Federal Funding for Libraries in Southern Illinois

The Early Years

Illinois political leaders played a prominent role in obtaining federal funds for libraries. In 1946, Representative-at-Large Emily Taft Douglas of Chicago and Senator Lister Hill of Alabama introduced the Public Library Demonstration Bill to the 79th Congress. The bill would have provided matching funds to the states for providing demonstrations of adequate public library service in areas not adequately served. It was reported on favorably by a Senate committee, but Congress adjourned before any final action was taken.

The Public Library Demonstration Bill was revamped and reintroduced to five succeeding Congresses before finally being passed and signed into law in 1956 as the Library Service Act (LSA). One of its three Senate sponsors was Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois, the husband of Emily Taft Douglas. ¹

Libraries in southern Illinois were prime beneficiaries of early LSA projects in the state. By law, LSA expenditures were limited to rural areas and communities with fewer than 10,000 people. Two notable projects were established during the early years.

1.

The Southern Illinois Regional Library, headquartered in Morris Library at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, provided rotating book collections via bookmobile, interlibrary loan and consultant services to public libraries in the southernmost 34 counties. The Regional Library later became a branch of the Illinois State Library.

2.

The Kaskaskia Project was a library service demonstration to a large unserved area in portions of five counties south and east of Belleville. The proposed new library district was placed on the ballot in September 1960, but it failed to win voter approval. State officials did not consider the Kaskaskia Project a complete failure because public interest generated by the demonstration led to newly established municipal libraries in Lebanon, Marissa and Old Marissa.2

After a lengthy battle Congress renewed the Library Services Act in 1961. In 1964, it was changed to the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), with two important revisions. The 10,000 population limit was removed, and funds were available for public library construction.

Libraries in southern Illinois again benefited from LSA/LSCA projects in the early 1960s. The Southern Illinois Regional Library in Carbondale was strengthened and new services were added. The Regional Library produced catalog cards for area libraries, began an experimental teletype service between Carbondale and Springfield to improve reference and interlibrary loan service, and inaugurated a mobile classroom for in-service library education. In 1961, LSA funds provided two library school scholarships, both to southern Illinoisans: Robert (Gene) Birkhimer of Robinson and George Heise of Murphysboro.³

A major LSA project in 1963 was a year-long study of public library service in Illinois conducted by the Illinois Library Association and its consultant, Robert Rohlf of Minnesota. Rohlf's report, issued in 1964, led to legislation that created 18 regional library systems in 1965.

Although much was accomplished in the first decade of LSA/LSCA, there was very little money available. Congress authorized $7.5 million per year for LSA in 1956, but only a little more than $2 million was appropriated. Appropriations gradually increased, but did not reach the $7.5 million authorization level until FY 1963. In FY 1966, Congress appropriated $55 million for LSCA, and a new era of expanded federal funding for libraries was about to begin.

An Expanded LSCA

The expanded scope of LSCA coincided with the establishment of library systems in Illinois, and a flurry of federally funded projects followed. This article does not intend to be a complete history of LSCA activity in southern Illinois, but does highlight seven areas in which LSCA had a significant impact.

*Jim Ubel, Executive Director, Shawnee Library System, Carterville.

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Library Construction

During the brief period in which a substantial amount of federal money was available for public library construction, the chief beneficiaries in Illinois were libraries north of Interstate 70. Most southern Illinois communities are poor, and matching construction funds were scarce. Admittedly, inertia in some communities that badly needed new library buildings was a contributing factor in the general lack of construction activity. Notable exceptions were Mt. Carmel, Pinckneyville, Robinson and West Frankfort, which used LSCA grants to help build handsome new structures. LSCA grants also helped build administrative headquarters for the southern library systems.

Libraries in Prisons and Mental Health Facilities

LSCA demonstration grants for libraries in state institutions, administered by the library systems, were so successful that they led to permanent funding of state institutions libraries using state funds — first appropriated to the Illinois State Library and later to the Departments of Corrections and Mental Health. In terms of library staffing levels and book budgets, residents of state institutions had access to better library service than most patrons of public and school libraries in southern Illinois during the 1970s and early 1980s.

Intel-library Cooperation

In 1975, Interlibrary Cooperation Grants enabled library systems to seek ways of fostering cooperation among all types of libraries, and eventually school, academic and special libraries were welcomed by public libraries into library system membership. In many communities the first efforts at cooperation were tentative, and many librarians — both school and public - had unwarranted fears of losing their autonomy or of having their library's resources "drained."

These fears were soon overcome. In the '90s there has been a huge amount of resource sharing among all types of libraries in southern Illinois with little attention paid to the type of library either lending or borrowing the material. I believe that the cooperation of libraries of all types throughout the state can be considered the greatest success of LSCA in Illinois.

Library Materials

Numerous LSCA projects pumped badly needed money into the library materials budgets of public libraries and library systems in southern Illinois. LSCA funds helped build special collections in the four southern systems: law enforcement at Lewis & Clark; automotive at Kaskaskia; collectibles at Cumberland Trail; and genealogy at Shawnee. Besides serving their regional constituencies, the library systems' special collections were used heavily statewide. LSCA funds also were used to start library system audio-visual collections.

While local libraries did not receive substantial amounts of federal money for library materials in any given year, various LSCA grants in the 1970s and 1980s provided selected improvements in public library reference collections, general non-fiction collections and special materials serving business and agriculture. In some of the poorest communities in the south, books provided by LSCA funds were the only new books acquired that year.

Libraries on the MOVE

Perhaps the most successful LSCA project in southern Illinois was a three-phase project designed to help libraries in the Shawnee Library System serve small businesses. Small business was broadly defined to include agriculture, professional practitioners and service providers. The project ended with the Libraries on the MOVE conference in 1985, in which participating libraries showcased numerous ways that a public library can foster economic development.

I think the greatest long-term benefit of the Libraries on the MOVE project was that many librarians and trustees were motivated and energized to make continued improvements in their own library's service, and to form lasting partnerships between their library and other community organizations. The Libraries on the MOVE conference produced an "Agenda for Rural Library Development," prepared by a select committee and adopted by the full conference. The agenda states that: "Residents in rural areas have the same depth and variety of library and information needs as residents in the more populous areas of our state and nation. Rural libraries, however, are confronted with limitations of geography, size of community and financial resources that often prevent them from meeting these needs. In an effort to improve rural library services, participants of the Libraries on the MOVE conference in Carbondale in June 1986, have formulated the following recommendations for rural library development.

1.	The state legislature should establish a commission to study and recommend improvements in the availability of library and information service to all residents.
2.	The state library agency should develop a statewide, comprehensive plan for making library service available to everyone and should recommend guidelines for boundaries for units of library service.
3.	Pending the development and implementation of numbers one and two, continuing support should be given to current projects for the extension of library service, such as Illinois' Project

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	PLUS and Project LIME, thus maintaining current programs.
4.	State library associations and other library advocacy groups should give increased attention to rural library issues on their agendas.
5.	Resource sharing through multi-type library systems, networking and interlibrary cooperation should be emphasized to strengthen rural libraries.
6.	Additional opportunities for continuing educational for rural librarians, library workers and trustees should be made available.
7.	Each rural library should implement a marketing plan based on a needs assessment, an analysis of current and possible services and a commitment to public relations.
8.	Rural libraries should take the lead in organizing networks of locally operating information providers, such as chambers of commerce, cooperative extension services and farm bureaus. Rural libraries also should be members of regional, state and national library networks.
9.	Rural libraries should be encouraged to establish service priorities and to set up a system of basic services provided without charge supplemented by specialized fee-based services.
10.	Rural librarians should be aware of Avenues to Excellence and other existing state and national standards. Supplementary standards for rural library service should be developed.
11.	Rural libraries should continue to improve access to information through the use of new technologies.
12.	Service to special populations, such as older adults, young adult readers, children, non-readers and disabled individuals, should be maintained and improved upon by the rural library.
13.	A County Access Center, located in a government facility and administered by a regional library system, should access and distribute the full range of information services provided by local, regional, state, national and international library networks to predominately rural areas using state-of-the-art communication technology."4

Automation

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, federal funds helped library systems throughout the state and some of their members install automated circulation, bibliographic control and resource sharing networks. Federal funds were vital to this activity. No library system — and very few community libraries — could have afforded the capital expenditures for computer equipment without outside help. Now that Illinois has a reliable source of income from the "Live & Learn" and "Educate & Automate" programs, it appears that. each year a substantial amount of state money also will be available to help local libraries make the best use of modern technology.

Extending Public Library Service to the Unserved

The major focus of the original Library Services Act was to extend public library service to the millions of Americans who had none. If LSA/LSCA in Illinois — and southern Illinois in particular — is to be judged by how many formerly unserved residents now have public library service, the most charitable assessment is that it had partial success.

In FY72, more than 20 percent of the state's population was untaxed for public library service (more than 2.3 million people). In 1998, Illinois still has nearly 1 million people without tax-supported public library service, including 280,000 in southern Illinois. Although the number of unserved has decreased by more than 50 percent, more than 8 percent of the state's population is still not part of a public library service area. Three statewide groups appointed by the Secretary of State and State Librarian have studied the question of universal service and have issued written reports with recommendations. All the recommendations of the Rural Library Panel, the Rural Library Task Force and the Regional Library Service Panels have not been implemented for a variety of reasons.

Not only does southern Illinois have 280,000 unserved residents, the gap between the quality of service in our school and public libraries compared to those in wealthier northern communities is growing wider. It is hoped that the new LSTA funds, as well as strengthened state funding of school and public libraries, can help solve these problems in the future.

1 "Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science." Vol. 15, pp. 339-340. New York, Marcel Dekker Inc., 1975.

2 "Library Services Act," Illinois Libraries. 43:294. April, 1961.

3 Reid, deLafayette et.al., "Library Services Act in Illinois." Illinois Libraries. 44:173-202. March, 1962.

4 Agenda for Rural Library Development." Illinois Libraries. 68-501-502. October, 1986.

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