DEFINING A FEDERAL ROLE FOR LIBRARIES:The Library Improvement Act

In the history of federal programs for libraries — from their conception in the 1930s through their inception in the '50s until now — the consistency of issues and controversies has been striking, especially in the last 20 years. Everything significant being said now about federal programs for libraries was being said a decade ago. Everything librarians are seeking they've sought before. Everything being proposed in the administration's new library initiative has been adumbrated. The lines have been long drawn, the arguments mustered.