ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


W A S H I N G T O N  H O T L I N E by C a r o l C. H e n d e rso n  
D ep u ty  D i r e c t o r

ALA W a s h in g to n  O f f i c e

A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ’ s B ud g et f o r  L i b r a r i e s .  T h e re  he g o e s  a g a i n !  P r e s i d e n t  
R ea g an ’ s f i s c a l  y e a r  1986 b u d g e t w ould o n ce a g a i n ,  f o r  t h e  f o u r t h  y e a r  i n  a 
row, e l i m i n a t e  m ost f e d e r a l  l i b r a r y  p r o g r a m s , i n c l u d i n g  t h e  H ig h e r  E d u c a ti o n  
Act t i t l e  I I  p r o g r a m s . The b u d g e t r e q u e s t s  f o r  p ro g ra m s  o f s p e c i a l  i n t e r e s t  
to  a c a d e m ic  and r e s e a r c h  l i b r a r i a n s  a r e  shown b e lo w :

FY 1985 FY 1986 R eagan
H ig h er E d u c a ti o n  Act

T i t l e  I I - A ,  . c o l l e g e  l i b r a r i e s - 0 - - 0 -
I I - B ,  t r a i n i n g ,  r e s e a r c h $ 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 - 0 -
I I - C ,  r e s e a r c h  l i b r a r i e s 6 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 - 0 -
IV -C , w ork s t u d y 5 9 2 ,5 0 0 ,0 0 0 8 3 0 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 *

(* u p  t o  50% o f  t h i s  c o u ld  be u s e d  f o r  s u p p le m e n t a l  a i d  g r a n t s )
V I, i n t e r n a t i o n a l  e d u c . 2 6 ,5 5 0 ,0 0 0 - 0 -

L i b r a r y  S e r v i c e s  & C o n s t r u c t i o n  A ct
T i t l e  I I I ,  i n t e r l i b .  c o o p e r a t i o n 1 8 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 - 0 -

N a t l .  Com. on L i b s .  & I n f o .  S e i . 7 2 0 ,0 0 0 - 0 -
GPO SuDocs 2 8 ,8 6 8 ,0 0 0 2 8 ,8 6 8 ,0 0 0
L i b r a r y  o f  C o n g re s s 2 3 6 ,0 1 0 ,0 0 0 2 5 3 ,1 2 9 ,0 0 0
N a t i o n a l  L i b r a r y  o f  M e d ic in e 4 7 ,8 7 0 ,0 0 0 4 5 ,1 8 4 ,0 0 0
M ed ic al L i b r a r y  A s s i s t a n c e  A ct 8 ,0 4 0 ,0 0 0 8 ,1 3 6 ,0 0 0
N a t l .  A g r i c u l t u r a l  L i b r a r y 1 1 ,4 0 0 ,0 0 0 1 1 ,1 0 0 ,0 0 0
N a t i o n a l  A r c h iv e s 9 4 ,9 2 5 ,0 0 0 9 9 ,3 6 3 ,0 0 0
N a t l .  H i s t o r i c a l  P u b s . & R eco rd  Com. 4 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 - 0 -
N a t l .  Endowment f o r  H u m a n itie s 1 3 9 ,4 7 8 ,0 0 0 1 2 6 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0
P o s t s e c .  E d u c . Im provem ent Fund 1 2 ,7 1 0 ,0 0 0 - 0 -
P o s t a l  s u b s i d i e s 8 0 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 - 0 -

C o n g r e s s i o n a l  l e a d e r s  a r e  d e t e r m i n e d  t o  c u t  f e d e r a l  b u d g e t d e f i c i t s  o f  
o v e r $200 b i l l i o n ,  so p ro g ra m s p ro p o s e d  f o r  c u t s  o r  e l i m i n a t i o n  i n  t h e  
A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ’ s b u d g e t a r e  a t  r i s k  ev en  i f  t h e y  h av e e n jo y e d  s t r o n g  
c o n g r e s s i o n a l  s u p p o r t  i n  p r e v i o u s  y e a r s .

AT&T P r i v a t e  L in e  T a r i f f s . AT&T C o m m u n icatio n s f i l e d  a new p r i v a t e  l i n e  
t a r i f f  r e q u e s t  w i t h  t h e  F e d e r a l  C o m m u n icatio n s C om m ission on J a n u a r y  18 w i t h  a 
p ro p o s e d  e f f e c t i v e  d a t e  o f M arch 4 . T h ese t a r i f f s  (AT&T-C T a r i f f  FCC N os. 9 , 
10, and 11) w ould c o m p l e t e l y  r e s t r u c t u r e  AT&T p r i v a t e  l i n e  s e r v i c e  f o r  
i n t e r s t a t e  d e d i c a t e d  l e a s e d  l i n e s  s u c h  a s  t h o s e  u s e d  by OCLC, RLG, and WLN f o r  
l i b r a r y  b i b l i o g r a p h i c  d a t a  t r a n s m i s s i o n .

AT&T o f f i c i a l s  h a v e  i n d i c a t e d  t h a t  t h e  new t a r i f f s  w ould c a u s e  s i g n i f i c a n t  
r a t e  i n c r e a s e s  f o r  l i b r a r i e s — s i m i l a r  t o  t h o s e  o f  an e a r l i e r  t a r i f f  p r o p o s e d  
i n  O c to b e r  1983 and s u b s e q u e n t l y  fo u n d  u n l a w f u l  by t h e  FCC. O nly 15 d a y s  w ere 
a llo w e d  f o r  p u b l i c  i n p u t  t o  t h e  FCC on t h e  new t a r i f f s ,  l a t e r  e x te n d e d  t h r e e  
d a y s b e c a u s e  a 3 - d a y  f e d e r a l  h o l i d a y  f o ll o w e d  im m e d ia te ly  a f t e r  t h e  f i l i n g  o f 
th e  t a r i f f s  on a F r i d a y  e v e n i n g .

H ow ever, c u s to m e r  im p a c t d a t a  i n  en o u g h  d e t a i l  t o  e s t i m a t e  t h e  im p a c t 
o f t h e  t a r i f f s  on l i b r a r y  n e tw o r k s  i n  d i f f e r e n t  p a r t s  o f  t h e  c o u n t r y  w i l l  
n o t be a v a i l a b l e  from  AT&T u n t i l  l a t e  i n  F e b r u a r y , lo n g  a f t e r  t h e  e x te n d e d  
d e a d l i n e  o f  F e b r u a r y  7 . ALA, ARL, OCLC, and t h e  N a t i o n a l  A s s o c i a t i o n  o f  S t a t e  
U n i v e r s i t i e s  and Land G ra n t C o l l e g e s  h a v e  r e q u e s t e d  an e x t e n s i o n  o f  t h e  
d e a d l i n e  so t h a t  t h e  l i b r a r y  com m unity c o u ld  p a r t i c i p a t e  m e a n i n g f u l l y  i n  t h e  
FCC p r o c e e d i n g .  As o f  t h e  o f  F e b r u a r y  7 d e a d l i n e ,  t h e  FCC had t a k e n  no a c t i o n  
t o  e x te n d  t h e  d a t e  f u r t h e r ,  so th e  outcom e i s  u n c e r t a i n .