ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


September 1985 /  425

W A S H I N G T O N  H O T L I N E  by Carol C. Henderson
Deputy Director

ALA Washington Office

Library of Congress budget. The Legislative Branch Appropriation Bill 
(HR 2942) for fiscal year ’86 has been passed by both House and Senate. The 
House acted first, on July 18, cutting LC’s request 8.9 percent, leaving the 
Library below the ’85 level. Areas particularly hard hit were preservation, 
book purchases, automation, and books for the blind.

The Senate on July 31 restored some cuts, including preservation and 
automation cuts, but the Senate figure of $220,723,000, although higher than 
the House-passed $216,597,000, was still below LC’s request of $253,129,000.

One of the House cuts, of $103,000, was designed to prohibit LC from 
reproducing and distributing Playboy in braille. The amendment was offered on
the floor by Rep. Chalmers Wylie (R–OH) and passed 216-193. The Senate did 
not restore the funds, leaving the House cut and the intent behind it intact.

Librarian of Congress Daniel Boorstin in a statement expressed "profound 
regret" at the House action "censoring material made available to the blind 
community through our Library of Congress service. The next step might be to 
deny funds to the Library of Congress for purchase of books which the House 
deemed inappropriate, subversive, or unacceptable to the majority of the 
House. Censorship has no place in a free society."

LC’s National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is
authorized by law to provide reading materials to those who cannot read ordi­
nary print. It selects items with the help of its readers and librarians 
based on the premise that users should have access to the same books and 
information made available to the non–handicapped through public libraries. 
However, the cost of reproducing materials in braille and in recorded format 
means NLS must be selective. Only 36 magazines are available in braille; 
Playboy is one of the more popular. Playboy in braille includes only selected
print material, no pictorial material or captions, and has been produced since
1970.

NEH 20th Anniversary. "In Celebration of the Humanities: The 20th 
Anniversary Year of the National Endowment for the Humanities"— this motto is 
the theme for a year-long celebration beginning in September of the birth of 
the NEH. The National Humanities Alliance, of which ALA is a member, is 
urging libraries to help celebrate the humanities, and the contributions of 
NEH in particular.

Libraries are encouraged to sponsor celebratory events such as exhibits, 
symposia, forums, film festivals, discussion groups, or use the anniversary 
theme in already scheduled events. For more information or to report planned 
events, contact Marsha Wice, Ex. Dir., National Humanities Alliance, P.0. Box 
2293, Hoya Station, Washington, DC 20057, 202/625-4039.