Summary, Detailed Analysis of Change, Schedule C

Total Funds Available - All Sources

Table of Contents

Salaries and Expenses, Library of Congress (continued)

Salaries and Expenses, Books for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

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Justification Supplement - Capital Improvement Projects Through the Architect of the Capitol

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS FISCAL YEAR 2001 BUDGET REQUEST

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT BY THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS

On April 24, 2000, the Library will be 200 years old. It is the oldest Federal cultural institution in the United States
and the largest and most inclusive library in human history. In pursuit of its mission (see attachment 1) to make its resources
available and useful to the Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge
and creativity, the Library has amassed an unparalleled collection of 119 million items, a superbly knowledgeable staff, and cost-
effective networks for gathering in the world's knowledge for the nation's good.

On the brink of the third millennium and the Library's third century, we ask the Congress to support the Library's new
leadership role in delivering free electronic information to the nation. Funding for the Library's five-year pioneering National
Digital Library initiative ends in fiscal 2000. We are proposing to build on this overwhelmingly successful program; and we have
developed the Library's Digital Futures initiative: an overall strategy for the Library's electronic future and an appropriate budget
request for fiscal 2001. With Congressional support, our goal is to begin building a new kind of 21st century library for all
Americans - the National On-line Library.

The Internet is creating a profound, fundamental shift in the way people communicate. An estimated 100 million
Americans are now users, and further world-wide exponential growth seems inevitable. This change in the way in which
knowledge and information are transmitted is producing dramatic alterations in the workplace and in our daily lives. The impact

of these changes

understanding
their meaning for
socely
institution extraordinary mission driven

communications era offers this unique

However. " opportunities to achieve

new levels of cost

effective service to the Congress for its legislative work and to citizens in every congressional district. The Library is a proven and dependable Internet site for primary source material and other major offerings: Thomas, American Memory, the catalog, copyright information, and much more. electronic transactions every working day. materials about our heritage, American Memory.

Our web site now receives an average of four million

The cornerstone of our on-line information for the nation is the primary source
This award-winning site demonstrates how the Library's services will be

gly made available to serve national needs in the future. An estimated 90 percent of K-12 public schools are now nternet, with most schools having direct access in the classroom. The tidal wave of Internet growth coincides

of these changes far outpaces our understanding of their meaning for society. However, it is already clear that the new
communications era offers this unique institution extraordinary mission-driven opportunities to achieve new levels of cost-
effective service to the Congress for its legislative work and to citizens in every congressional district.

The Library is a proven and dependable Internet site for primary source material and other major offerings: Thomas,
American Memory, the catalog, copyright information, and much more. Our web site now receives an average of four million
electronic transactions every working day. The cornerstone of our on-line information for the nation is the primary source
materials about our heritage, American Memory. This award-winning site demonstrates how the Library's services will be
increasingly made available to serve national needs in the future. An estimated 90 percent of K-12 public schools are now
connected to the Internet, with most schools having direct access in the classroom. The tidal wave of Internet growth coincides
with a growing, and increasingly insatiable demand for access to high-quality primary materials. Congress's Library is the world
leader in providing such material -- and is almost alone in providing it both free of charge and with authoritative explanatory
material. Congressional vision and support have uniquely positioned its library to make a major contribution towards the
nation's educational development and future productivity -- and to provide a dividend to taxpayers resulting from the investment
they have made over 200 years in the Library's massive collections.

The first fiscal year of the 21st century -- 2001 -- will be a critical one for permanently putting into place the people
and systems support required to respond to the ever-increasing flood of demand for information. We are ready to use the