[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 19, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E697]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE ROLE OF LIBRARIES IN HEALTH COMMUNICATION

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                     HON. JOHN J.H. ``JOE'' SCHWARZ

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 19, 2005

  Mr. SCHWARZ of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention 
to the role of libraries in addressing the health information needs of 
the American people. In doing so, I also recognize the U.S. National 
Commission on Libraries and Information Science, NCLIS, for its efforts 
in encouraging libraries to play a key role in educating American 
citizens about healthy lifestyles.
  The Commission is a pennanent, independent agency of the United 
States Government, established with Public Law 91-345, 20 U.S.C. 150 et 
seq. signed July 20, 1970. The law includes the following statement of 
policy:

       Sec. 2. The Congress hereby affirms that library and 
     information services adequate to meet the needs of the people 
     of the United States are essential to achieve national goals 
     and to utilize most effectively the Nation's educational 
     resources and that the Federal Government will cooperate with 
     State and local governments and public and private agencies 
     in assuring optimum provision of such services.

  The Commission's purpose is stated in the legislation: ``The 
Commission shall have the primary responsibility for developing or 
recommending overall plans for, and advising the appropriate 
governments and agencies on, the policy set forth in section 2.'' As 
its first function, the Commission is charged to advise the President 
and the Congress on the implementation of national policy with respect 
to library and information science.
  One of the Commission's current goals is to strengthen the relevance 
of the libraries and information science in the lives of the American 
people. Toward this goal, the Commission has undertaken an initiative 
designed to recognize libraries as their communities' knowledge source 
for consumer health information.
  The overarching objective of this initiative, referred to as the 
NCLIS Libraries and Health Communication Initiative, is to identify 
best practices in libraries that excel in providing health information, 
and to publish these best practices for the benefit of all library 
managers and information providers. As part of this effort, and to meet 
its statutory responsibility, the Commission will then provide policy 
advice to the President and the Congress recommending how national 
policy in this area can be implemented.
  In order to identify best practices, the Commission has developed an 
awards program that recognizes libraries that have successfully created 
or participated in exemplary programs in the delivery of consumer 
health information. On May 2, at a reception at the National 
Agricultural Library in Beltsville, MD the Commission will announce a 
major award. This award, the 2006 NCLIS Health Award for Libraries, is 
designed to mobilize the resources of libraries to help citizens learn 
how to live healthy lifestyles and to provide citizens with consumer 
health information, particularly when they require health information 
in a critical or unusual situation. The purpose of the award is to 
encourage libraries to put forward their best efforts in matching the 
Nation's critical need for authoritative, unbiased, and readily 
available consumer health information with a practical means of 
responding to that need. Libraries in every community are already 
providing citizens with a wide variety of consumer-focused information. 
The provision of consumer health information falls naturally in 
libraries' information-delivery function.
  This Commission initiative is of particular benefit to the American 
people, for it provides citizens with quality consumer health 
information through their libraries, trusted sources of information 
that are already acknowledged and respected for the quality of the 
information they provide. We already know that health information that 
results in lifestyle improvements lowers costs for health care. 
Additionally, the initiative will benefit the entire library and 
information science profession and related profession, businesses, and 
industries, as it provides documented best practices that can be 
adapted and replicated and, when required, customized for particular 
local needs. As stated above, a specific product of the initiative will 
be the development of a recommended statement of policy on the subject 
of libraries as health communication centers for American citizens, to 
be delivered to the President and the Congress as required by Pub. L. 
91-345.

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