[House Hearing, 115 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
OVERSIGHT OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS' STRATEGIC PLAN: PART 2
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE
ADMINISTRATION
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
JULY 25, 2018
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on House Administration
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available on the Internet:
https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-administration
_________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
33-310 WASHINGTON : 2018
Committee on House Administration
GREGG HARPER, Mississippi, Chairman
RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois, Vice ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania,
Chairman Ranking Member
BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia ZOE LOFGREN, California
MARK WALKER, North Carolina JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland
ADRIAN SMITH, Nebraska
BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia
OVERSIGHT OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS' STRATEGIC PLAN: PART 2
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018
House of Representatives,
Committee on House Administration,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 11:27 a.m., in Room
1310, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Gregg Harper
[Chairman of the Committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Harper, Davis, Comstock, Walker,
Smith, Loudermilk, Brady, Lofgren, and Raskin.
Staff Present: Sean Moran, Staff Director; Kim Betz, Deputy
Staff Director/Policy and Oversight; Steven Wall, Deputy
General Counsel; Dan Jarrell, Legislative Clerk; Matt Field,
Director of Oversight; Courtney Parella, Communications
Director; Jamie Fleet, Minority Staff Director; Khalil Abboud,
Minority Deputy Staff Director; and Eddie Flaherty, Minority
Chief Clerk.
The Chairman. I now call to order the Committee on House
Administration for today's hearing examining the strategic plan
of the Library of Congress.
The hearing record will remain open for 5 legislative days
so Members may submit any materials they wish to be included.
A quorum is present, so we may proceed.
The Library of Congress is an unparalleled institution.
There is simply no other library nor institution within America
quite like it. With over 167 million collections items, from
maps to photographs, newspapers, movies, baseball cards,
manuscripts, and new books, rare books, and all kinds in
between, its repository of knowledge is unmatched.
While the Library's location and components have changed
over time, its fundamental mission to serve Congress with that
repository has not. The Library was created by Congress in
1800. From its founding until 1897, the Library was housed in
the Capitol. In 1815, Thomas Jefferson sold his famous personal
collection to Congress for the new Library. In 1832, the Law
Library was created. In 1870, copyright law vastly expanded the
Library collections' breadth and depth.
In 1896, the Joint Committee on the Library held important
hearings on the future of the Library, which were instrumental
in setting the strategy for the Library headed into a new
century. In 1914, the Legislative Reference Service was created
to assist Congress, later becoming the CRS we know today. In
1939, the Adams Building opened, followed by the Madison
Building opening in 1980.
Understanding that knowledge objectivity and primary
resources are vital to a healthy and thriving deliberative
Congress and body politic, the Library has served and continues
to serve Congress and the American people to this day. As
history has shown, the Library adapts and grows, which is why
we are here.
Almost exactly 1 year ago, Dr. Hayden, you testified before
this Committee about your then-beginning stages of the
Library's strategic planning for the future. We are here today
to receive an update on your progress.
When will the strategic plan be completed? What are its key
characteristics and components? What has the Library learned
about itself over the past year? These are questions we hope to
have answered today as we assess the Library's ability to meet
the demands and challenges and the mission into the 21st
century.
I want to thank our excellent panel for their appearance
before the Committee today.
And I would now like to recognize the Ranking Member of the
Committee, Mr. Brady, for the purpose of providing an opening
statement.
Mr. Brady.
Mr. Brady. I want to thank the Chairman for calling this
hearing today and thank the witnesses for their testimony.
The Library of Congress is an amazing place, not only for
Members but for our constituents as well, though, like any
other institution of its size, the Library has its share of
management issues.
Since 2011, the Library inspector general has been
recommending the Library develop a strong strategic plan to
deal with these challenges. Under Dr. Hayden's leadership, the
Library is engaging in doing such a plan, and it will soon be
up to Congress to make sure we do our part to make the plan a
reality.
Again, I also thank the witnesses, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The Chairman. The gentleman yields back.
Does any other Member wish to be recognized for the purpose
of an opening statement?
Seeing none, I would now like to introduce our panel of
witnesses.
Dr. Carla Hayden was sworn in as the 14th Librarian of
Congress on September the 14th, 2016. And in a city where
history is made, Dr. Hayden certainly made history. The first
woman and the first African American to lead the national
library was nominated to the position by President Barack Obama
on February the 24th, 2016, and her nomination was confirmed by
the United States Senate on July 13th, 2016.
I have to say, it seems like you have been here longer than
July of 2016.
Prior to that, she served as CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free
Library in Baltimore, Maryland. She has also been a member of
the National Museum and Library Services Board, deputy
commissioner and chief librarian of the Chicago Public Library,
and assistant professor for library and information science at
the University of Pittsburgh, and library services coordinator
for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
She began her career with the Chicago Public Library as a
young adult services coordinator and as a library associate
and, dear to her heart, children's librarian.
Dr. Hayden was president of the American Library
Association from 2003 to 2004. And in 1995 she was the first
African American to receive Library Journal's Librarian of the
Year Award in recognition of her outreach services at the Pratt
Library, which included an after-school center for Baltimore
teens offering homework assistance and college and career
counseling.
Dr. Hayden received a B.A. from Roosevelt University and an
M.A. and Ph.D. from the Graduate Library School of the
University of Chicago.
Inspector Kurt Hyde has extensive experience in both the
public and private sector. Prior to joining the Library, Mr.
Hyde was the Deputy Inspector General for Audit and Evaluations
at the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief
Program, or TARP. Similarly, he was the Deputy Assistant
Inspector General for the Resolution Trust Corporation during
the savings and loan financial crisis in the 1990s.
His other government services entail working at the
Government Accountability Office and as a senior executive at
the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General.
Before joining the Library, Mr. Hyde, a certified public
accountant, was a partner in the government services practice
at a Big Five accounting and consulting firm, where he advised
the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid on their implementations
of Medicare Plus Choice and other government clients on
customer-centric solutions.
I would now like to introduce Mrs. Dianne Houghton--and did
I pronounce that right?
Ms. Houghton. Yes, you did.
The Chairman. Is the Senior Advisor and Director of the
Strategic Planning and Performance Management Office at the
Library of Congress. In this role, Ms. Houghton is responsible
for enterprise-level planning and performance management
activities, including development of the Library's strategic
plan. She is also leading an initiative to update and integrate
the Library's planning, performance management, and risk and
internal control program frameworks.
Before joining the Library, Ms. Houghton was the chief
operating officer of New Leaders, a national nonprofit that
develops transformational school leaders. During this time, she
managed the organization's technology, finance, strategic
planning, and talent management teams while rebuilding the
leadership team and overseeing the design and launch of
expanded services.
Before her work with New Leaders, Ms. Houghton was the
chief executive officer of Digital Focus, Inc., a technology
solutions provider. There she led a dramatic performance
turnaround, establishing profitability within 5 months after 4
years of losses.
She also served as President and COO of Jaffe Associates.
She doubled the organization's size and revenues, which led to
her being named to the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private
companies by Inc. Magazine.
Before filling executive roles, Ms. Houghton was a
management consultant working with many Fortune 100 companies
and government organizations to create and launch strategic
initiatives. She is also the coauthor of the book ``Visions,
Values, and Courage: Leadership for Quality Management.''
You all exhausted me. I mean, what amazing credentials. And
we thank you for being here.
And we have received your written testimony. You will each
have 5 minutes to present a summary of that submission. To help
you keep your time, you know how it works. The timing device
that is there on the table will be a green light for the first
4 minutes. It will turn yellow when a minute remains. And when
the light turns read, the trapdoor will--no, I mean, the light
turns red, it means your time has expired.
And we are honored to have each of you here and look
forward to this.
So, the Chair now recognizes our witnesses for purposes of
an opening statement.
And we will begin with you, Dr. Hayden.
STATEMENTS OF THE HON. CARLA HAYDEN, LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS;
KURT W. HYDE, INSPECTOR GENERAL, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS; AND
DIANNE HOUGHTON, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
STATEMENT OF THE HON. CARLA HAYDEN
Ms. Hayden. Good morning, Chairman Harper, Ranking Member
Brady, and Members of the Committee. I am very pleased that----
The Chairman. I don't know that----
Ms. Hayden. And now that the microphone is on, I will
reiterate my greeting to Chairman Harper, Ranking Member Brady,
and Members of the Committee, because I am very pleased to be
here today to provide an update on the Library's strategic plan
and to give more information on the accomplishments so far and
the progress that we have made.
And I want to begin by thanking the Committee for its
support and commitment to the Library in its over 200-year
history.
I am now in my second year as Librarian, and I am even more
committed to doing all that I can to ensure that the Library's
unparalleled collections and resources are available to all.
And those resources, of those, the strongest, I believe, are
the expertise and the commitment to public service of the
dedicated staff.
And it was just a year ago that I first addressed this
Committee on the topic of strategic planning, and I am pleased
today to share with you that we are on track to publish by
October 1st a plan to guide our activities over the next 5
Fiscal Years.
The new strategic plan establishes a framework for the
entire agency that is driven by our mission to serve Congress
and the American people. Our mission incorporates the key
elements of what we do and why we do it and for whom. And it
is, quote, ``to engage, inspire, and inform Congress and the
American people with a universal and enduring source of
knowledge and creativity.''
And with that core mission reinforced, the new strategic
plan takes shape around unifying concepts important to every
unit in the organization, and the most critical of which is a
clear and persistent focus on users.
We established a user-centered direction forward. That
means that we will enrich the Library experience for all users,
including, first and foremost, Members of Congress, who may
engage with the Congressional Research Service or read books
from our stacks; creators who draw inspiration from our
collections or use the services of the Copyright Office to
protect their creative work; institutions like libraries and
schools, who serve as connectors between the users and the
Library of Congress; and learners of all ages who use our
unique and trusted resources to learn about history, civics,
and any other part of our shared cultural heritage.
As I testified last year, establishing a strategic vision
and structure for the agency's future has been a top priority
for the agency and for me. To date, we have taken several
important steps to make that happen.
The Office of Strategic Planning and Performance
Management, headed by Director Dianne Houghton, who reports
directly to me, has been hard at work over the last 15 months
strengthening the agency's overall strategic directional and
operational planning process.
Consistent with best practices, the Library has developed a
strategic plan with input from hundreds of Library employees,
managers, and leaders. All Library service units have played a
key role, as have external stakeholders and users. And we have
regularly consulted with our congressional oversight committees
throughout the process.
And, as a result, four agency-wide principles have emerged
as our unifying goals: expanding access, enhancing service,
optimizing resources, and measuring impact.
The plan, which is now near completion, will be accompanied
by new or revised service-level unit directional plans, which
are on track to be completed by January 2019 and will speak to
each unit's mission-specific goals and objectives.
I thank the IG, Mr. Hyde, for acknowledging our progress
and agree with the essence of the report. It is essential that
the Library build a mature, data-driven, and impactful planning
and performance management system. It will, as noted in his
report, take several years along a carefully planned trajectory
to achieve the result, and the report certainly provides
helpful guidance.
I also wanted to take a moment to discuss the strides we
are making to make performance matter, including the successful
launch of a new performance management system in fiscal year
2016. For the first time, the agency is working to instill a
performance culture that is grounded by regular review of
performance at the executive level.
And, in addition, internal risk control and management
continues to be of central importance. The Library designed,
piloted, and launched our first agency-wide risk management
process nearly a year ago.
And so, in closing, the Library is poised to implement a
unifying strategic plan that is user-centered and forward-
thinking, one that will facilitate measurable agency outcomes
as we continue to make advances in planning.
So thank you for providing me this opportunity for an
update.
[The statement of Ms. Hayden follows:]
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The Chairman. Thank you so much, Dr. Hayden.
The Chair will now recognize Mr. Hyde for 5 minutes for the
purposes of his opening statement.
STATEMENT OF KURT W. HYDE
Mr. Hyde. Chairman Harper, Ranking Member Brady, and
Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to
testify on the Library of Congress' strategic planning and
performance management and the work being done by my office in
this area.
As you know, strategic planning and management has been on
the IG's list of the Library's top management challenges since
September 2011. We put it on the list because many of the
challenges over the years have flowed from the Library not
having a proper strategic planning framework in place. By that,
I mean the Library has not been able to effectively identify
strategic goals, stay focused on meeting those goals, and hold
itself accountable when the goals are not met. We believe that
this resulted in lost opportunities.
We have demonstrated this in our April 2015 report on the
Library's eDeposit Program, an effort to collect digital
materials. The audit highlighted the importance of leaders
staying involved and focusing on accountability. We could not
determine whether progress on the program had met management's
expectations after 5 years of effort because Library leadership
at the time had not established quantifiable expectations
related to cost, performance, and project completion.
Under Dr. Hayden's leadership, the Library has taken a
stronger approach. For example, Dr. Hayden has elevated the CIO
and Director of Strategic Planning positions to report directly
to her, which sends a strong message and comports to best
practices. She has mandated a new collaborative Library-wide
strategic plan integrated with unit plans. And she required her
high-level executives to discuss the status of priority
performance goals at monthly executive committee meetings,
something that had not been done previously.
The Library is at the start of a long-term process to get
on track. We reported last week calling for continued,
persistent focus to strengthen the Library's strategic planning
management, identifying the practices that would serve the
Library well as it looks to strengthen this area, and those six
practices are: improving its focus on users; implementing a
planning and performance culture at the executive level;
creating a strategic plan that meets Federal Government
standards; creating a human capital linkage to planning and
performance; linking budgetary resources to expected
performance results; and managing risk across the Library
service units when planning and conducting performance
management.
Dr. Hayden's focus in some of these areas, such as
addressing users' needs and focusing on creating a performance
culture, is definitely a step in the right direction. Because
the Library is still in the early stages of building its
management capacity in this area, it needs to be vigilant about
ensuring success with strategic planning over the long term. As
the saying goes, the Library will be building the plane while
flying it.
Since Dr. Hayden is piloting the Library through this
process, her persistent leadership and guidance will be vital.
Progress will not occur with the delivery of random and
unconnected tasks. The imperative is ensuring follow through on
their execution of the implementation roadmap and year-to-year
driving of the synchronized unit plans. In addition, as stated
in our top management challenges, the Library must execute a
thoughtful digital strategy that integrates with the other
plans.
An enormous amount of quality data will have to be
collected, analyzed, and reported as part of this process.
Strategic planning and performance management pay dividends
when executives make tough priority decisions based on
performance data.
It will take time for the Library to successfully develop
and implement a more robust planning framework, one that
includes goals with specific and aggressive outcomes that can
be used to evaluate performance using verifiable metrics.
Thank you for this opportunity to address the Committee. I
ask that our July report be admitted into the record as my
formal written testimony, and I would be happy to answer any
questions.
[The statement of Mr. Hyde follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Hyde.
The Chair will now recognize Director Houghton for 5
minutes.
STATEMENT OF DIANNE HOUGHTON
Ms. Houghton. Thank you. Good morning, Chairman Harper,
Ranking Member Brady, and Members of the Committee. Thank you
for inviting me to provide testimony on strategic planning at
the Library of Congress and to share the progress we have made
in developing a strategic plan that puts forward a clear and
exciting vision for the agency's future.
In the spring of 2017, we set the stage for our planning
work by launching our Envisioning 2025 initiative. Over the
next 7 months, we engaged more than 350 staff and managers from
all parts of the Library to explore, research, and discuss
trends and topics vital to the agency's future.
During this work, leaders from across the agency recognized
the need to establish some shared language. We felt an
effective strategic plan for the Library must build on concepts
that transcend our organizational boundaries and unify our
discrete service units.
As a result, we now define the role of the agency in a way
that resonates with all parts of the Library, echoing the
organizing principles Thomas Jefferson applied to his personal
library through the concepts of memory, knowledge, and
imagination.
``Memory'' refers to our work to acquire, sustain, and
provide access to a unique and universal collection.
``Knowledge'' refers to providing authoritative and objective
research, guidance, analysis, and information. And
``imagination'' refers to inspiring and encouraging creativity
and promoting and supporting the protection of the work of
creators.
We also developed a shared view of key user groups across
the agency, defined as Congress, creators, learners, and
connectors.
And, finally and most importantly, we agreed on a user-
centered direction forward.
With this foundation, strategic planning activities were
launched in December with a team comprised of agency staff and
consultants who were engaged to help expand our planning
capability and to educate staff in planning concepts and
techniques.
Over the winter and spring, we moved through our planning
process, including structured research and analysis of many
different sources of information, workshops, open forums,
exercises, and strategy labs.
And, consistent with best practices, our approach has
remained highly participative in all activities. We have
engaged over 500 staff and managers, both here on Capitol Hill
and at our Culpeper campus. We have engaged Library users and
stakeholders through surveys and interviews. And we have
received input and shared approaches from similar information-
based organizations and peer agencies. The result is a
strategic plan that will guide the agency in expanding our
reach and deepening our impact with our users.
It begins with our vision. We have crafted an aspirational
vision statement that speaks to the sense of connection that we
hope to build to the Nation's people, your constituents. Our
vision is that all Americans are connected to the Library of
Congress. The vision reflects our strong commitment to focusing
on our users, better understanding their needs, and making our
universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity more
discoverable, accessible, relevant, and useful.
We next agreed on a set of goals and objectives to drive
this vision of connection. Our first goal is to expand access,
making our unique collections, experts, and services available
when, where, and how users need them, whether visiting Capitol
Hill or accessing the Library remotely.
Our second goal is to enhance services, creating valuable
experiences for every user by elevating digital experiences,
transforming in-person experiences, and developing more user-
centered content.
Our third goal is to optimize resources, continuing our
work to modernize, strengthen, and streamline our operational
capabilities and invest in our staff for the future.
And our fourth and final goal is to measure impact by
committing to use data to better understand our users and to
measure the impact of our collections and services.
The coming months hold important milestones for our work,
including communication and release of the strategic plan at
the start of the fiscal year, completion of the service-unit-
level planning aligned to the new plan, and elevation of key
work and initiatives from these unit-level plans to an agency-
level implementation roadmap. This roadmap will be the means to
track and report on the fulfillment of our strategic plan
commitments in the years ahead.
I thank the Committee again for inviting me to provide
testimony, and I look forward to answering any questions.
[The statement of Ms. Houghton follows:]
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The Chairman. Thank you so much, Director.
It is now time for the Members to ask questions of you as
witnesses, and I will begin by recognizing myself.
And, Dr. Hayden, I have some questions related, obviously,
to the strategic plan completion. As you mentioned in your
testimony, you plan on this being completed and released on
October the 1st, I believe?
Ms. Hayden. Yes.
The Chairman. With a little over 2 months until that date,
are you fully committed to that deadline? Do you anticipate any
deviation from that?
Ms. Hayden. We are on track to meet the deadline, and we
are actually very excited about being able to make sure that
the expectation that it will be presented on October 1st will
be met. So the excitement is building, even 2 months away.
The Chairman. Gotcha.
As you also stated, strategic planning does not and will
not end on October 1st.
Ms. Hayden. No.
The Chairman. In November, an implementation roadmap will
be completed to execute the plan. In January of next year,
service units will have operational unit and center directional
plans in place to guide their specific metric space priorities
and progress during the plan's timeframe.
How will you ensure the service units under your leadership
will remain committed to and, in fact, be enthusiastic about
the overall plan and their specific directional plans?
Ms. Hayden. Keeping the enthusiasm and the accountability
and tracking together are going to be a major focus. And what
is noted in the report, the IG report, the book execution
really discusses--and that is something that I am very
committed to--that we make sure that the tracking takes place
at each executive-level committee meeting--and that is already
in place now, and we will be making that a regular feature--as
well as having each of the service units present their progress
on their service unit activities.
And so, baking it in the cake, basically; that it is not
going to be a plan that sits on a shelf and there is a lot of
enthusiasm and ``here is the plan.'' It is a living document,
and it will be revised and reviewed continually.
The Chairman. Ok.
Are you making any changes or will you change anything
about how you hold your leaders accountable?
Ms. Hayden. One of the main things that we will continue to
do--and this is not a change, because we have been doing it in
the past year of having the reporting out and presenting--we
will be trying to make sure that there are more opportunities
for more unit-level staff members to have a reporting
opportunity at different forums as well.
And as Ms. Houghton has talked--we have talked quite a bit
about how do we make sure that as many as staff members as we
can are able to talk about what they are doing in their units
and sub-units for the plan as well, so it is not just at the
executive leadership level but that there are other
opportunities.
The Chairman. As you know, in 2015, the Government
Accountability Office concluded a very lengthy IT audit--
Ms. Hayden. Yes.
The Chairman [continuing]. Of the Library. They made 31
public recommendations. The IT health, security, and
capabilities of the Library are paramount to your vision of
achieving success. Will all 31 recommendations be closed when
the strategic plan is unveiled?
Ms. Hayden. The recommendations--and that is a wonderful
story to be able to tell. Of those 31 public recommendations,
20 have been completed and approved by GAO, with 6 more that
are being reviewed. And the remaining five will be submitted by
the end of September, and the evidence will be presented then.
So we are very pleased with the progress that has been made on
those recommendations.
The Chairman. And I know that security and IT challenges,
cybersecurity challenges, are always an ongoing challenge for
everyone. And I am pleased to know that you are staying on top
of that.
How will your vision, as you have seen in this plan, how is
that going to continue to guide the Library for years to come?
Ms. Hayden. My vision as Librarian is really an extension
of what I have known and have come to in this past 2 years
really appreciate it even more, of the dedication of the staff
members who have worked to preserve and conserve and collect
materials and to make those materials accessible and to
generate service to Congress at the highest level as well as to
inspire people to be creative and use our copyright system.
And so that vision of expanding and sharing with the
American people and anyone that wants to participate is even
more of a--I watch for it. I, frankly, get very excited,
thinking about the possibilities. And to know that so many
staff members at the Library of Congress are dedicated and
right there and ready to go is very heartening.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Dr. Hayden.
I will now recognize Ranking Member Brady for 5 minutes for
questions.
Mr. Brady. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Dr. Hayden, I want to thank you for visiting my district in
September and for spending time at the Darby Library.
Ms. Hayden. Yes.
Mr. Brady. The Darby Library opened in 1743 and is the
oldest continuously operating library in the country. And your
visit really uplifted all the people that were there, all the
volunteers. As you well know, there are many, many volunteers
that are there. And, again, I want to thank you. They still
can't stop talking about your visit there. And, again, the
oldest library in the country.
How do community libraries like the Darby Library benefit
from the strategic plan?
Ms. Hayden. What has been heartening--and the visit to
Darby was one example--the idea in communities throughout this
country--and I have been visiting different States and going to
rural areas. I have been in Illinois and West Virginia and
Arkansas and Mississippi. In all of the States, whenever I go--
and Ohio and Michigan, and I can keep going--every time I talk
about the Veterans History Project, being able to have local
veterans record their histories, talking about live-streaming
programming from the Library of Congress, traveling exhibits,
expanding the reach, putting the digitized collections--people
throughout this country are proud to know that the Library of
Congress can serve them, and they are very excited, because it
allows community libraries to focus on their specific community
needs and know that they have this wonderful resource at their
fingertips available to them.
So that has been the real synergy. And there is a real
hunger in the country to really take ownership and say, ``Wow,
the Library of Congress.'' And people are also saying, ``You
would come to us.'' And that is what we really want to expand,
that access, and let everyone know that the Library of Congress
serves the American people.
Mr. Brady. And how will this plan benefit people if they
use the Library day to day? How will constituents using Library
resources or a librarian working within the Library of
Congress, a staffer working within the CRS, benefit? How do
they benefit because of this reorganization?
Ms. Hayden. Each of the service units--and Ms. Houghton
mentioned that--are developing their unit plans that will be
very focused on their particular users.
So the Congressional Research Service will be looking at
their users, the Congress and staff, and how they can make sure
that those services are more efficient and effective and really
taking care of that.
The copyright community and the creators, how can those
operations be modernized and more responsive.
And, of course, library services, the real heart of the
collections, would be focused on researchers, scholars, young
people.
All of the service units will be focused on their
particular users.
Mr. Brady. Thank you, Doctor, and thank you for your
service.
And I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Mr. Brady yields back.
The Chair will now recognize the Vice Chairman of the
Committee, Mr. Davis, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Davis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Brady.
I also thank you, Dr. Hayden. I appreciate all you have
done at the Library. And since they have asked you a lot of
questions, I am going to move over to Mr. Hyde. But I want to
tell you I appreciate you coming to my district not too long
ago and touting the successes of the Library. So thank you for
your work.
Ms. Hayden. Thank you.
Mr. Davis. Inspector Hyde, thank you, also, again for being
here today. Inspector generals, by nature, often live a
professionally friendless existence, and I hope that is not the
case with you. But we appreciate your commitment to a sound and
transparent Library of Congress operation.
Your office has flagged the Library's strategic planning
for years, as seen in your most recent report released just a
week and a half ago. My question is simple: What has the
Library been lacking? And why did it take so long for somebody
like Director Houghton to be brought onboard?
Mr. Hyde. Yes, thank you for the question. I think that
what had been lacking--and this is what is encouraging about
what we are seeing so far, because it is different--it is top-
down leadership. Strategic planning is all about top-down
leadership. And there needs to be a persistent focus on that.
And it is not the most exciting thing, in a lot of
respects, for execution, because you are talking about it
daily, weekly, monthly with, you know, with the executives, and
you are making sure that there is--we talked about the
intricacies here, about the delivery to the user, and it can be
very complex. So it is important that everybody stays focused
and on target.
Mr. Davis. OK.
Along that same line, Inspector Hyde, what insights can you
share with this Committee about the Library's strategic
planning efforts over the last year and a half?
And we are nearing the completion of the plan, and are you
satisfied with the process by which the Library constructed its
plan? And do you believe it adhered to the best practices
practiced by other large libraries, cultural institutions, or
government agencies?
Mr. Hyde. I am very encouraged. And I think what doesn't
show up when you actually see the strategic plan itself, the
document itself--it can be a few pages long--is you don't see
all the effort that went into putting it together. And we have
been very encouraged by the effort by the Library of putting it
together, identifying their users and, in addition, I think,
the things that they need to put in place in order to make sure
the execution over the next 5 to 10 years takes place.
So I am very encouraged.
Mr. Davis. Well, I am glad you are encouraged. I am too.
And, frankly, that is good to hear from you, because when my
librarians that we met with in Rochester, Illinois, with Dr.
Hayden, came to see her, they had fans. They said, ``I am a
Carla Hayden fan.'' I still have one, and I am too.
Mr. Hyde. Do they have one for me too?
Mr. Davis. Yes.
Well, last, I want to ask, once this plan is released, do
you have any concerns with the Library's ability to implement
it and execute it? And does the Library have the proper
leadership and tools at their disposal to make sure this plan
gets executed?
Mr. Hyde. I think they are on the right track. I think they
are developing the tools. I think that there are some new areas
of focus, which they have had before, but I think it is a
concentration, which, for example, is on identifying the users.
The important thing there is to collect good user
information. We all go through surveys, periodic surveys. That
is what it is, and so how do you collect that information, how
do you analyze it, and then how do you make changes to your
delivery.
That is going to be new for them, and I think they are
going to need some resources there. And I think, also, they are
going to need resources in executing on their strategic plan.
Mr. Davis. Well, thank you.
And thank you all for being here today.
I will yield back the balance of my time.
The Chairman. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair would now recognize Ms. Lofgren for 5 minutes.
Ms. Lofgren. Well, thank you very much. And it is pretty
clear from all the witnesses that we are very much on the right
track here, and that is very good news.
Just a couple of, I don't want to say small questions, but
picky questions.
The publication of CRS reports has occasioned some
criticism. I am not suggesting I agree with all the criticisms.
But I am wondering, Dr. Hayden, I received a letter, or a
missive, from Demand Progress suggesting various alternatives
to the website that might be more cost-effective.
I know the Demand Progress people; they are very capable.
Have you met with them or would you be willing to sit down with
them and get their suggestions firsthand and see whether any of
them would actually work for the Library?
Ms. Hayden. The CRS reports and the mandate to make the R-
class available is on track to be launched in--and I have the
date--September 18th of this coming year. And we have
considered as many things as we can to make sure that timeline
is being met. And so being able to incorporate any other
information, I think, would be helpful, but we are definitely
going to be on track for----
Ms. Lofgren. Right.
Ms. Hayden [continuing]. That September 18th----
Ms. Lofgren. Well, what maybe I can do then is just give
you the material that was sent to me----
Ms. Hayden. That would be helpful.
Ms. Lofgren [continuing]. And you can, you know----
Ms. Hayden. Right.
Ms. Lofgren [continuing]. Evaluate that. I do think,
though, in terms of their digital experience, it is quite
extensive.
And I wanted to ask you a question about the Copyright
Office. They are part of this whole modernization effort, which
is excellent.
On the 1201 exemption rulemaking, you announced a
streamlined process that would allow a petitioner to file a
simple five-page petition for renewal. I think that is a
tremendous improvement over past practices and will save
everybody a lot of time on stuff where there is really no
disagreement.
What I am wondering is can this process be streamlined even
further. For instance, could the Library itself take on the
role of petitioning the Copyright Office to renew exemptions
rather than making companies or universities do it?
And does the Copyright Office even need petitions to renew
exemptions? If I recall correctly, the basis of the Office's de
novo review of exemptions comes from report language of just
one of three committees of jurisdiction on a substantially
different bill, and that was ultimately stripped out of the
final bill report.
So I am wondering--what comes to mind, for example, is the
exemption for the use of the blind. Nobody is objecting, you
know, and yet it is this huge process and dustup, and it is
just a waste of time. And I am wondering if you have looked at
that or whether you could look at the de novo review process as
I have outlined here.
Ms. Hayden. Thank you for bringing that up, because I want
to take this opportunity to say that Acting Register Temple is
doing an outstanding job. And she is actually now considering,
for the record, each of the proposed and new expanded
exemption----
Ms. Lofgren. And I didn't mean to downplay the
improvements, because they are excellent. I just wanted----
Ms. Hayden. Right. But she is actually considering that,
and I understand that her recommendations will be available in
late October of this calendar year. And so, in her role, that
is her role, to actually advise.
Ms. Lofgren. Very good.
I am wondering--and very quickly, on the Law Library, I
know that we have made some changes there. And the question is
whether the Law Library will continue to play the role that it
has traditionally with the changes that have been made.
The Law Library plays an enormous, important role, not just
for the United States but for the world. For example, when
Afghanistan finally emerged from the , the only place in the
world that had their laws was the Library of Congress----
Ms. Hayden. Yes.
Ms. Lofgren [continuing]. Law Library.
Ms. Hayden. The Law Library of the Library of Congress, a
separate service unit, is the world's largest and most
comprehensive collection of legal resources. And it is entirely
devoted to making sure that those materials and resources are
available not only to Congress but also some of the Federal
judicial system as well.
And the reporting structure in the Library, the alignment,
is to make sure that the Law Library, like the other service
units--Copyright and CRS--can concentrate on their mission-
specific activities. So they will continue to be independent.
They will have their own management of their collections and
will operationally function the way they are now.
Ms. Lofgren. That is great. Thank you so much for the
great----
Ms. Hayden. Oh, that is a wonderful----
Ms. Lofgren [continuing]. Work you have done, Dr. Hayden.
Ms. Hayden. That is a wonderful library.
Ms. Lofgren. Yes. Thank you.
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. The gentlewoman yields back.
The Chair will now recognize Mr. Loudermilk for 5 minutes
for questions.
Mr. Loudermilk. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you all for being here today. Especially I appreciate
the work, as a frequent user of the Library. I do value our
Library of Congress and am a strong advocate to make sure that
it is there for the needs of Congress, especially in the time
where knowledge is very important.
And coming from an IT background, I have worked with many
companies in implementing strategic plans, and I know the value
of it.
One thing I appreciate, Dr. Hayden, is the lack of overdue
fees for Members of Congress. And I promise the book will be
back before we go on our August break. And I appreciate the
prompt service that we get with Congressional Research Service
and even from the Library, or stacks, I believe, as you guys
call it.
Inspector Hyde, a couple of questions for you.
First of all, I appreciate all of our inspector generals,
the corps of inspector generals that we have, because I know,
in serving on several other committees, quite often the
inspector general is not looked upon in a very favorable light
by those. And looking from your background, you have been into
a lot of organizations that, just from looking at your bio, I
anticipate you had a lot of work to do in especially
eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse, and I appreciate that kind
of work.
In your testimony, you mentioned that, I believe it was
since 2011, there has been a need for the strategic plan. Is
that about the time you came on?
Mr. Hyde. No. I came on in 2014.
Mr. Loudermilk. OK.
Mr. Hyde. Or 2013. And so--but it had already been--not
just strategic planning, but performance management had been
discussed for quite some time, the changes that were needed at
the Library.
Mr. Loudermilk. Was there a strategic plan before 2011?
Mr. Hyde. There were strategic plans or what they would
call strategic plans, but then I think the issue was, you know,
as far as execution of those plans.
Mr. Loudermilk. OK. So there was a strategic plan in place,
but----
Mr. Hyde. There--I am sorry. Go ahead.
Mr. Loudermilk. I am just saying, there was a strategic
plan in place? Forgive me.
Mr. Hyde. The challenge for the Library was there were fits
and starts, you know, is what I would say. So they would have a
strategic plan, then there would be no execution or little
execution of that strategic plan, and then they would have a
new, something that could be construed as a strategic plan and,
again, no to little execution. I think this is where it was
fits and starts.
But they would have, underneath that, they would have
initiatives, major initiatives, leading up to--before Dr.
Hayden came onboard, there was a strategic plan that was
crafted, and primarily by that leadership--it was an interim
leadership--to try to just keep the Library moving forward
until there was a new Librarian put in place.
Mr. Loudermilk. OK. So that is the strategic plan that is--
the 2011 to 2017 that is currently out there?
Mr. Hyde. That was the--I think it was the 2016 through the
2020 plan that was put----
Mr. Loudermilk. OK. But there is a plan that was dated 2011
to 2017.
Mr. Hyde. Right. I believe----I have to check on that. I
will go back and look at our working papers and get back to you
on that. But I think that there may have been something----
Mr. Loudermilk. OK. I have a copy of it, so----
Mr. Hyde. Oh, OK. Sorry about that.
Mr. Loudermilk. And my question is getting to, really, what
was the need for a new strategic plan. Was it the strategic
plan that was flawed, or was it just a lack of implementation?
Mr. Hyde. I think it was a combination. The things that we
have stated in the past on strategic planning was that there
were insufficient outcome-oriented goals that were in prior
strategic plans or documents that related to that. Certainly,
what we have identified as the execution of that--as you
probably know, it takes a lot of dogged effort throughout many
years to execute on those goals, and I think that is what we
were finding was the problem.
Mr. Loudermilk. OK.
And just one last question, because I see the yellow light
is on. And I can submit the other ones for the record that we
have for follow up. But in the new strategic plan, does the
mission statement change at all?
Mr. Hyde. The mission statement--no. I have been updated on
this, but I think that the mission statement--they have re-
looked at that mission statement and added other elements to
it, if I recall correctly. And I can----
Mr. Loudermilk. OK. I appreciate it, because I know the
mission statement, at least in the 2011, was to support the
Congress in fulfilling its constitutional duties and to further
the progress of knowledge and creativity for the benefit of the
American people.
I just want to make sure that we are still focused on the
core element, that the Library of Congress exists predominantly
to support Congress. But I also applaud the other things that
we are doing, especially if the strategic plan is generally
guided to incorporate the new technologies that we have. So
that is really where I was kind of getting with the questions.
With that, I see my time has expired. Mr. Chairman, I will
yield and just submit the other follow up questions for the
record.
The Chairman. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair will now recognize Mr. Raskin for 5 minutes for
questioning.
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chairman, thank you kindly.
So the focus of the strategic plan, as I am reading it, is
to advance a user-centered vision of the Library of Congress.
And I am wondering how much of this effort is digital in nature
versus work on the traditional pre-digital Library of Congress.
I don't know if, Dr. Hayden, you want to take the first
slice of that.
Ms. Hayden. Information technology is seen as a tool and a
way of implementing providing services to any type of user--
modernizing the copyright registration process. It is seen as a
tool in terms of digitizing unique and special collections;
outreach.
And so the effort in terms of digital--there is digital
collecting--will be making sure that we are able to ingest
things that are born digital. There is digitizing unique items,
as well as using technology in the most effective way.
So it is not a ``versus.''
Mr. Raskin. Yes.
Ms. Hayden. It is actually a way to provide more access and
to preserve and conserve as well.
Mr. Raskin. So, really, the vast majority of the resources
would go into electronic means of delivering information to
people?
Ms. Hayden. Well, what is really interesting and unique
about the Library of Congress, the world's largest library,
with so many formats, from film, to those unique manuscripts,
to diaries, all types of formats, is that technology and
delivery of the resources and services will not--it will be
balanced. And so, for instance, in terms of the unique
collection items that we have, most of those will still be in
analog form----
Mr. Raskin. Uh-huh.
Ms. Hayden[continuing]. Because that is the way they are.
So it will be a balance. We won't see an entirely electronic
Library of Congress.
Mr. Raskin. So help me conceptualize who the user is. Or
how do you guys conceptualize who the user is? And, you know,
what fraction of the users encounter the Library just online
versus enter the doors and work there?
Ms. Hayden. In terms of physical visits to the Library of
Congress, the three buildings that are on the Capitol campus--
the Jefferson Building, Adams, as well as the Madison--that is
approximately 1.8 million people that walk through those doors
a year.
In terms of electronic use of the website, over 300 million
uses of the Library of Congress website.
And so that gives you a sense of the physical.
There is also the Culpeper facility, and there are people
who are utilizing that, coming for programming and other
things. And the National Library for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped. And then there is also the operation of the
copyright process, and those are significant numbers as well.
Mr. Raskin. Terrific.
OK. I am going to yield back, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. The gentleman yields back.
I want to thank each of you for being here as we continue
our oversight of the Library of Congress and get a chance to
get these updates.
As a point of personal privilege, I have 5 more months and
a few days left, and I will truly miss my role with the Library
of Congress. Dr. Hayden, you have been a joy to work with. We
look forward to the future.
With that and without objection, all Members will have 5
legislative days to submit to the chair additional written
questions for the witnesses.
And should you get those written questions, we would ask
that you respond as soon as you could so that those answers can
be made a part of the record.
[The information follows:]
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The Chairman. Without objection, this hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:24 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]