Hedge Reszetar, Mary Alice

English

DigitalCommons@URI

University of Rhode IslandDigitalCommons@URIWhite House Conference on Library andInformation Services: Early Stages (1979-1985)Education: National Endowment for the Arts andHumanities, Subject Files I (1973-1996)1985White House Conference on Library andInformation Services: Early Stages (1979-1985):Memorandum 02Mary Alice Hedge ReszetarFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/pell_neh_I_87This Memorandum is brought to you for free and open access by the Education: National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, Subject Files I(1973-1996) at DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted for inclusion in White House Conference on Library and Information Services: EarlyStages (1979-1985) by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@etal.uri.edu.Recommended CitationHedge Reszetar, Mary Alice, "White House Conference on Library and Information Services: Early Stages (1979-1985):Memorandum 02" (1985). White House Conference on Library and Information Services: Early Stages (1979-1985). Paper 15.http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/pell_neh_I_87/15• National Commission on Libraries and Information Science August 8, 1985 MEMORANDUM To: WHCPDG Members From: Mary Alice Hedge Reszetar, Associate Director Re: Draft Timelines for the 1989 White House Conference Attached is a draft of timelines that must be met in order to ·have the Conference as presently envisioned with an approximate three-year total life-span. For planning purposes, it appears we will need to have the bill signed into law and an appropriation in place no later than June, 1987, which is twenty-seven months prior to the October 1989 Conference. Please note that Phase III (close out) begins immediately after the 1989 White House Conference, so that eight month period is not for work leading up to the Conference. Please review this thoughtfully as we will be discussing this draft on August 21. Your ideas and comments will be welcomed. We will be having a working lunch on August 21st. The Commission will be covering the meeting room rental charge but you will need to bring $21.00 in cash for the lunch and for beverages in the morning and afternoon. We got the cheapest, most decent food they offered. I will count you in unless I hear from you to the contrary by Thursday, August 15. We'll see you soonll GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION BUILDING 7TH & D STREETS, S.W., SUITE 3122 • WASHINGTON, D.C. 20024 (202) 382-0840 DRAFT August 8, 1985 Tirnelines for the 1989 White House Conference October 15, 1985 - Deadline for having key Senators and Members of the House co-sponsor S.J. Res. 112 and H.J. Res. 244 November, 1985 - Senate Hearings * Note below by early March, 1986 - House Hearings by late March, 1986 - House and Senate committees report bills out for votes. early April, 1986 - House and Senate Conference (National Library Week, April 6-12, 1986) rt passed and signed by May, 1986, go for inclusion in regular appropriations bill. No later than September, 1986J have the bill passed by Congress and signed by the President. September, 1986, go for a year-end supplemental if we did not get in the regular appropriations bill. (Bills die if not passed before the end of 1986. They would have to be reintroduced in new Congress). June, 1987 begin Phase I (6 months) December, 1987, begin Phase II (21 months) preconferences in states October, 1989 - National White House Conference on Library and Information Services, Washington, D.C. October, 1989 begin Phase III (8 months) close out May 31, 1990 closed out Note - The following twenty states (40% of all states) have biennial state budgets and will have to begin their state authorizing and appropriations processes no later than 1986 if they are going to get state money to assist with their Governor's Conference: Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wiconsin, Wyoming. For example: Minnesota's legislature will not meet again for budget purposes until 1987 - this will be very tight if their state conference is to be in 1988. White House Conference Preliminary Design Group (WHCPDG) ~eeting summary, July 8, 1985, State of Illinois Building, Chicago, Illinois. Summary prepared by ~ary Alice Hedge Reszetar, NCLIS Associate Director and NCLIS Liaison to WHCPDG Chairman Bill Asp welcomed the Design Group members and outlined the goals of this meeting: 1. Appoint panel members for the WHCLIST meeting in September, 2. Subcommittees meet and report, 3. Subcommittees receive advice and recommendations from the Design Group as a whole, 4. Set Design Group work schedule, 5. Set future meetings dates and places New members were recognized and welcomed: Lotsee Patterson Smith (Texas), Comanche Indian, Associate Professor, School of Library Science, Texas Womens University, Regional WHCLIST Representative for American Indians: Amanda Williams (California), former president of the Board of Trustees of the Berkely Public Library, California Representative to WHCLIST and lay delegate to the 1979 White House Conference and, as an ex officio member, Robert L. Chartrand, Senior Specialist in Information Policy and Technology, Office of Senior Specialists, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., ~ember 1979 Advisory Committee to the White House Conference. ~ember absent: Gordon Ambach. Bridget Lamont gave a short history of the building in which we were meeting. Thanks were expressed to Bridget for making the arrangements for us to meet in the Secretary of State's Conference Room. The Urban Libraries Council's 1989 White House Conference Liaison, Frances Naftalin, was welcomed. It was reported that the American Library Trustees Association and the Public Library Association have also appointed 1989 White House Conference Liaisons. Other groups are working on appointing 1989 White House Conference Liaisons. These liaisons will be used to communicate with the groups they represent when they are identified to us. The June 1st issue of Library Journal spotlighted the work of our Design Group in articles by Charles Benton, Elinor Hashim and Barbara Cooper. These articles have generated many supportive and helpful comments. Senator Claiborne Pell (RI) and Congressman William Ford (~!CH) have introduced companion bills (Senate Joint Resolution 112 and House Joint Resolution 244) calling for a 1989 White House Conference on Library and Information Sevices. You have been sent copies of these bills and the statements which appeared in the Congressional Record. ~ary Alice sent all WHCPDG members the packet of information developed for the White House Conference on Small Business. This information will be useful to each of our subcommittees. Chairman Asp reported that more than 1000 letters were sent out to friends, colleagues and professional and trade associations in the library and information community summarizing the Design Group's charge, actions to date, and asking for ideas and comments. Since there was a delay at NCLIS offices in mailing the letters, due to the revision of their mailing lists, there have been only 20 responses so far. Copies of these responses have been circulated to all WHCPDG members. The responses reflect a wide spectrum of ideas and comments, people are offering to be of assistance; they are excited at the prospect of the 89 Conference; they want to be involved and to be of help even at this early stage. There is a desire to see a more focused Conference with a wider spread of people involved. The hope is expressed that there will be greater flexibility in terms of how the conferences will operate. The subcommittees reviewed the comments and suggestions in the letters which related to their subcommittee charges. For the August 21st meeting, Bob Chartrand and his staff at the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress will be working on a report which will bring together information on all White House Conferences held since our 1979 White House Conference, including information relating particularly to the the four topics that our Design Group's final report is to include. For each of the other White House Conferences, information will be presented on : 1. Composition of conference advisory committees; 2. Conference design, scope and focus; 3. How the conference was financed; and 4. The time schedule of events leading to the conferences. In addition, the report will include brief evaluative information. It will also be noted what was judged successful and what was judged unsuccessful in these conferences. It will be determined by the members of the Design Group as to whether these reports will be addendums to our report to the Commission. - 2 -By October 1st, Bob Chartrand, working with Joseph Becker, will prepare a short summary of how best to proceed with revising the 1975 Toward a National Program for Library and Information Services: Goals for Action and how that revision will be integrated into the 1989 White House Conference process. It will be important to have a revised document as part of the preparation for the 1989 White House Conference. By early November, Bob Chartrand will report on what he perceives will be the five most important emerging pivotal issues in the library and information arena in 1989. He will also summarize other related emerging major issues. Wayne Johnson reported on the Subcommittee on Appointments to Advisory Committee meeting. They concentrated on developing two documents: The first is a position description for all members of the Advisory Committee which lets the appointing authorities know the kind of commitment they need from the people they hope to appoint and to let the prospective appointees know their responsibilities before they accept the appointment. The second document divides the country into regions so there will be a geographical spread. Wayne Johnson will mail out copies of their recommendations since they are currently in rough draft form. Charles Benton reported for Gordon Ambach on the Subcommittee on Planning Timelines. We looked at the original PERT chart which was proposed in 1972 covering a 61 month period for the White House Conference to be held in September 1976, which Gordon Ambach had adapted to current years. The subcommittee reviewed a packet of materials ~ary Alice had found in going through the old, chaotic White House Conference files. The 35 month timeline which had been developed was in three phases: Phase 1 (approximately 6 months) there would first be regional planning conferences in each of the 10 federal regions to establish initial guidelines for state conferences. In this phase, the appointed advisory committee would be organized and plans made for its operation; recruit, hire and develop core staff to support this phase and to continue throughout the conference activity; develop and test systems for program, financial, and management control; develop 3-year plans for state and national conferences. Phase 2 (approximately 21 months) would see the staff increased to assist with state and regional meetings; distribute and implement instructional materials for state and territorial meetings; prepare and distribute necessary program materials, research documents, study results, satistical analyses, etc. to participants and observers; hold the 57 state-territorial conferences and special preconferences and receive the recommendations from each; continue the planning effort adapting - 3 -the national conference plans to the results coming from the state conferences; prepare documentation for the national conference and its delegates; hold the White House Conference. Phase 3 (approximately 8 months) would reduce the staff to those needed for editorial, financial and management functions; complete all financial activity and audit the accounts; prepare and issue proceedings of the conferences and transmit them to the President and Congress; summarize and analyze the conference recommendations, publish them and prepare for necessary action; transmit the recommendations to the President and Congress with a program and timetable for implementation; integrate the recommendations into the ongoing activities of NCLIS; terminate the official conference activity. The subcommittee asked ~ary Alice to develop a timeline beginning with an October 1989 White House Conference date, working backwards, incorporating drop-dead dates that have to be met in order to have the conference at that time. This will have to take into consideration the 20 states which have legislatures that meet only every other year since they need adequate lead time to go through the authorizing and appropriating process and to take into account the Congressional authorizing and appropriating processes. Also critical is the determination by the Department of Education that LSCA funds for planning can be used in the White House conference process. Efforts will be made to secure the timelines for foundation grants. The White House Conference process should be looked at carefully to develop fundable packages which will appeal to various foundations. There was discussion of a Library and Information Services Fair with an Information Center component which had been proposed for the 1979 Conference to demonstrate available services as well as future possibilities, exhibits of innovative resources and equipment -- books, print and nonprint audiovisual materials, films, tape cassettes, TV, cable and satellite transmissions and video recordings -- which was to be planned, combining the expertise and experience of authors and publishers, producers and performers, librarians and educators. The public-at-large was to be invited to participate, experimenting with dial acccess, data transmissions from local libraries and computer appications. It was envisioned that the staff of the Today Show or A~ America would consider doing their daily news and general information program from the fair site during the week of the White House Conference. Sesame Street, the Electric Company and 1-2-3-Contact could be telecast with live performers and puppeteers available for personal appearances and question and answer sessions. The Information Center which was at the 1979 Conference was very successful but because of lack of time, the bigger idea could not be implemented. The Information Center at the annual meeting of - 4 -the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) in August 1985 evolved out of the successful Information Center at the 1979 White House Conference. Bruce Daniels outlined the work of the Subcommittee on Conference Scope, Focus and Financing. The charge to this conunittee is: l.To prepare alternative conference designs which include scope and focus of the conference, 2. Develop budget estimates for different alternatives, 3. Develop alternatives for financing the conference. They have established the following draft work plan: 1. Establish preliminary assumptions as to what the Second White House Conference process is to accomplish at national, state and local levels - June 1985. 2. Decide scope and focus of conference (there may be several alternatives) - June 1985. 3. Develop alternative conference designs - June - July 1985. 4. Report alternatives to Preliminary Design Conunittee - July -August 1985 5. Develop budget estimates for the Conference Process - July -August 1985. 6. Develop alternatives for financing the Conference process -July - August 1985. 7. Present recomendations to the Preliminary Design Comittee -August - September 1985. The subconunittee had general discussions about format, finance and issues. They feel the state conferences should be issue oriented and that the issues should be established early on. They feel that the issues should "bubble-up" instead of being imposed from top down. The thrust should pe "What is the role of libraries in the early 21st Century." There should be flexiblility about the state conferences. Bruce will mail out a draft report before the August 21st meeting. There was discussion by the full Design Group that one of the reconunendations of the WHCPDG to the 28 member Advisory Committee to the White House Conference might be that they create a group, at the very beginning, of Liaisons from all the organizations and associations similar to the "Organization of Organizations" at the 1979 White House Conference. There was discussion about circulating drafts of the WHCPDG final report for conunent to the people who have sent in responses to the "Dear Colleague" letter or whether NCLIS should widely circulate for conunent the final report of the WHCPDG after it has been received by the Commission. This will be discussed further in future meetings. - 5 -The Design Group determined that the following members should represent the WHCPDG at the 6th Annual WHCLIST meeting on the panel session to be held Saturday morning, September 14, 1985 from 8:30 - 10:00 a.m. in Princeton, New Jersey: Federal -Gordon Ambach; State - Bridget Lamont; Local - Bruce Daniels. The next meeting of the WHCPDG will be Wednesday, August 21st at the O'Hare ~arriott Hotel, 8535 West Higgins Road, Chicago, from 10:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. The meeting room will be posted in the hotel lobby. This will allow WHCPDG members to fly in and out on the same day to cut down on their expenses. The October 22 meeting will be in New Orleans immediately preceding the meeting of the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA). - 6 -

White House Conference on Library and Information Services: Early Stages (1979-1985): Memorandum 02

https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&amp;context=pell_neh_I_87

White House Conference on Library and Information Services: Early Stages (1979-1985): Memorandum 02

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

DigitalCommons@URI