Chart 6

Chart 7

NATIONAL LIBRARY SERVICE FOR THE BLIND AND PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED
Library of Congress

SELECTED TRENDS IN PROGRAM ACTIVITY

Readershipl

Circulation2

Production-Books 3

Braille:

Titles

Volumes

Recorded Disc:4

Titles

Containers

Recorded Cassette:

Chart 8

Readership totals include braille, recorded disc, and recorded cassette users.

Refers to volumes and containers. Includes books and magazines.

3 Excludes volunteer-produced materials.

4 Phased out.

5 Percent change from inception.

N/A Not Applicable

2/90

BOOKS FOR THE BLIND AND PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED

Question. You estimate 158,000 machines will be repaired in FY 1991. How many machines are in use? Where are these repairs made?

Response. The total inventory of sound reproduction units assigned to patrons, or pending assignment, at machine-lending agencies as of December 31, 1989, was:

It is estimated that in FY 1991 a total of 812,000 machines will be in use. Machines are repaired by four commercial facilities, identified by competitive bid and operating under contract to the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped; 3,000 volunteers from the professional electronic industry community; and paid staff members in approximately 80 machine-lending agencies in the network of cooperating libraries.

Question. How many new machines go out each year?

Response. New machines distributed to patrons vary each year depending upon the number of partrons who come into the program and how many machines are retired from service. From 1985 to 1989 our average annual readership change has been +11,100-a total of 44,300. In addition each year approximately 12 percent of our patrons leave the program through death or other causes. New patrons take their place. In 1989 NLS/BPH distributed 41,700 new machines.

RESTORATION AND RENOVATION

Mr. FAZIO. I would like to touch on a couple other items. One is the restoration project. Can you give us an update on the status of that project? Phase I is closing to completion, I gather.

Are you satisfied so far with the results? When I say you, I mean the corporate you. I am sure some are more satisfied than others? Dr. BILLINGTON. It has been a very complex process. We are pleased that it is moving along. The main reading room we hoped to have it ready for opening this spring. It looks like it will be the fall.

So there are the usual sort of slight delays.

Mr. FAZIO. When was it originally scheduled to reopen?

Dr. BILLINGTON. About now, February of this year. Then we would have to do some refurnishing, reconditioning. It was supposed to come on stream in the late spring or early summer. Now it looks like probably the fall.

Mr. FAZIO. What happened?

Dr. BILLINGTON. Complications with the painting, I think, were largely responsible.

Mr. Trew can speak in more detail to this. In general, we are running a little behind but pretty well up with Phase I getting ready for the phase two process.

Mr. White faces many complexities and unanticipated problems. We are very sympathetic with him and work closely with him.

Mr. FAZIO. I didn't dwell on this with Mr. White. Isn't Phase I almost two years behind?

Mr. TREW. More over this course of the project.

Mr. FAZIO. I shouldn't say Phase I. The entire project is two years behind schedule.

Dr. BILLINGTON. Not the way it was originally described to me. Mr. TREW. From the original dates, yes. They ran into a lot of problems, as you probably know, in the Jefferson Building, particu

larly with asbestos and have encountered numerous other things they hadn't anticipated.

Mr. FAZIO. Some of this was the difficulty of getting people to relocate within the library, too; wasn't it?

Mr. TREW. In some cases when renovation work created hazards. Mr. FAZIO. The Architect would probably begin there. You may end there. That is part of the picture; isn't it?

Mr. TREW. It has been very difficult for us to occupy half a building with things going on in the other half. For instance, in the book stacks now the temperatures are up in the Jefferson book stacks to 91 degrees and a little beyond. We have actually had to close them. That is because they are working on some of those air conditioning units. It has not been a clean process.

We would have preferred to do it all a building at a time.

Dr. BILLINGTON. It is very difficult to do a process like this both in terms of the efficient functioning of the restoration and in terms of maintaining good human conditions.

The asbestos wasn't anticipated. The problems of heating up in the stacks wasn't anticipated.

Mr. FAZIO. What is causing the high temperatures?

Dr. BILLINGTON. They don't have air conditioning systems yet. You block off large parts of it. It is a very complex building. The Main Reading Room, for instance, when it is redone it will be quite spectacular. You will have equipment for computational activity, kind of digital machinery and hook up there. At the same time, we are preserving the old card catalog for those who are as attached as I am and many scholars are.

Mr. FAZIO. It will be relocated?

Dr. BILLINGTON. It will be in a bay right off the reading room. It will be easily accessible. We will have glass partitions in there that will prevent noise, permit people to have the vistas of that marvelous main reading room, but will block off some of the noise that visitors and people asking questions will have produced. I think it will be worth waiting for.

Most of the delays that have occurred at least while I have been on the watch on this thing have been insofar as the Library—you question about the Library personnel are concerned-have really been the result of concerns about unanticipated discoveries of asbestos, making 100 percent sure we had that all sealed off, dealing with the temperature problems that are created by an phased introduction of air conditioning, and soon.

PRESENCE OF ASBESTOS

Mr. FAZIO. Why didn't they know there was asbestos present? It doesn't make sense that the Architect was unaware of the problem. Mr. TREW. I think they knew it was there. They didn't know the extent. When they were looking in the mechanical rooms, for instance, they expected it. When they got around to doing some of the pipe chases, which are in long runs, they hadn't anticipated it would be quite so extensive there. They actually did a survey before they started the project.