The commission, which has 12 new members, recently set three goals on which it would target its limited resources: “to appraise library and information services provided to the American people; to strengthen the relevance of libraries and information science in the lives of the American people; and to promote research and development for extending and improving library and information services for the American people.”
The report describes initiatives the commission has taken to achieve these goals, including studying how libraries can serve as the emergency preparedness and disaster response center for their communities, looking at the role of libraries in providing consumer health information, identifying ways library services for older people can be improved, appraising the quality of current library and information resources and library and information science programs and determining how they can be improved, and disseminating information on the relationship between school libraries and educational improvement.
NCLIS Chair Beth Fitzsimmons noted that the report also provides general information on the commission’s needs. “The commission’s present challenge is funding,” she said, “since appropriation funding is insufficient to support the commission’s work. We must now identify strategic partners, sponsors, and other collaborating organizations to work with the commission. This document gets the word out.”
Posted February 25, 2005.