Mr. BRAY. Yes, sir. We encourage that because by and large we believe it is best for the immediate needs of the blind person to be met in his locality. Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Reifel? PERCENTAGE OF BLIND PEOPLE SERVED Mr. REIFEL. I understand that you are serving about 100,000 and there are 400,000, so you reach about 25 percent. Mr. BRAY. That is correct, sir. Mr. REIFEL. Over 50 percent of these are over 65? Mr. BRAY. Sixty years of age or over. Mr. REIFEL. Do you expect this percentage to increase as the longevity continues, or as science cuts down on the number that will go blind as a result of old age? Mr. BRAY. The best information we can get from other sources is that this is going to continue. Just how much it will increase I don't really think anyone knows. I think everyone will agree in the academic sense that the longer you live the more you will just deteriorate generally. Sight is one of those capabilities which declines. Mr. REIFEL. Therefore you have a long way yet to go to bring service to these people? Mr. BRAY. That is right. ABILITY TO COPE WITH WORKLOAD INCREASE Mr. REIFEL. In doing so will you have enough space, equipment, and personnel? Do you have sufficient space, personnel, and equipment at the present moment to meet adequately the demands that are made your particular organization as part of the Library of Congress? Mr. BRAY. Perhaps I should yield the question to Dr. Mumford. Dr. MUMFORD. On the matter of space we are terribly cramped in the quarters which houses the Division for the Blind. That is one of the units we would plan to move to this rental space which we are requesting. As to the machines and the records, as we indicated earlier, we think we are meeting requests rather well. We will need to build more machines in the coming year because this recent inventory has reflected a larger need. I might point out, Mr. Reifel, that it is very unlikely that anywhere near all of the 400,000 blind people will ever take advantage of the service. Many of them are ill or extremely infirm or simply not interested in reading. This is true of sighted people, too, as I indicated before. The average public library may not have more than 25 or 30 percent of sighted people registered for cards to borrow books from the library. Some people are just not interested in reading. As Mr. Bray indicates, however, I think it will continue to increase. There will be a continuing increase each year, but I do not think it will be dramatic in any one year. Mr. REIFEL. Then it is your feeling that this committee is adequately funding your program as you move along and as it continues to expand? Dr. MUMFORD. The committee has certainly responded very well to our requests. As to meeting our needs fully this is relative. As Mr. Bray pointed out, we are producing about 400 titles of books for the talking book machine. The blind people would naturally like to have more titles available to them but we have tried to keep the program within reasonable limitations. SPACE REQUIREMENTS Mr. REIFEL. The rental space that will accommodate this unit, will it be a permanent way in which you will be housed? Dr. MUMFORD. No, sir. This would be for the period until the Madison Memorial Building which has been authorized is constructed. That will be for the next 5 or 6 years. Mr. REIFEL. As far as you can anticipate with respect to demand for these services for the blind, once you get into the James Madison Memorial Library space this program will be adequately housed? Dr. MUMFORD. We would plan to have adequate space there for it. Mr. REIFEL. Turning now to another field, which is the library cards, an item paying for itself and I expect you will continue to require additional space, personnel, and equipment; will this also find adequate space in the proposed third building when it is completed? Dr. MUMFORD. Yes, sir. Our present plans are to bring the card distribution service to the new building, the Madison Building. As I indicated previously, we would hope to retain this space at the Naval Weapons Plant for some purposes. I think the Card Distribution Service would be more efficient, I know it could be more efficiently handled, if it were near the other two buildings. That is our present plan. Mr. REIFEL. If that plan is continued then you will have plenty of space for the blind program and also for the card distribution? Dr. MUMFORD. Yes, for the present and for quite a number of years of growth, as we indicated in our request for the Madison Memorial Building. Mr. REIFEL. Thank you, Dr. Mumford. I want to express my appreciation, along with the other members, for this excellent presentation with respect to the service to the blind. Each time you have appeared before us I have seen a new avenue which has been encouraging and I sit here thinking what if my eyes were closed and I could not see, I get a feeling that you are doing the best you can to serve me if I were in this handicapped condition. Thank you very much. Mr. BRAY. Thank you, Mr. Reifel. BRAILLE PROGRAM Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Bray, has your talking book program and your tape recording program had any effect on the Braille program? Has it decreased interest in the Braille program? Mr. BRAY. I don't believe it has, Mr. Chairman. The number of Braille readers has increased gradually, not as rapidly as those who read by listening. This is due to the fact, that in order to be able to read Braille, you first have to learn how. Mr. ANDREWS. I was going to ask how a blind person learns Braille. Who teaches it? Mr. BRAY. A child will be taught to read Braille in school. This would be either in a residential school with other blind children or in public school through special instruction. A blind adult is most often taught Braille by a home teacher or counselor who may visit the home of the blind person, or during his tour of rehabilitation, he will be taught Braille in a State center along with other adjustment skills. Mr. ANDREWS. You do not anticipate any decrease in your Braille program because of the tape? Mr. BRAY. No, sir. In a way your question relates to Mr. Langen's concern about broadening the program. I and my professional assistants make a deliberate effort to work with the superintendents of schools, teachers in the schools, parents, librarians, and others to advise them of recreational reading. It is our belief that a student whose Braille experience is limited to textbook or required reading, will lose interest in reading Braille if he does not also get a little reading for fun, just as you and I would read less if all we were able to obtain were textbooks. Mr. ANDREWS. Thank you, Mr. Bray, for a thorough and interesting Mr. ANDREWS. Now we come to page 131 of the committee print, 180 of the justifications. We will pick up the program for papers of the Presidents. You have a budget request for $112,800. This budget proposes to continue the $112,800 heretofore appropriated for preparing and copying the papers of the President. We shall insert page 181. (P. 181 follows:) SALARIES AND EXPENSES, ORGANIZING AND MICROFILMING THE PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GENERAL STATEMENT For fiscal year 1967, $112,800 is requested, the same amount requested for fiscal year 1966. This amount is required to continue a staff of 15, which will concentrate on indexing, to provide master negative microfilms and positive service copies of the material arranged and indexed, to publish indexes by photo-offset in editions of 1,000 copies each, and for incidental expenses. Of the 23 Presidents whose papers the Library has, all work on 17 Presidents (Washington, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Van Buren, W. H. Harrison, Tyler, Taylor, Pierce, Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Arthur, Cleveland, B. Harrison, McKinley, and Coolidge) comprising 612,434 manuscripts will be completed by the end of fiscal year 1966. During fiscal year 1967 work will proceed on the remaining 6 Presidential collections (Jefferson, Polk, Garfield, T. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson) comprising 1,551,163 manuscripts. Of these partially completed collections 324,435 pieces have been completely processed, leaving some 1,226,728 pieces partially processed and on which work will continue. Mr. ANDREWS. $112,800 was appropriated for this project for fiscal 1966? Dr. MUMFORD. Yes, sir. Mr. ANDREWS. How much of that amount has been spent to date? Mr. ROSSITER. Each year we have been spending the $112,800. This money is available until expended. In some years we have carried over a few thousand dollars but it has always been used in the following year. PROGRESS IN COMPLETING THE WORK Mr. ANDREWS. Dr. Mumford, is this program moving along at what you consider the optimum rate or could it move faster and more economically? 63-051-66—20 Dr. MUMFORD. I think the answer to the first question is "Yes," it is moving along as well as we can move it. It involves, as you know and as indicated here, the organizing and the indexing and the microfilming of the papers. Through our years of experience we have found ways of speeding it up and we are moving faster now than we were some time ago. Mr. ANDREWS. How many more years do you expect this to be with you? Dr. MUMFORD. It is estimated approximately 4 years to complete. As this page indicates, we have completed the work on the papers of 17 of the Presidents and done considerable work on the remaining 6. The remaining six constitute a larger bulk of papers than some of the earlier Presidents. Mr. ANDREWS. What does a completed index and positive copy of a set of these papers look like? Is it a series of volumes? Dr. MUMFORD. No; it is on microfilm, and other libraries may purchase positive copies of the microfilm, or they may borrow on interlibrary loan a portion, or all, of the particular President's papers. SALE OF PAPERS Mr. ANDREWS. How many sales have you made? Dr. MUMFORD. I haven't that handy. I can get it, Mr. Chairman. (The information follows:) Mr. ANDREWS. Does that money go into the Treasury? Dr. MUMFORD. This goes into the revolving fund for photo duplicating service. It is a self-supporting operation. NUMBER OF PERSONNEL Mr. ANDREWS. How many people are working on this program? Dr. MUMFORD. Fifteen. Mr. ANDREWS. Do you plan to continue that staff at that level for the next fiscal year? Dr. MUMFORD. Yes, sir. |