The Section Head would be a specialist in children's literature, would plan the activities, give high level reference and research services, act as recommending officer for children's books, coordinate the Library's program with other agencies' needs, and work with interested organizations and institutions to improve services in this field.

The reference librarian and bibliographer would give reference services in person, by telephone, and by correspondence, prepare bibliographies, help scan national bibliographies, and perform searching to identify gaps in the collections for the purpose of acquisitions recommendations.

The editorial clerk-typist would give clerical support to the Section, answering the telephone, serving as receptionist, typing reference letters and bibliographies,

etc.

BACKGROUND STATEMENT

The desirability of the establishment of a Children's Book Section in the Library of Congress has been recognized for over a decade. However, in the face of other urgent staffing needs, no request was made to the Congress for positions for this purpose during that time.

Children's and school librarians have been asking the Library of Congress to establish such a Section since 1944 when a Joint Committee on Children's Books in the Library of Congress was established by the American Association of University Women and the Association for Childhood Education International. In 1951 this joint committee raised a small sum of money for a study of the collection of children's books in the Library of Congress which resulted in a strong recommendation in 1952 to establish such an activity. During recent years, meetings have been held by the Library staff with members of this same joint committee to discuss steps that might be taken. In 1959 the Children's Services Division of the American Library Association passed a resolution urging the establishment of a National Research Center in Children's Literature at the Library of Congress. In addition, letters have been received from all over the country urging the Library to request funds to support a Children's Book Section.

The Library was able to engage the services of an honorary consultant in children's literature for 3 years who made valuable recommendations for the acquisition of children's books. However, without additional staff, the Library of Congress is unable to implement any of the recommendations for service on children's books recommended by the many people in the Nation who consider this of vital concern.

Dr. MUMFORD. There has been very great interest in this throughout the country on the part of people who are concerned with research in respect to children's books: children's and school librarians, the people in government who are concerned with programs for children, the American Association of University Women, the Association for Childhood Education International, the Children's Book League, the Children's Library Division of the American Library Association, and other organizations and individuals.

There is no one place in the country where there is a comprehensive collection of children's books, and it is felt that the Library of Congress should assemble an extensive collection and have someone who can provide expert advice and asistance in the use of it.

As this justification indicates, since 1944 children's and school librarians have been asking the Library of Congress to establish such a Section. A Joint Committee on Children's Books of the American Association of University Women and the Association for Childhood Education International raised a small sum of money for a study of the collection of children's books in the Library of Congress and made recommendations in 1952 to establish such an activity, and they have continued to voice the strong need for this kind of a research center on children's books for illustrators, writers, publishers, government agencies, and so on.

Mr. STEED. You ask for three positions and $22,745 to inaugurate this program. Is it the sort of thing that would be fairly static, or is

it something that would be expected to expand after you got it into being?

Dr. MUMFORD. I should think we could operate for a considerable period of time with this setup as outlined here. The three positions would provide a specialist in children's literature who would be in charge of the section, and the functions that person, a reference librarian and bibliographer, and a clerk-typist would perform are outlined. Mr. HORAN. Mr. Chairman, may I ask: How critical is this?

Dr. MUMFORD. It is not so easy for us to evaluate the need except as it is conveyed to us by groups and individuals who do feel strongly that there is a need in the country for a national center for research on children's literature.

Mr. STEED. Is it not true in recent years there has been an unprecedented increase in the amount of books and publications for children generally?

Dr. MUMFORD. There has been a great deal more emphasis on children's books in the last few decades, and in recent years particularly, than there was formerly, and also on the quality of the books, their format, illustrations, and what they convey. For instance, reference was made in the preliminary statement to the teaching of science. Children's books today, many of them, are in the area of science to stimulate and appeal to the child's interest in science.

Mr. ALFORD. The textbooks are included in another section, are they not, teaching material and so on?

Dr. MUMFORD. We do not acquire elementary textbooks comprehensively.

Mr. COFFIN. We select a representative sampling

Dr. MUMFORD. Mr. Chairman, may I go off the record?

Mr. STEED. Yes.

(Discussion off the record.)

Mr. ALFORD. I could readily understand, Mr. Chairman, how it could be important for an institution like the Library of Congress to have a Children's Section.

Mr. STEED. I am favorably impressed with the fact there is such a tremendous amount of material in this field and I can see how it would be very desirable on the part of people interested in it to have the material in a better setup.

Mr. HORAN. I can see how people could argue on either side of it.

NEW POSITIONS

REFERENCE WORKLOAD INCREASE

Mr. STEED. We go to the next item, "To augment the staff of the Bibliography and Reference Correspondence Section, the Telephone Inquiry Unit of the Reference Section, and the Administration Section of the General Reference and Bibliography Division due to increased workload." You want three positions at $16,013.

Would you make some comment about what the problem is here? Dr. MUMFORD. May I ask Dr. Basler to summarize this? This is in his department.

Dr. BASLER. This is a request for handling an increased workload which has built up. The justifications, beginning on page 41 and continued on page 42, cover the details of the request here. Basically it is for handling increased workloads, and if you would like to have the details in the record I think these pages might be inserted.

Mr. STEED. We will make pages 41 and 42 a part of the record. (The pages follow:)

To augment the staff of the Bibliography and Reference Correspondence Section, the Telephone Inquiry Unit of the Reference Section, and the Administration Section of the General Reference and Bibliography Division due to increased workload:

New positions requested

1 GS-9 Reference librarian, Bibliography and Reference and Correspondence Section..

1 GS-5 Reference assistant, Telephone Inquiry Unit, Public Reference Section

1 GS-4

Editorial clerk, administrative office......

$6, 448

4,347 4, 056

One new position of reference librarian, GS-9, is requested to cope with the workload relating to handling a constantly increasing volume of mail. There has been no staff increase in the Bibliography and Reference Correspondence Section for this particular work during the last 10 years in which time there has been a 63-percent increase in reference mail received for assignment in the Library with only one person to handle it. This has necessitated the detailing of staff members away from their important, assigned duties on bibliographic projects or reference work.

One new position of reference librarian, GS-5, for the Telephone Inquiry Unit, is requested to assist in handling the many calls asking questions which may be answered by consulting city and telephone directories, or referring the caller to a public or school library. During several hours each day, telephone calls are so frequent that the two staff members of the Unit constantly manning the telephone cannot keep up with them, determine the answers and make prompt replies to inquiries. Telephone calls are backed up and callers complain that they cannot get their calls through. An additional position to which these simple calls could be channeled, would improve the service and allay criticism caused by delays.

A new position of editorial clerk, GS-4, is requested to help keep up with a 21-percent increase in typing of special reports, mats, and publications, and an increase of 44 percent in reference correspondence typed in the last 5-year period. At times bibliographical typing had to be suspended during the last fiscal year to prevent backlogs of form letters, replies to reference inquiries, and administrative memorandums from accumulating. There has been no addition to the clerical staff in the last 10 years, although replies to correspondence alone have increased as follows:

Mr. STEED. In regard to the telephone calls you receive, are these from all sources or largely from congressional sources?

Dr. BASLER. They are from all sources but we limit, as far as we can, the telephone reference service by referring certain types of calls which we get from the general public to the Public Library. That is, insofar as possible, we try to keep this down to the requests from

Government, but if the calls relate to questions of certain categories that could not readily be answered by the Public Library we will handle them. It is difficult sometimes to tell a taxpayer who calls for a piece of simple information that we do not give this kind of answer, that he should get it from the Public Library. We try to refer these general calls to the Public Library in order to keep the calls down, but in spite of this general policy of restriction the calls have grown very heavy and the increase in number of calls is to a considerable extent from Government agencies.

Mr. STEED. Can you tell us offhand of some odd or unusual or peculiar types of requests?

Dr. BASLER. The ones that get called to my attention are the ones where we get complaints because the taxpayer was referred to the Public Library. I do not know whether I would want to cite too many of those or not.

Mr. STEED. Off the record. (Discussion off the record.)

NEW POSITIONS-LOCAL HISTORY AND GENEALOGY ROOM

Mr. STEED. The next item is "To provide sufficient staff for extension of the hours of public service in the local history and genealogy room, General Reference and Bibliography Division." That is for two half-time positions, $5,832. What is your problem there?

Dr. MUMFORD. We are asking here, Mr. Chairman, for two halftime positions in order to extend the hours of opening in the local history and genealogy room to 10 p.m. on weekdays. Much of the Library's collection on local history and genealogy served through this reading room is unique in the United States, and it is one of the most active special study facilities of the Library. There has been a 20-percent increase in reference services rendered during the last fiscal year, from 13,800 in fiscal year 1960 to 16,500 in fiscal year 1961. Many employed persons are unable to use this room during the day and we have, on a temporary basis, kept it open one evening a week for 4 hours to accommodate them. The use during these hours has been considerable.

I might add we have had one or more requests from Members of Congress suggesting that this room remain open during the evening. Mr. STEED. Do you have other sections that are open in the evenings and on weekends?

Dr. BASLER. That was the point of the Member of Congress who wrote to us last summer. He pointed out that since other special reading rooms were kept open in the evenings, why could not the local history and genealogy room be kept open in the evenings? He said he had people on his own staff wanting to use it. So we have tried it for one evening a week and it has been very heavily used, and I really think we should keep it open as we do other special reading rooms.

NEW POSITIONS-HISPANIC DIVISION

Mr. STEED. We will go to the next item, "To provide needed reference and clerical assistance in the Hispanic Division." You ask for two positions at $11,009.

What is the need here, Dr. Mumford?

Dr. MUMFORD. We are requesting one position, a GS-9 reference librarian, which is urgently needed to handle an increasing number of reference inquiries due to the intensified interest in the Hispanic areas, particularly Cuba and Latin America. There has also been a notable increase in congressional requests for the services of interpreters and for translations which cannot be handled by the staff in the Legislative Reference Service, and for which the Hispanic Division has insufficient staff.

Mr. STEED. Do you have any gifts or grants of any sort that help you in this work?

Dr. MUMFORD. Yes. The Archer Huntington bequest helps to support it. There are only six budgeted positions from appropriated funds in this Division and there has been no increase here for the past 14 years.

Mr. HORAN. Mr. Chairman, I intended under general questioning to ask Dr. Mumford if he could supply us a table listing all income of the Library. Do we have that information in one table?

Mr. ROSSITER. Yes.

Mr. HORAN. I am glad we have a comprehensive table showing the sources and the total amount of income. I think it would be helpful to us in justifying this on the floor. We have had that information before.

Dr. MUMFORD. Yes. We have a statement reflecting that. Mr. HORAN. I think some of these, like the Carnegie grant, is a "wife we have to support later on," so it is not all clear profit. (The following information was submitted for the record:)

An annual income of about $17,000 from the Archer M. Huntington Trust Fund is available for Hispanic activities.

NOTE. A complete statement on all sources of funds is included at the outset of these hearings.

Mr. STEED. Can you give us the type of specific requests you get from congressional sources for translations?

Dr. BASLER. I could supply these by going back over our records for the last year. I can say in brief we have calls specifically from the Senate Committee on Internal Security, I think it is, which has been interviewing Cuban refugees. During the last year or two we have had to supply an interpreter and a translator on occasion for a good many of the interrogations which they are conducting in this committee. That is the kind of thing which has been growing in recent years and which the Legislative Reference Service does not have sufficient staff to accomplish, and we have pretty well taken it over.

I might mention I just received yesterday a memorandum from the director of our Hispanic work. He reported that the library of the Pan American Union has been so heavily overloaded that they have had to turn aside a great many requests for service and those requests have come to us. Even requests from embassies of the various Latin American countries have been turned aside by the library of the Pan American Union because of their inability to handle them. This is a workload that is increasing, I think, because of the terrific and explosive nature of everything that is going on in the Caribbean and in South America.

Dr. MUMFORD. Mr. Chairman, there is a table of workload on page 45, the top of the page. I respectfully request it be inserted in the record.