[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 43 (Tuesday, April 19, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK

 Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, this week from April 17-23 we are 
celebrating the 36th anniversary of ``National Library Week.'' As a 
strong and vigorous supporter of Federal initiatives to strengthen and 
protect libraries, I rise to draw my colleagues' attention to this 
important event and to take a few moments to reflect on the 
significance of libraries to our Nation.
  When the free public library came into its own in this country in the 
19th century, it was from the beginning a unique institution because it 
was committed to the same principle of free and open exchange of ideas 
as the Constitution itself. Libraries have always been an integral part 
of all that our country embodies: freedom of information, an educated 
citizenry, and an open and enlightened society. They are the only 
public agencies in which the services rendered are intended for, and 
available to, every segment of our society.
  It has been my longstanding view that libraries play an indispensable 
role in our communities. From modest beginnings in the mid-19th 
century, today's libraries provide well-stocked reference centers and 
wideranging loan services based on a system of branches, often further 
supplemented by travelling libraries serving outlying districts. They 
promote the reading of books among adults, adolescents, and children 
and provide material and reference centers where every citizen may 
obtain reliable information on a vast array of topics.
  Libraries gain even further significance in an age of rapid 
technological advancement where they are called upon to provide not 
only books and periodicals, but many other things as well. In today's 
society, libraries provide audio-visual materials, computer services, 
facilities for community lectures and performances, tapes, records, 
videocassettes, and works of art for exhibit and loan to the public. In 
addition, special facilities libraries provide services for older 
Americans, people with disabilities, and hospitalized citizens.
  Of course, libraries are not merely passive repositories of 
materials. They are engines of learning--the place where a spark is 
often struck for disadvantaged citizens who for whatever reason have 
not had exposure to the vast stores of knowledge available. I have the 
greatest respect for those individuals who are members of the library 
community and work so hard to ensure that our citizens and communities 
continue to enjoy the tremendous rewards available through our library 
system.
  My own State of Maryland has 24 public library systems providing a 
full range of library services to all Maryland citizens and a long 
tradition of open and unrestricted sharing of resources. This policy 
has been enhanced by the State Library Network which provides 
interlibrary loans to the State's public, academic, special libraries, 
the school library media centers. The network receives strong support 
from the State Library Resource Center at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, 
the Regional Library Resource Centers in western, southern, and Eastern 
Shore counties, and a statewide database of library holdings of over 
140 libraries.
  The result of this unique joint State-county resource sharing is an 
extraordinary level of library services available to the citizens of 
Maryland. Marylanders have responded to this outstanding service by 
borrowing more public library materials per person than citizens of 
almost any other State, with 67 percent of the State's population 
registered as library patrons.
  I have had a close working relationship with members of the Maryland 
Library Association and others involved in the library community 
throughout the State, and I am very pleased to join with them and 
citizens throughout the Nation in this week's celebration of National 
Library Week. I look forward to a continued close association with 
those who enable libraries to provide the unique and vital services 
available to each and every one of us.

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