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Molz, Kathleen, Coap.Reaching Out; Some Uf0E-Funded Programs and ProjectsThat Illustrate the Efforts of Public Libraries toAttract New Clientele.Bureau of Postsecondary Education (DHEW/OE),Washington, D.C. Div. of Library Programs.DHEW-OE-74-21105

.7425p.Superintendent of Documents, U.S . Government PrintingOffice, Washington, D.C. 20402 (Stock No. 1780-01274;$0.40)

EDES PRICE MF-$0.76 HC-$1.58 PLUS POSTAGEDESCRIPTORS *Community Service Programs; *Disadvantaged Groups;

Handicapped; Inner City; Library Materials; *LibraryPrograms; Library Services; Non English Speaking;Nursing Homes; Older Adults; *Outreach Programs

IDENTIFIERS *Library Services and Construction Act

ABSTRACTExamples are given of the ways that the states have

used funds from Title I of the Library Services and Construction Actto assist libraries in implementing outreach projects for the benefitof those who cannot easily avail themselves of ordinary service.Library outreach programs for inner-city residents; for non-Englishspeaking persons in New England, Hawaii, and California; for isolatedgroups in Alaska, the Ozarks, and the Appalachians; and for aged andhandicapped persons, including residents of nursing homes, aredescribed. (SK)

DHEW Publications No. (OE) 74-21105

ElEACI-IINC CUT

Some USOE-Funded Programs and Projects That Illustrate theEfforts of Public Libraries To Attract New Clientele

Compiled by Kathleen Molz and Staff of theDivision of Library Programs, U.S. Office of Education

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, ANDWELFARECaspar W. Weinberger, SecretaryCharles B. Saunders, Jr., ActingAssistant Secretary for Education

Office of EducationJohn Ottina, Commissioner

U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH,EDUCATION L WELFARENATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

EDUCATIONTHIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN PEN.°DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROMTHE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONSSTATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OFEDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY

501 COI tii01111.

DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED.- -No person in theUnited States shall, on the ground of race, color, or nationalorigin, be excluded from participation in, be denied thebenefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under anyprogram or activity receiving Federal financial assistance, orbe so treated on the basis of sex under most educationprograms or activities receiving Federal assistance,

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CUNTIENTSPage

Foreword iii

Palochillg Out vs) Tmicr-City Americans 1

Reaching Out to Geographically and Lin-guistically Isolated Americans 9

Reaching Out to Older, Handicapped, andInstitutionalized Americans 15

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1974

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, IJ.S. Government PrintingOffice Washington, D.C. 20402- Price 40 cents Stock Number 1780-01274

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IFIDIREWCIRID"Sec. 101. The Commissioner shall carry out a progfamof making grants . . to States . . fir making libraryservices more accessible to persons who by reason of distance,residence, or physical handicap, or other disadvantage,are unable to receive the benefits of public libraryservices regularly made available to the puiflic. . . ."

With the 1970 amendments, the Library Servicesand Construction Act (Public Law 91-600) confirmeda new dimension of public library service that fur-tner emphasized a user-oriented service rather than asupplier-oriented one. Fronting on the main streets ofcountless American towns, public libraries have beentraditionally open and available to the community.The library was known as the supplier of books andother learning resources for the housewife, the student,and the businessman, but the user had to seek out thelibrary. Public librarians, were more than eager toserve their clientele, but all too oxen the clients hadto discover the library for themselves.

Since the early sixties, concerned library adminis-trators have been reexamining their philosophy ofpublic service am'. in the process have extended anddirected their services outward into the community.Paperback books are in the neighborhood beauty shop

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and barbershop; the media mobile with films andbooks wends its way into the migrant workers' camp;and library storytellers choose to spin their tales onthe stoops of rowhouses in inner-city ghettos. This ex-tension of library service is called "outreach," andit is characterized by flexibility in terms of staffingpatterns, locations, and hours of service. It is alsocharacterized by the increasing social awareness ofthose who work in libraries that the library itselfmay not always prove the only place to bring learningand living together.

This brochure describes the ways that the Stateshave used funds under title I of the Library Servicesand Construction Act to assist libraries in implement-ing outreach projects for the benefit of those whocannot easily avail themselves of ordinary service. Theold, the prisoner, the handicapped and the shut-in,the economically and educationally disadvantaged,and the geographically and linguistically isolated areamong the thousands of Americans who are benefitingfrom these outreach projects.

Dick W. HaysActing DirectorDivision of Library Prog, .ms

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The traditional .ranch library in an American cityusually had a high charging desk situated dead centerin the building, an area to the right where adultbooks were housed, and an area to the left reservedfor the children. The construction of newer facilitieshas changed this rigid system of public service. Loungefurniture has replaced the hard-backed chairs, col-lections for both adults and children are sometimesinterfiled, and the charging desk has been gracefullyeased to the side, Unfortunately, many center citylibraries have not been able to replace all of theiroutmoded buildings, and as a consequence, the staidturn-of-the-century atmosphere does little to inviteand retain the would-be library user.

In an effort to redirect their services toward present-day users, public libraries in inner cities have beenexperimenting with new service outlets and deliverysystems. These include media mobiles that exploredowntown streets, audiovisual material and booksin day-care centers and housing projects serviced by

community residents, and storefront libraries andinformation centers.

Suvorted by Federal funds is the Co-Round inthe Borough of Queens in New York City. Two vansstocked with materials traverse depressed neighbor-hoods that have been selected because children arenot being reached by Head Start, day-care, or otherorganized programs. Community aides recruit thechildren to be on hand when the mobie units arrive

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on their blocks. The children's attitudes have improvedtoward books, reading, and school and, what isequally important, older siblings and parents aresharing an ,interest in reading on their own and areborrowing the more mature materials offered by theBorough's library system.

MORE (Making Our Reading Enjoyable) is the in-novative name chosen by the staff of the Chattanooga(Tenn.) Public Library for the bright yellow vanwhich services six day-care centers, two of which arelocated in Model Cities neighborhoods. Many of thechildren served by the mobile unit had never seenbooks in their homes nor had been read to by theirparents. In addition, commonplace items, such as ahorse saddle, fishing line, drum, or a stuffed animal,were not recognizable by the children. These articles,too, were introduced especially if the van's storytellerwished to tell them a tale dealing with objects. Filmsand filmstrips, shown within the van itself, affordlessons in safety, citizenship, and manners. Duringone observance of Black History Week the projectstaff conducted a program for preschool children onfamous black Americans. During the project's firstyear of operation, over 5,000 books were circulatedto these children, none of whom had ever borrowed a

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book before. In order to accommodate the needsof youngsters other than those in the day -care centers,the MORE van visits housing projects and communitycenters. Door-to-door contact in low-income neighbor-hoods enables the MORE staff to inform localresidents that books can be borrowed from the van.

In an effm ,. to prevent further abuses of drugs,the Connecticut State Library launched a mobiledrug information center in 1972. The mobile vanis called "Curious Alice," a name derived from thetitle of a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)film on drug abuse. In turn, NIMH had borrowed thetitle from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, thefamous story of a little girl who drank mysteriouspotions which made her either smaller or larger.Considered the first of its kind in the Nation, themobile unit stemmed from a cooperative venturelinking a number of agencies including the Con-necticut State Library, the State Department of MentalHealth, the State Drug Advisory Council, and theCapitol Regiol Drug Information Center, The mobileunit operates statewide, stopping at shopping centers,schools, or other community gathering places. Thevan carries books and audiovisual materials relatingto the drug and alcohol problem and affords informa-

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don on treatment centers and rehabilitative services inConnecticut. Some ma' -rials are also made availablein the Spanish language. During the first 4 monthsof its operation, the mobile unit visited 29 differentlocations with an attendance record of over 7,000people. Interest aroused by a visit of the mobile unitis followed pp by special exhibits and services inlocal libraries.

A target population of 100,000 economically dis-advantaged, people is being reached by the librarystations of the Kansas City Public Library in Missouri.

A boy's club, a church, a Community Action Programenter, a disused laundry room in a housing project,

a playground, and several schools in isolated neighbor-hoods all serve as library reservoirs. The staff of thestations are indigenous paraprofessionals who providestorytelling and other programmatic activities. Theseyoung people are selected in conjunction with thecity's Career Ladder program for school dropouts.Neighborhood teachers assist the staff wheneverneeded. Publicity about the stations is spread by wordof mouth, the use of attractive posters, and the spon-sorship of a weekly radio broadcast entitled "CheckOut Your Mind." Other community a Iencies, such asthe Junior League, the Model Cities program, and theCommunity Action program, have endorsed the con-cept of the library stations which represent an ad-ditional delivery service beyond that filled by the city'spublic library branches. An independent study teamsurveyed the participants and found that the majoritycredited the project for their increased desire to readand for their greater comprehension of textual ma-terial. Three-fourths of the younger participants re-ported doing better in their schoolwork because of theproject.

Lawndale, a community of 100,000 black people

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in Chicago, is the site of a significant outreachproject that involves the social and educational re-sources of the entire community. Curbstone libraryservice, tutorial sessions, mobile service to theLawndale schools, and an emphasis on blackhistory and literature ,re included in the program.Through the efforts of the advisory committee of arearesidents, the busing of elementary school classes tothe Neighborhood Library Center is now operating.At present, this activity involves 15 classes in 8elementary schools. Weekly visits to the center arearranged for the children whose progress is beingevaluated by both the Chicago Public Library andthe city's board of education to determine the effectof the center on reading achievement.

The PLACE (Public Library Action for Children'sEducation) project is a special effort of the ForsythCounty Library System (Winston-Salem, N.C.) toreach the children of its Model Cities area. Teachers,volunteers, and young people selected from the areawere all recruited to assist in this goal. Programsfor children using films, books, puppets, and educa-tional games are taken to day-care and communitycenters and Head Start classrooms. A media mobile

'reaches children at playgrounds and recreational4

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centers. The National Association of Counties Re-search Foundation cited the Forsyth County PLACEproject for its excellence.

Two parish libraries in Louisiana, St. BernardParish Library and the New Orleans Public Library,revived the ancient Biblical name of Jericho tosignal their own battle to break the barriers to fulllibrary access. With headquarters in New Orleans, theJericho program is intended to reach three specialgroups: the Spanish-speaking, comprising 15 percentof the area's population; the blacks, comprising over40 percent; and the senior citizens of the two parishes.All Hispanic organizations in the parishes were con-tacted, and door-to-door visits were made by thelibrary staff to introduce the services to Spanish-speaking residents. Registration forms, library cards,and explanatory materials about library services areall now available in Spanish. Black activities werefor the most part concentrated on the children en-rolled in 10 day-care centers and the participants ofprograms carried on in 9 community centers. Oneactivity devoted to the history of the black struggleproved so popular that it grew into a 3-week affairwith over 3,000 school children in attendance. Sevennursing homes in the parishes, in addition to the

General Hospital in. St. Bernard Parish, are now de-positories for books and other materials, and plansare underway to expand the outreach services toelderly people who are not in nursing homes orhospitals.

Over 200,000 people living in the Model Citiesarea of Philadelphia are responding in the integratedlibrary and information services furnished by the FreeLibrary of Philadelphia through its Model CitiesCommunity Information Center. The Center has threespecific activities: (1) Three-way conference phonespermit telephone operators to put residents intouch with community social, health, and otherworkers; (2) a computerized data bank processes infor-mation relevant to such human needs as housing,education, welfare, and legal advice; and (3) it sponsorsan education and training program. Social workersand local librarians are being taught to use the com-puterized data bank.

In cooperation with the Housing Authority, thelocal chapter of the National Association for theAdvancement of Colored People, the Urban League,and other agencies, the Peoria Public Library inIllinois has established experimental services in twoinner-city areas inhabited by extremely poor people,

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These Black Heritage performers draw audiences to the library auditorium with African dances, music, and dramatic readings.

75 percent of whom are black. Book-study centers aresituated in local housing projects, and residents areexposed to books, films, and other mediamuch ofwhich describes the black experience in America.Peoria's park and recreation personnel offer instruc-tion in arts and crafts, art and essay contests, andstorytelling sessions for the children. In addition, the16,000 residents of the area can find library books

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and other materials in their beauty shops, barbershops,taverns, and liquor stores.

One of the most nationally recognized of the inner-city outreach projects is the Langston Hughes Com-munity Library and Cultural Center in the Boroughof Queens, N.Y., which is named for the noted blackpoet. The center is governed by its own board ofdirectors selected from residents of the community.

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BEST COPY AVAILABLEBooks, phonograph recordings, periodicals, and othermaterials feature the cultural heritage of the neigh-boyhood's residents. Activities include children's storyhours, lessons in Swahili, informational programsabout drug abuse, a homework assistance program, andtutorial sessions. The center also houses the offices ofa group of journalists who publish the community'sown newspaper, aided in part by the staff of the NewYork Times. As a supplementary service, "footmobiles"members of the Neighborhood Youth Corpscarrybooks and materials to stoops, backyards, and othercommunity outlets, where materials are also pickedup for return to the center. With Federal fundsgranted by New York State to the Queens BoroughPublic Library, the center operates without manyof the restrictions placed on the system's branchlibraries. For example, there are no fines for returningmaterials late, and users of the center are notchallenged by a card catalog system, since books andmaterials are color coded for easy identification andstorage.

Flexibility and imagination characterize the out-reach activities of the Nation's city libraries. Thesuccess of many of these ventures has been aided byFederal funds, but it has 'seen assured by the dedica-

tion of the librarians and library aides who haveindeed reached out to the inner city. A journalist forthe Christian Science Monitor described them as che

"we-care librarians," who have "ventured into theinner-city in search of people to helppeople whoregard libraries as stuffy or forbidding places. 'We-care' librarians have taken a hard look at the library'srole in community, redirected its services, broadenedits programs, and in many cases radically changed itsmethods."

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The average American lives wihin a metropolitanarea. He goes to work in a suburb or a city, and hespeaks Eng 31.311 to his family and coworkers. Yet,over 5e,000m0o Americans Use in rural areas, andothers, though litarati in the language Af their nativecountry, fine difficulty in expressing themsolves inEnglish. The informational and reading needs ofthese Americans are no less real than thcre of theirEnglish-srging, urban fellow citizens, but fulfillingthese needs presents special challenges to puoliclibraries

Federal funds have enabled libraries to sponsor anumber of unusual projects for non-English-speakingclientele, Casa da Saudade, the name of the storefrontof the New Bedford (Mass.) Public Library, servesthe Portuguese iminigrants of the city. Books, maga-zines, and pamphlets are available in English and inPortuguese. English-language lessons are provided foradults through the cooperation of the Ibero-AmericanCenter, a department of Bristol Community College.

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Films, lectures, and discussions are offered monthlyon issues important to this Portuguese-American com-munity, and story and craft hours are held for thechildren.

In Boston, Mass., an outreach project was set upand equipped with materials and services tailoredto the requirements of a pluralistic and multilingualculture. Within the confines of the neighborhoodserved by the library's South End Branch, 20 languagesan, spoken. Among the most prominent al..: Spanish,Greek, Portuguese, and Arabic. Special emphasis is

placed on recordings, films, and other materials whichare designed to further instruction in English. News-papers and periodicals, however, are available in sev-eral languages so that these non-English-speakingcitizens are kept informed of significant news eventsand international trendi.

Aged French-speakint, and Swedish-speaking Amer-icans were included in a special project in AroostookCounty, Maine. Concerned that elderly Americansmade little use of libraries, local librarians employedthe help of students and other volnnteers to recordin Swedish and in French the legends and memoriesof these descendants of early American settlers, TheI 16 hours of tape cassettes, now a permanent file,

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BEST COPY AVAILABLEdescribe the customs of the French Acadian com-munity, Christmas traditions and other aspects oflocal and regional history. Important as these recordsare of a passing America, of greater importance is thelink established by the librarians with these olderand overlooked Americans.

Over 35,000 Spanish-speaking residents of Oakland,Calif., find information and a renewal of their culturalidentification and pride in the Latin American Library(the Biblioteca Latino Americana). A staff entirelycomposed of Spanish-speaking persons is committedto making this library a center of community life. Inconstant use from 8 to 10 hours a day, the Bibliotecaprovides bilingual books, periodicals, newspapers, andfilms. Bibliographies and listings of materials heldby the library are made available nationwide. Thestaff receives and honors frequent invitations fromcommunities in other States to conduct workshops onlibrary services for Spanish-speaking persons. No betterindex of the Latin American Library's success couldbe achieved than the queue of people standing out-side its doors awaiting the morning's opening.

During the peak season of the crop harvest (Marchthrough November) over 12,000 Mexican Americansstream into the migrant worker amps of the State10

of 'Washington. A bookmobile, sponsored by a cityand a regional library, began evening *runs during theharvest period. The service was so popular at somecamps that the original biweekly schedule was revisedto a weekly one. Strong interest is evinced in materialsthat teach the English language. Though only 2,500Mexican Americans remain in the camps throughoutthe year, the mobile unit continues its rounds, limitingits visits to adult education, day-care, and other centersin the winter months.

Lorain, Ohio, situated about 30 miles west ofCleveland, is not atypical of other industrial townsin the Midwest, yet 15 percent of its population isSpanish - speaking, mostly Puerto Rican. Realizingthat these new residents were unfamiliar with locallibrary service, the Lorain Public Library initiatedProject Libros, a door-to-door contact arranged bySpanish-speaking staff members who wanted to intro-duce their new neighbors to the public library. Daringthe first 18 months, Project Libros made 424 homevisits, reaching almost 2,000 Spanish-speaking residents.Most of these people had never before used a library.Project Libros also arranged special programs of films,language classes, and adult education courses forboth the Spanish-speaking and Anglo communitio.

If statistics are any barometer of success, then thealmost 18,000 Spanish-language items circulated withinthe past year and a half and the registration of almost1,000 Spanish-speaking Americans speak for them-selvts.

The provision of specialized services for AsianAmericans is being addressed by a project sponsoredby the Office of Library Services in Hawaii's StateDepartment of Education. Tapes in languages otherthan English are being 'recorded and furnished forresidents in institutions and the handicapped inHawaii and the Pacific Basin area. The languagesbeing recorded include Chinese, Japanese, and Korean,and dialects spoken in the Philippines and in Hawaii.

The over 50,000,000 Americans who still reside inrural and other remote areas also present specialchallenges for the delivery of library service. Here.geographical barriers, rather than linguistic ones, mustbe overcome. Delivery systems range from small air-craft, which provide books and materials to thepopulation of Northern Alaska during the monthswhen the rivers are frozen and the roads impassable,to books-by-mail operations in many rural counties.

In upstate New York some 38,000 rural mailboxholders received a catalog of 1,500 book titles from

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BEST COPY AVAILABLEa county library. Requests for books during the firstweek of operation totaled 3,500. Over 13,000 bookswere mailed during the first 9 months of the project.In answer to a user questionnaire, 87 percent of therespondents indicated total satisfaction with this ex-panded service and 60 percent noted thit they hadnever used a library. In a further expansion of theproject, prisoners in Attica Penitentiary are nowrecipients of the catalog which has grown in the

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meantime to include 3,000 titles of new and pertinentitems.

Learning to read is the motivating force for hun-dreds of black illiterate adults who attend the evening..openings of small town libraries in eight countiesserved by the Arkansas River Valley Regional Library.The library, in cooperation with the State Adult Edu-cation Agency, provides teachers and easy learningmaterials and followup volunteer tutors. Some 4,000adults in the region have been reached by the library'sservices for the first time.

To initiate library service in five rural Appalachiancounties in Kentucky, a number of demonstrationswere launched with a combination of Federal andState funds. Rental space, books, equipment, andpersonnel were all provided in the expectation thatthe rural residents would realize the value of goodpublic library service. The 2-year demonstrations inEstill, Mercer, and Greenup Counties resulted in thepassage of petitions for a local library tax. Materialsalready supplied will remain in the counties, whichwill now assume the financial responsibility forcontinuing the program.

The problem of compensating for geographicisolation is further compounded when linguistic dif-

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ferences are also a factor. Such is the case of thefederally supported library project situated on theFort Hall Indian Reservation, the largest in Idaho.Approximately 4,000 people, including 1,200 school-age children, reside on the 528,000 -acre reservation.

There are two distinct linguistic groups: the Shoshoneand the Bannock tribes, each with a unique language.With Federal funds derived from the U.S. Office ofEducation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and theEconomic Development Administration, a libraryservice has begun. The tribal representatives them-selves requested the service because they felt theirchildren were falling behind their non-Indian fellowstudents owing to the lack of resources on the reserva-tion. To establish library service, the Tribal Councilappointed a library committee to work directly withthe Idaho State Library, the administrator of theLibrary Services and Construction Act (LSCA) fundsin the State. Materials with particular emphasis onthe culture of the North American Indian are beingcirculated fr( m a quonset hut, several tribal lodges,and a bookmobile.

A sizable grant from the Economic DevelopmentAdministration (U.S. Department of Commerce) willmake it possible to build a permanent facility onthe reservation that will include space for a library.

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The little boy who whistles while he mounts thesteps of his local library has little thought, perhaps,that those very steps could be an absolute bat%-ier tothe enjoyment of reading for the aging and physically

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handicapped. Nor does he reflect that the handsomelyillustrated book on airplanes which he wants to bor-row can never be seen by the blind.

The outreach activities of public libraries for older,handicapped, and institutionalized Americans, betterdescribed as a "reaching in," brings books and filmsto residents of nursing homes and hospitals, to inmatesof prisons and penitentiaries, and to those seriouslyhandicapped and elderly Amercians who are shut-insand, more seriously, shut off from the outside world.Among the must difficult and yet most rewarding ofall public library services are those which reach outto these special clients.

An initial grant of LSCAJ funds by the MissouriState Library Agency made it possible for the DanielBoone Regional Library to start specialized servicesin Boone, Callaway, and Howard Counties. Nursing,retirement, and boarding homes with a population ofover 100,00G people are visited biweekly; an additional500 shut-ins are visited monthly. Services are alsoextended to inmates of the counties' jails, firemenconfined to their stations of duty, and patients in thecounties' hospitals.

The materials afforded these people are in avariety of formats, including large-print books, E-Z

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eye paperbacks, print magnifiers, braille materials,and a range of ordinary printed materials plusphonograph recordings and tapes. Three fieldworkerspersonally visit the area's shut-ins, among them a90-year-old woman whose impaired vision permits herto enjoy only short stories printed in enlarged type.Inmates' requests range from light reading to materialson electronics and careers.

In Arizona, Federal funds are being used to identifyblind, handicapped, or other persons in need of specialservice. In conjuction with the Easter Seal Society, atrailer visits fairs, shopping centers, and other sites toidentify potential users. Mexican American and Amer-ican Indian personnel are involved in the search. Inone year, 600 new readers were identified, including160 Indians.

Children with severe learning disabilities participatein an intensive program sponsored by the SouthHadley (Mass.) Public Library to aid both the localschool system and a concerned parents' group,SHOULD (the South Hadley Organization to Under-stand Learning Disabilities), in remedial help forthese children. The library is undertaking classes inmusic appreciation, coaching a drama club, andsponsoring a camera club, the latter for junior high

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and high school students whose learning disabilitieshave only recently been recogni, 'd. The local cabletelevision station anticipates tl cse young peoplewill be able to produce their ri videotapes forbroadcast.

Both teachers and parents have been pleasurablysurprised that these children have taken to classicalmusic, and that under the tutelage of the children'slibrarian their interest and attention wen: sustainedenough to produce their own pantomimes and playletsduring National Library Week and the Christmasseason.

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In Texas, the Houston Public Library receivedFederal funds to initiate outreach activities to thesenior citizens in nine homes and to the youthfuloffenders detained in the County Detention Home.Films, slides, and cassette tapes were purchased, anda books-by-mail service was begun to reach elderlyHouston residents who live in their own homes.

The aged and chronically ill, some of them residentsin hospitals and nursing homes and others in privatedwellings, were identified for an intensified programconducted by the St. Louis Public Library in Missouri.In 1971, almost 100,000 books and other items wereused by these aging and ill citizens. Circulation ofmaterials continues to increase.

In cooperation with the Connecticut Department ofCorrections, the Connecticut State Library used Fed-eral funds to upgrade the library holdings of 9 cor-rectional facilities serving over 2,000 inmates. Astatewide film service for the use of the prisoners wasalso instituted. It is interesting to note that 10 percentof all the State's residents engaged in adult basiceducation are residents of penal institutions.

Within a 4-year period, a 37-percent increase incirculation was achieved by blind and physically

handicapped residents in Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho.Braille, talking books, cassettes, and textbooks areprovided through the Utah State Library, a servicealso extended to Wyoming by contract. There is totalinvolvement among all types of libraries within theseStates to furnish materials. Represented in the pro-vision of the services are public, school, academic, andhospital libraries.

Over 450 residents in a coastal Florida center foreducable and trainable retarded persons were exposedfor the first time to library service through the useof Federal funds. Reading was encouraged, as werethe viewing of audiovisual materials and participationin dramatic performances.

Each resident at the center was enrolled in thesummer reading program sponsored by the StateLibrary. In all but the least educable residents,increased use of the institutional library and benefitfrom its services were perceived. Additional provisionof professional books was made to the institution'strained personnel.

As a result of a concentrate& controlled experimentinvolving library service to severely maladjusted,hospitalized adolescents, a Louisiana hospital super-intendent established a full-time position for a

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permanent bibliotherapist to work with both adoles-cent and adult patients. The original project had ledto the establishment of a youth activity room situatednear the hospital library. In this room, with its stockof books, magazines, games, recordings, and films,these disturbed young peopleaged 12 to 18spentseveral hours a day, many times with their parents.The librarian, working closely with the hospital'steaching and psychiatric staff, identified materials for

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patients with severe emotional problems. Group ac-tivity wau encouraged, as were opportunities to developsocially acceptable behavior Both the enthusiasticresponse of the patients to the trial experiment andthe staff's perception of the therapeutic value of theprogram led to the superintendent's decision to continue and expand it.

In Raton, N. Mex., the city's retired people assembleeach Wednesday morning to attend special programsessions for senior citizens. The sessions are given overto discussions of politics, local history, readings ofpoetry, hobbies, and handicrafts. Guest speakers areoften asked, but in the main the older people them-selves 'ead the discussions and exchange ideas.

With the aid of Federal funds, the Buffalo andErie County Public Library reoriented service in threelocal institutions toward educational and rehabili-tative goals. New, attractive quarters were added tothe Erie County Penitentiary. Although some libraryservice had been made available to these prisoners fori 20-year period, the materials were no longer rel-evant and the physical facilities were so poor thatthey proved a deterrent. Materials for a 3.12 gradedreading level embrace a broad range of topics frommathematics and science to the court system and the

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law. Recordings emphasize music appreciation, poetry,the learning of a foreign language, and speech im-provement. Approximately 75 percent of the inmatesvisit the library weekly, and circulation of materialshas increased 75 percent over previous levels in theformer facility. For inmates in the Erie County Jailwho are awaiting trial and sentencing, the publiclibrary started a service which reached out to eachinmate. A trainee and a page make their rounds with

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an A-frame book truck on which are displayed paper-backs and other materials. A 300-percent increasein circulation was achieved over the jail's previousrecord in furnishing library books.

Elderly residents in the Erie Counpy Home andInfirmary are also benefiting from the expai.ded serv-ices. Immobilized patients are visited by volunteerswho wheel book trucks into their rooms and recreudonareas. Plans for the construction of a modern new

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facility call for the library to be located in the centerof the building where it will be easily accessible toambulatory patients. Talking books and remotecontrol filmstrip projects ease the burden of the

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visually handicapped and those with physical dis-abilities. Other outreach programs sponsored by thelibrary include deposit collections in nursing homesand senior citizens centers.

it U.B. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE' 1974 0-431-374

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This federally supported State-plan program,organizationally located in the Division of Li-brary Pror-rams, Office of Education (OE), Wash.ington, L.C., is administered regionally in the 10OE regional offices. A list of the States withineach region and the address of the respectiveLibrary Services Program Officers follows:

REGION I: Connecticut, Maine, Massachu..setts, New Hampshire, RhodeIsland, Vermont

Library Services Program OfficerDREW /Office of EducationGovernment CenterBoston, Mass. 02203

REGION II: New Jersey, New York, PuertoRico, Virgin Islands

Library Services Program OfficerDHEW/Office of EducationFederal Bldg.26 Federal PlazaNew York, N.Y. 10007

REGION Delaware, District of Columbia,Maryland, Pennsylvania, Vir-ginia, West Virginia

Library Services Program OfficerDHEW/Office of Education

P.O. Box 13716Philadelphia, Pa. 19101

REGION IV: Alabama, Florida, Georgia,Kentucky, Mississippi, NorthCarolina, South Carolina, Ten-nessee

Library Services Program OfficerDHEW/Office of Education50 Seventh St., NE., Room 550Atlanta, Ga. 30323

REGION V: Illinois, Indiana; Michigan,Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin

Library Services Program OfficerDHEW/Office of Education300 South Wacker Dr. Bldg.Chicago, 111. 60606

REGION VI: Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mex-ico, Oklahoma, Texas

Library Services Program OfficerDHEW/Office of Education1114 Commerce St.Dallas, Tex. 75202

REGION VII: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska

Library Services Program OfficerDHEW/Office of Education

25

601 East 12th St.Kansas City, Mo. 64106

REGION VIII: Colorado, Montana, North Da-kota, South Dakota, Utah, Wy-oming

Library Services Program OfficerDHEW/Office of EducationFederal Office Bldg.19th and Stout Sts.Denver, Colo. 80202

REGION IX: Arizona, California, Hawaii,Nevada, American Samoa,Guam, Trust Territory of thePacific Islands

Library Services Program OfficerDHEW/Office of Education50 Fulton St.San Francisco, Calif. 94102

REGION X: Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Wash-ington

Library Services Program OfficerDHEW/Office of EducationArcade Plaza Bldg.1319 Second Ave.Seattle, Wash. 98101