ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


C O L L E G E  &  

R E S E A R C H  

L IB R A R IE S

NEWS

No. 8, September L969

ACRL News Issue (A) of College & Research Libraries, Vol. 30, No. 5

P i t t s b u r g h  A d  H o c  C o m m i t t e e  

A g a i n s t  t h e  L i b r a r y  C u t

Students and faculty members of the grad­
uate school of library and information sciences 
of the University of Pittsburgh have formed 
the Pittsburgh Ad Hoc Committee Against the 
Library Cut, to take action in opposition to the 
budget proposal now before Congress which 
would cut federal aid to libraries by 66 per 
cent. Andrew D. Armitage, Chairman, and 
most of the other committee members were 
delegates to the Congress for Change in Wash­
ington, D.C., in June. After returning from 
CFC, the Pitt delegates met with other GSLIS 
students and faculty members and decided to 
organize as a group to act on this issue, one 
which is representative of the questions which 
concerned the Congress for Change.

The Ad Hoc Committee contacted over 300 
Pennsylvania libraries, accredited library schools 
throughout the country, and other interested 
groups, and hopes to attract substantial sup­
port from outside the library profession. The 
Committee has issued a statement detailing 
potential effects of a budget cut on specific 
programs of library service, along with a pe­
tition on which the Committee hopes to obtain 
5,000 signatures. Copies of the petition and a 
list of signers will be sent to members of the 
House and Senate committees and subcommit­
tees through which the relevant sections of the 
appropriations bill must pass. A publicity cam­
paign in the Pittsburgh area and in library 
journals will be accelerated by the Committee 
as action proceeds on the bill.

For this campaign to be successful, it is

necessary to gain the support of a large and 
diverse group of people. Andrew Armitage, 
Chairman of the Pittsburgh group, suggests that 
concerned individuals both within and outside 
the library profession write letters to Congress­
men and Senators, form local groups in their 
own areas, petition Congress, begin publicity 
campaigns to inform the public of the infor­
mational and educational losses to be suffered 
if the proposed budget cut is approved.

For further information contact: Andrew D. 
Armitage, Chairman, Pittsburgh Ad Hoc Com­
mittee Against the Library Cut, 5737 Holden 
Street, Apt. B, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15232. 
Phone: (412) 362-4165 or 621-3500, Ext. 7454.

■ ■

DOWNS AWARD
LeRoy Charles Merritt, dean of the school 

of librarianship at the University of Oregon, is 
recipient of the first Robert B. Downs Award 
for outstanding contribution to intellectual free­
dom in libraries. The $500 award was pre­
sented June 25 at the annual alumni meeting 
of the University of Illinois graduate school of 
library science during the American Library 
Association Convention in Atlantic City.

The U. of I. school of library science is 
sponsor of the awasd, created to honor Robert 
Downs, dean of library administration at the 
U. of I. Urbana-Champaign campus, for his 
stands for freedom from censorship for libraries