Catalog Publications Section: 1 GS-7 2 GS-3 1 GS-3 Assistant editor for the National Union Catalog_- 6, 261 8, 278 4, 139 Mr. ANDREWS. How quick is your service? What is your objective in that connection? Mr. WELSH. Our objective is about a 1-week schedule, 1 week from the time we receive the order until we fill it. We are now operating at about a 2-week schedule. Mr. ANDREWS. What is the record in the past? One week? Mr. ANDREWS. How long have you been operating on a schedule of 2 weeks' delivery? Mr. WELSH. About 5 months, sir. Mr. ANDREWS. Do you think the 39 new positions will get you back where you can make delivery in a week's time? Mr. WELSH. We are not at all confident of that, sir. The 39 was predicated on a normal increase in business. This unprecedented increase will probably not permit us to return to a 1-week schedule. Mr. ANDREWs. Mr. Langen? Mr. LANGEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just one or two questions. IMPACT OF FEDERAL AID ON CARD DEMAND I noted your reference to the possible increase in demand for cards with the enactment of the program of Federal aid to libraries. Is this anticipated increase tied to more libraries or the greater participation of the existing libraries? Dr. MUMFORD. It could be some of both, but mostly the latter. With the Federal aid to libraries, they are able to buy more books. There is provision for the purchase of materials and they need catalog cards for them. We have felt some of this impact already, and we probably will feel it more. Mr. Lorenz, the Deputy Librarian, may be able to speak more to the point of whether new libraries will be established under these programs. Mr. LORENZ. Yes. Dr. MUMFORD. And I think some new services will be provided. Mr. LORENZ. There will be both, particularly in the field of school libraries. There is now $100 million for assistance to school libraries, particularly for the purchase of books. With these funds, many more elementary school libraries will be established for the first time. They will be buying large collections to stock those libraries originally. Then others, mainly secondary school libraries, will be adding to their collections substantially. I would agree with Mr. Welsh that we have not really begun to feel the full impact of this program. NUMBER OF LIBRARIES SERVICED Mr. LANGEN. How many libraries throughout the country do you service now? Mr. WELSH. In 1965, there were 17,000 subscribers. We added 1,382 so far this fiscal year. So, there are now 18,382 subscribers. Mr. LANGEN. Are there any libraries that do not rely on your service? Mr. WELSH. Yes, sir. Mr. LANGEN. How many of those are there? Mr. WELSH. I do not know. Mr. LORENZ. It would be a relatively small percentage of the larger libraries, I would say. Dr. MUMFORD. Some of the larger libraries subscribe to what we call our proofsheets, and from those proofsheets they reproduce their own cards, if they need them in large volume, by multilithing them on the local premises. Mr. LORENZ. In addition, there is new Federal legislation for college and university libraries and specifically funds for book additions to those libraries. This legislation is just about to be funded for the first time. So, there will be the impact of that new legislation as well. Mr. LANGEN. I appreciate that. However, my concern centers around the libraries that you are not now servicing with either a card file or the information relating to the volume of books, and so on. The chances are that this is where the greatest library need is. In looking at the possibilities for expansion, I am just wondering whether this means expansion in the areas that are probably not as well served as they ought to be or are in areas that are pretty well served, library wise. The areas that are not served would seem to me to be the areas where the expansion should come. I am surprised, frankly, to find that nobody knows how many libraries there are that are not served. This, to me, is the important part of the whole program. Dr. MUMFORD. The service is available to all libraries. Mr. LANGEN. Wo ought to be making a serious attempt to reach them, somehow. Dr. MUMFORD. Sir, the service is available to all libraries, but it is optional on their part whether they purchase cards. A large public library system that may need 75 cards for many branches may feel it is more economical for them to reproduce the cards from our proofsheets than to buy them directly from us. We do not lack business because of that. We are receiving something like 58,000 orders a day. Mr. LORENZ. A good deal of this, too, will rely on improved State and local supervision of libraries, guiding local libraries in the best use of their funds and most efficient kind of service. With the improvement of State and local supervision, which is also provided for under this legislation, I would predict that many more school libraries will be made aware of the services that are obtainable from the Library of Congress. Mr. LANGEN. This leads me right back to the same question. When you say you predict many more will, how many more? If so, what percentage will that be of those that are left that are not now availing themselves of that service? This, to me, seems to be the really important area for the expansion of the Library service. I am just wondering whether we are reaching it. Does not anybody know how many libraries there are in the country? Dr. MUMFORD. There are approximately 7,500 public libraries in the United States, many of which have numerous branches. We have about 2,200 college and university library systems. Then there are nearly 4,000 special libraries, some 4,000 county, State, and other libraries, and nearly 50,000 school libraries. Not including school libraries, it is estimated that there are approximately 17,000 libraries in the United States. The point, Mr. Langen, is I do not think there is a library in the country that does not know about our catalog card service. The fact that they are not using it is because, for one reason or another, they would rather make their own cards. Mrs. HAMER. There are regular, established ways of publicizing the card numbers and therefore the service. When a new book is listed in Publishers Weekly, the catalog card number is published in the list. This is notice that the service is available. Any librarian ordering a listed book knows that the catalog card may be obtained and what its number is. Thus he can order the cards by number, which, as Mr. Welsh pointed out earlier, is cheaper than ordering by author and title. Most libraries use such lists as those in Publishers Weekly, the Wilson Standard Catalog Series, the Cumulative Book Index, and the American Library Association Booklist, the Library Journal Advance Reviews. Mr. WELSH. Also the American Book Publishing Record. Mrs. HAMER. And it is now possible for libraries to get a kind of package deal. In addition to servicing individual libraries with catalog cards, we make sets of catalog cards available to many book wholesalers so that when a small library, for example, wants to order from a wholesaler-and this is the way most of them get their books-that library can get its catalog cards right along with the books. This package deal is a great convenience. We developed this system to make it easier for libraries to cut their costs and to give them notice that they can get the cards immediately. REASON FOR LIBRARIES NOT USING SERVICE Mr. LANGEN. Is there any indication of why some libraries do not use your services? Dr. MUMFORD. The main reason, I think, is the one I indicated. They may need the cards in such large volumes that they may take the record from our proof sheets and reproduce it more cheaply than they could buy the cards directly. Mr. WELSH. Continuing the point Mrs. Hamer just made, there are 62 wholesalers or jobbers that purchase cards from us in sets and distribute the sets with the books. We do not know exactly what impact this has had upon the library community, but we can be certain it is a very large impact. As Mrs. Hamer also pointed out, Publishers Weekly prints not only the Library of Congress card number but enough bibliographic information to suit the needs of some of the smaller libraries. Possibly libraries that are not subscribing to our service are benefiting from these tools for which we provide cataloging data. Mr. LANGEN. When you refer to this commercial service, what is the cost of this commercial service compared to the cost of subscribing to your service? Mr. WELSH. Some of the wholesalers buy the cards from us and distribute them without cost. Some charge a very nominal amount, primarily to cover their handling costs. With respect to the Publishers Weekly to which reference was made, libraries are getting cataloging information without cost. They are subscribing to a weekly publication which announces worldwide the availability of the commercial output. I do not recall what the price of it is, but it is nominal. TEMPORARY HELP Mr. LANGEN. You made some reference to temporary help. Have you been using temporary help in the past several years? Mr. WELSH. Yes, sir. Mr. LANGEN. How many? Mr. WELSH. We have 33 at the moment, sir. Mr. LANGEN. You have temporary help the year round? Mr. WELSH. Yes, sir. There is no longer any seasonal slowdown in this operation. As a matter of fact, we have a staff that works on Saturdays, and it probably would be to our advantage either to have a second shift or at least to have staff working on Sundays as well as Saturdays. Mr. LANGEN. What is the advantage of using temporary help if it is a year-round proposition? Would not permanent help who become accustomed to the job serve as well? Mr. WELSH. We put those on from the contingency fund. If we are granted the jobs that we are requesting, we will take some of the temporary help and make them permanent. Mr. ANDREWS. You told us you had 400 people employed today. Mr. WELSH. I thought the question related to budgeted jobs, of which we have a total of 400. Including the temporary jobs, we have a total of 433. Mr. ANDREWS. I was going to ask you about the 33. So, you have 433-400 regularly budgeted and 33 temporaries? Mr. WELSH. Yes, sir. Mr. LANGEN. You stated the reason for the temporary help is the contingency fund. That does not seem to be a very good reason. Mr. ROSSITER. In the language it says we can expend this money "only to the extent necessary to provide for expenses (excluding permanent personnel services) for workload increases not anticipated in the budget estimates and which cannot be provided for by normal budgetary adjustments." Mr. LANGEN. It might well be that is what it states. I still raise the question whether that is the proper approach and whether or not permanent employees would serve the cause if they literally serve the purpose of a permanent employee. Mr. WELSH. They do serve the purpose of a permanent employee. The amount of turnover, however, is exceedingly high in this operation at the lower level. When permanent jobs become available, the best of the temporary personnel are put into the permanent jobs. It has not proven to be a handicap. However, this is the first year of this contingency fund. Mr. LANGEN. Is there a difference in the pay rate of the temporary and permanent employees? Mr. WELSH. No, sir. Mr. LANGEN. They would receive the same pay? Mr. WELSH. Yes, sir. Mr. LANGEN. It tends to distort the picture by virtue of the fact that, as the chairman just revealed, instead of there being 400, the figure is actually 433 who do serve the purpose of permanent employees. That is all, Mr. Chairman. Mr. ANDREWs. Mr. Reifel. Mr. REIFEL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I find the well-prepared chairman asked practically all the pertinent questions. Then the ranking minority Member, the gentleman from Minnesota, asked the rest of them. It does not leave me much to add. That is the way it should be. So, I haven't any questions for the record. (Off the record.) Mr. ANDREWS. Any other questions about the card section? BOOK CATALOGS Mr. WELSH. In addition to the card service, we do, of course, print book catalogs, which provide data for acquisition, reference, and bibliographic information about items that the Library may not own. These are distributed widely, too, and serve a great need. Mr. ANDREWS. Are they sold? Mr. WELSH. Yes, sir. Mr. ANDREWS. The same price? Mr. WELSH. The price is based, again, on cost plus 10 percent. |