Library's gains came despite major difficulties: a growing budget squeeze, a lengthy hiring freeze while a new hiring process was established, and work interruptions and space constraints caused by the renovation of the Jefferson and Adams buildings. Nothing was easy.
The details:
The Vatican Library Exhibition. The first of a planned series of exhibitions at the Library featuring the great libraries of the world was on view from January 6 through April 30. The spectacular exhibition, "Rome Reborn: the Vatican Library and Renaissance Culture," was made possible by $2.2 million in private gifts. Most of these treasures had never before left Rome, and many of them had never been publicly exhibited, even in Rome.
Viewed by a record 230,000 people, the exhibition featured rare books, manuscripts and maps from the Renaissance period. A 10-week public lecture series and a Renaissance music conference for music scholars accompanied the exhibition. No event in recent Library history drew more attention from the news media and the public.
The exhibition set the stage for the reopening of the newly renovated Great Hall and Southwest Curtain and Pavilion of the Jefferson Building and provided innovations for future Library endeavors. Mrs. Charles W. Engelhard provided funding for fabrication of permanent display cases for special exhibits in the Jefferson Building. The display cases were first used for "Rome Reborn." In addition, for the first time at the Library, exhibition visitors had the option of renting an audio guided tour of an exhibition.
Dead Sea Scrolls. Of great interest to the news media and to researchers, the exhibition "Scrolls from the Dead Sea: The Ancient Library of Qumran and Modern Scholarship" also drew sizable crowds of visitors -- more than 140,000 from April 29 to Aug. 1. The privately supported exhibition included 12 scroll fragments found near the Dead Sea by shepherds and included documents written around the time and locale in which Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity were born. Roughly half the items on display were from the Library's collections.
Bringing the Collections to the Public. The Library's collections were shared with hundreds of thousands of Americans through other local exhibitions, traveling exhibitions (in a dozen cities) and major publications. Most notably, the Library also became the first U.S. institution to make its major exhibitions available remotely through electronic online access.
Other exhibitions included: "Landsat: Monitoring Earth's Environment" (a map/photo display); "I Do Solemnly Swear" (linked to the 1993 inauguration); "An Uplifting Tradition: Graduates of Historically Black Colleges" (a display celebrating the role of black colleges in the development of American scholarship); "The Articulate Traveler: Johann Georg Kohl" (the German map maker of America); "Language of the Land: Journeys into Literary America" (featuring writers of each state); and "Old Ties, New Attachments: Italian American Folklife in the West," which, in addition to being on view at LC in Washington, opened in Santa Clara, California and traveled to Los Angeles and Reno, Nev.
The Publishing Office produced 30 books and other items, including Volumes 20 and 21 of Letters to Delegates of Congress, 1774-1789, Scrolls from the Dead Sea and Rome Reborn.
And, for the first time, millions of people around the world had new accessibility via Internet and America Online to the larger Library exhibits -- including the 1992 Soviet archives and the 1993 displays of the Columbus quincentenary, Dead Sea Scrolls and Vatican Library. More than 10,000 people "tuned in" to the Scrolls exhibit on America Online alone; more than 80,000 to the Soviet Archives, more than 10K to the vatican Library and more than 10K to the Columbus quincentenary.
Linking the Library and the World. On-line access via Internet to the Library of Congress Information System (LOCIS) became a reality in April 1993. Internet is a vast global network of many interconnected networks with an estimated 20 million users. LOCIS files contain more than 35 million records, including cataloging information, copyright registrations and status of federal legislation. Other Library systems available on Internet provide documents and basic information about the Library's services.
In June the Library enhanced Internet access by implementing LC MARVEL (Machine-Assisted Realization of the Virtual Electronic Library) -- a user-friendly software tool that combines the vast amounts of information available about the Library with easy access to diverse electronic resources over Internet.
Arrearage Reduction. In March 1990 the Library made a commitment to reduce its backlog of unprocessed items by 30 percent by the end of 1993 -- 11.3 million items. The Library surpassed this commitment, three months ahead of schedule, by reducing unprocessed items by 30.8 percent, or 12.2. million items, as of Sept. 30, 1993.
There is more to this story than just the numbers. Numerous innovations in cataloging and other processing operations have yielded substantial gains in productivity and timeliness. For example, enhanced bibliographic workstations have increased copy cataloging and, as a result, cataloger productivity. The Cataloging Directorate, recently reorganized into whole book cataloging teams to improve timeliness, has outstripped its previous three-year average of 246,000 titles cataloged by 15,000 titles.
Arrearage reduction efforts have made available to researchers unique materials, including: the Clare Boothe Luce papers, Civil War drawings by artists and journalists, Spanish Civil War posters and the Aaron Copland Collection. As it pursues arrearage goals for 1994-2000 the Library continues to implement changes in procedures and technology that will increase productivity and throughput.
Secondary Storage. Linked to the Library's arrearage reduction project is the development of a secondary storage site to house newly processed materials and to provide for growth of the collections through the first half of the 21st century. A major milestone was passed when the Military Construction Appropriations Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-110) approved the Library's use of up to 100 acres of land at Fort Meade, Md., for long-term storage needs. Funds appropriated in fiscal 1993 will be used to build the first of several collections storage facilities on the site.
Collections Security. The Library implemented several key aspects of its comprehensive "Plan for Enhancing Collections Security" during fiscal 1993. The installation of electronic theft detection systems at all active pedestrian exits was completed.
Antitheft "targets" were placed in 530,000 volumes in reference collections and high-risk segments of the general collections, as well as in all newly acquired, hardbound volumes. The use of video surveillance cameras was extended to the Law and Manuscript reading Rooms, and orders were placed for cameras to cover three additional reading rooms.
Thanks largely to the closed-stack policy implemented in mid-1992, the not-on-shelf rate for the general collections has dropped more than 4 percent.
Support for the 103rd Congress. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) met the challenge of orienting 129 new members of Congress while at the same time maintaining support for all of the important issues before the legislature.
Orientation for the new members included briefings on issues related to the budget and the economy, defense and foreign affairs, and domestic policy; an introduction to CRS specialists; and courses through the Public Policy Institute on major issues facing the 103rd Congress. CRS staff wrote reports and provided consultations on many diverse issues tied to the North American Free Trade Agreement and prepared Info Packs, which were sent to more than 2,000 requesters in September 1993 alone.
Working closely with members of Congress and committees, CRS kept them informed about the complex issues inherent in various health care alternatives and analyzed the potential impact of each proposed plan. CRS analysts developed a health benefit simulation model, shared with the Congressional Budget Office, to respond to the numerous congressional requests for information on the premium costs of health benefits.
Support for the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress (JCOC). CRS provided extensive help to the Joint Committee: its policy director is a senior CRS specialist, and three experienced Congress specialists were also detailed to the JCOC. Moreover, CRS staff from the Government and American Law divisions provided close support on a broad range of issues.
For example, CRS undertook a major interdisciplinary and interdivisional effort to provide in-depth analyses of options for restructuring the congressional committee system. CRS staff also prepared analyses and briefing materials in preparation for the JCOC's hearings and drafted materials to be included in the JCOC report.
Reports and consultations were provided to the committee on such matters as congressional scheduling, floor procedure, committee structure, the budget process, interchamber cooperation, management, staffing compliance, ethics and conflicts of interest, communications and information technology, relations with the executive and judicial branches and public understanding of Congress. Copyright Reform. The Library worked closely with Congress during 1993 to accommodate legitimate concerns over fair treatment for American authors while at the same time assuring that the Library's acquisitions through copyright registration and mandatory deposit are maintained at least at their present level.
The Library established an Advisory Committee on Copyright Registration and Deposit (ACCORD), chaired jointly by Barbara Ringer, former Register of Copyrights, and Robert Wedgeworth, interim university librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Recommendations developed with ACCORD's help were incorporated into proposed legislation and would provide alternative inducements to registration, improve registration and mandatory deposit systems and provide for a review of the effects of legislative changes on the collections of the Library and the registration system.
A separate legislative proposal also eliminated the Copyright Royalty Tribunal (CRT), transferring its functions to independent ad hoc arbitration panels overseen by the Copyright Office. The Library has incorporated plans to assume this responsibility as part of the fiscal 1995 budget.
Improved Copyright Services. Major progress was made on development of the Copyright Imaging System. Installation of all equipment was completed, and most copyright registration certificates are now produced from images of the original applications captured by the system. Integration of the new image system with the existing Copyright Office work tracking system (COINS) was completed as well. Installation of search workstations for the public and Copyright staff is expected to be completed early in fiscal 1994.
Collections Development and Important New Acquisitions. The Library receives millions of pieces each year, from copyright deposits, from federal agencies and from purchases, gifts and exchanges. The Library took several important steps during fiscal 1993 to be more selective in its acquisitions without compromising quality -- part of the Library's efforts to maintain a universal collection in a time of diminishing resources.
Notable acquisitions during fiscal 1993 include: the John Rubens Smith Collection of almost 700 watercolors documenting the American scene from 1809 to 1844 (the 100 millionth acquisition of the Library); the Italian Americans in the West collection, created by the American Folklife Center; the Women's Music Acquisition Project, a long-term effort inaugurated to acquire by purchase and copyright demand musical works composed and performed by women; and the Truckee River/Pyramid Lake Project Collection, a photo archive dealing with environmental and social issues by photographers Robert Dawson and Peter Goin.
Preservation Improvements. The Library took action during 1993 to improve the preservation of its vast collections by:
- procuring and strategically storing supplies and equipment for use in disaster situations and training staff in disaster response and recovery procedures;
- procuring a state-of-the-art box-making machine to augment and expand its preventive preservation program for the general collections; and
- initiating a series of tests to evaluate deacidification processes.
Blind and Physically Handicapped Program. The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) continued refinement of the national reading program for blind and physically handicapped persons during fiscal 1993.
In the technology area, NLS began a wide-ranging study to evaluate current technology and identify applications to NLS audio products and services. The study includes NLS staff members and participants from sister organizations (e.g., the Royal National Institute for the Blind (UK) and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind) and representatives from consumer groups. In network library service, NLS developed guidelines to improve library services to Native Americans through a 12-member network committee.
Human Resources Efforts. The Library implemented a new merit selection process during fiscal 1993 and put in place a plan to improve its human resources and affirmative action programs.
Major parts of the plan include: expanding the number of affirmative action interns; establishing a leadership development program; upgrading the Office of Affirmative Action and Special Programs; implementing a more effective performance appraisal system for supervisors and managers; filling critical senior management positions including a new senior adviser for diversity; and developing safeguards to ensure equity in the hiring of experts and consultants.
Special Facilities Center. Sept. 20, 1993, marked the culmination of years of hard work: The Little Scholars Child Development Center (LSCDC) opened its doors to a charter class of 40 children. Operated by the Library of Congress Child Care Association (LCCA), the center has a capacity of 100, ranging from infants to preschoolers, and provides child care for employees of the Library and other legislative branch offices. The center offers scholarships to offset a portion of the tuition costs for eligible families.
Following renovation, the remaining part of the Special Facilities Center (the former St. Cecilia's School on Capitol Hill) will be used for training, general assembly and education programs, and temporary living quarters on Capitol Hill for visiting scholars.
Financial Management Improvement Project. During 1993 the Library moved closer to its goal of a modern financial system that complies with the General Accounting Office (GAO) and the Treasury Department accounting and control standards that will ease the preparation of audited financial statements.
On Nov. 30, 1993, the Library purchased the Federal Financial System (FFS), an off-the-shelf software package developed by American Management Systems, and is installing FFS with a planned implementation date of Oct. 1, 1994. FFS will correct problems identified in a GAO audit (requested by Dr. Billington) and will improve accountability to Congress.
Parliamentary Assistance Program. The Congressional Research Service continued to implement the program of the House of Representatives Special Task Force on the Development of Parliamentary Institutions in Eastern Europe, chaired by Rep. Martin Frost (D-Texas).
Since April 1990 the Task Force has provided significant assistance to six Eastern European countries and the three Baltic states; the task force program has trained more than 380 members and parliamentary staff and has provided more than 920 pieces of automation equipment and 6,000 books and serials. These programs are funded outside the legislative branch appropriations process by the Agency for International Development and by private foundations. With the approval of the Joint Committee on the Library, CRS undertook, at the end of September 1993, a similar three-year program of assistance for Ukraine.
All this activity occurred as the Library was forced by growing budget pressures to choose between trimming its on-site services and reducing its services to the nation. Dr. Billington and the LC management team chose to maintain, where they could, services to the nation. The Library, as Dr. Billington has often pointed out, must keep moving into the digital age to meet its responsibilities to gather, organize, catalog, preserve and make widely accessible its collections.
As a result, hours in low-use reading rooms were reduced as were the number of exhibits, displays and published items; foreign interlibrary loans ceased altogether and there were other slowdowns and cutbacks.
Cuts were required because the Library had to absorb some major little-understood costs: price level increases for fiscal 1993 and 1994; a mandated 4.23 percent fiscal 1994 "locality pay" increase as well as general salary reductions equivalent to 256 positions and a $2.6 million budget reduction in fiscal 1994.
Overall, the Library's funding for full-time equivalent (FTE) positions has been cut by 395 since fiscal 1992.
In terms of constant 1994 dollars, LC's budget ($331,864 million) has decreased by $14.8 million (4.3 percent) and its work force has been cut by 573 persons (12 percent) since 1980, even as its workload and its services to the nation have vastly increased, and funds for the technological transition to a digital library are badly needed.
Considering this financial reality, Library managers noted that the institution's gains in 1993 were all the more impressive, and the arguments for sustained support all the more compelling.