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items are stacked on the floors throughout the decks, with hundreds more being placed on the floor daily. Every day, more than 1,200 new items arrive that must be accommodated in the John Adams and the Thomas Jefferson building stacks. When Fort Meade Module 1 is completed, the Library will begin transferring 4,000 items per day from the John Adams and the Thomas Jefferson buildings to Fort Meade, Maryland. Six months after this transfer begins, the Library proposes to initiate a four-year program to shift the collections remaining in the John Adams and the Thomas Jefferson buildings to relieve overcrowding and to serve better current and proposed reading room locations. The project requires not only the direct shifting of these collections, but also the integration of significant quantities of material now on the floor and housed in overflow areas. Approximately 16 million volumes will need to be shifted, as well as the entire collection of microfilm and microfiche. Although this program must be done according to a specific logical sequence, it is imperative that it be done as expeditiously as possible because the stacks are overcrowded and much new material cannot now be properly accommodated.

$939,099 and 9 FTEs to support folklife heritage and access During fiscal 2000, the American Folklife Center (AFC) developed a three-year strategic plan that addresses its core mission. This plan was ratified by the AFC's Board of Trustees at its spring 2000 meeting, and the Library's fiscal 2002 budget request responds to the goals and objectives that were outlined and approved for the AFC. Additional resources would increase documentation of unique American folk culture and the

processing and preservation of and public access to the outstanding archival

holdings of the AFC, which comprise more than 1.5 million items.

The Congress in October 2000 directed by unanimous vote (P.L. 106-380) that the

AFC establish an oral history program to collect video and audio histories of veterans of our Armed Forces who served during a period of war. The budget request includes a modest request of $249,776 to begin developing the nationwide partnership program called for in the authorizing legislation. The Library is consulting with the congressional sponsors, veterans, and with military service organizations to develop appropriate partnerships, including the active participation of Members of Congress. But at least this much money is needed to embark upon this immense project.

• $709,831 for improved physical control of the collections - To accomplish greater physical control, the Library proposes to contract for security officers (contract guards) to permit expanded security for three more reading rooms than are now covered, to open two additional cloakrooms, and to establish security at the Library's off-site collections storage site at Fort Meade. All of these physical security steps are essential elements of the Library's collections security plan.

• $250,000 and 1 FTE to support the new National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-474, approved November 9, 2000) -- The Library is requesting $250,000 to establish the new National Recording Registry and to implement the comprehensive national sound recording preservation program. The position is required to provide research and administrative support for the new National

Recording Preservation Board and implement the national sound recording

preservation program.

-Law Library

The Law Library of Congress maintains the largest collection of legal materials in the world and also houses a unique body of lawyers trained in foreign legal systems to supply legal research and analysis, primarily for the Congress, on the laws of other nations, international law, and comparative law. More than 200 jurisdictions are covered by Law Library specialists, representing some 80 percent of the sovereign entities of the world that issue laws and regulations. The Law Library uses this talent to maintain and develop the breadth and depth of a demanding collection. In addition to the Congress, the U.S. Courts, and the executive branch, the legal community depends heavily on the Law Library's collections and the unique expertise of its foreign legal staff. The Law Library's staff of American-trained attorney-librarians plays a similarly critical role in providing reference services to the U.S. Congress whenever either chamber is in session (as mandated by 2 U.S.C. § 138).

The Library is requesting a program increase of $1,030,388, primarily for expanding the use of contract support (in those areas where it has proven to be more cost-effective than hiring in-house staff) to improve the processing, access, and security of the Law Library collections, which now totals approximately one-eight of the Library's total book collection. The Law Library needs additional contract resources to process the average annual check-in of 150,000 items a year and to maintain and make this unsurpassed collection accessible for meeting legal information needs of the Congress and the nation. The existing staff of eight technicians is inadequate to maintain services

and make available a collection of 2.3 million volumes. Contractor support will provide the following essential collections maintenance activities: consistent shelf-reading (for collections in the book stacks, the Law Library reading room and five research directorate reference collections); prompt shelving of new acquisitions and reshelving of circulated items (more than 200,000 annually); shifting of the collections; filing in various formats; annual review; weeding or reassignment of materials; and timely revision of affected LC ILS holdings records. In addition, contract funding is requested for coverage of the Law Library's microform collection during public service hours and to monitor increasing use of the foreign law research divisions' collections.

- Copyright Office

The Library's Copyright Office promotes creativity and effective copyright protection -- annually processing approximately 580,000 claims, of which more than 515,000 are registered for copyright. More than 752,000 works were transferred to the Library during fiscal 2000, with an estimated value of $32 million. The Office also annually records approximately 18,500 documents with up to 400,000 titles and responds annually to more than 380,000 requests for information.

The Library requests a decrease in the Copyright Office's Offsetting Collections Authority - from $23,500,000 to $21,880,000. The $1,620,000 decrease in Offsetting Collections Authority is based on projected annual registration receipts of $21,500,000 and the use of $380,000 from the Copyright Office no-year account.

The Copyright Office no-year receipt account balance totals $4,289,000 as of September 30, 2000. Because registration receipts could be $2 million less than the authorized level ($23.5 million) during fiscal 2001, the no-year receipt account balance

could drop to $2,289,000 as of September 30, 2001. The Copyright Office proposes that the no-year receipt account balance of $2,289,000 at the start of fiscal 2002 be used for information technology planning and development and to implement business process reengineering. The Library believes that the fees collected from the public that are in excess of current needs (i.e., the no-year account funds) should be retained for the significant automation improvements that will be essential to enhance service to the copyright community. The proposed receipts level of $21,880,000, is based upon the above projections and the retention of no-year funds for the future.

The Copyright Office is in the process of assessing the current fee schedule to determine if fee adjustments are warranted in fiscal 2002. Even if the Office were to implement a fee increase on July 1, 2002, it would not now (as it did not in fiscal 1999) impact the year in which the change was effected (i.e., fiscal 2002).

In fiscal 2000, the Copyright Office began a business process reengineering (BPR) project to study its major business processes. Using new technology, the Copyright Office is planning to improve customer service and enhance operational efficiency and security of the materials. The Copyright Office anticipates that major changes will be made over a period of several years after the study is completed later this year. The Library is requesting an increase of $644,000 to implement the BPR study, including $380,000 from Copyright Office no-year funds and $264,000 from the furniture and furnishings appropriation.

By implementing its collections security process of marking and tagging in a more cost-effective manner, the Copyright Office saved $620,000 in fiscal 2001. The Library has forwarded a reprogramming request to the Committee to authorize

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