University Librarian Jim Rettig testifies before Congress on need for cataloging, blind-handicapped services by Library of Congress

October 31, 2007

Jim Rettig, university librarian at the University of Richmond and president-elect of the American Library Association, testified before Congress Oct. 24 on the need for the Library of Congress to resume its traditional cataloging role and expand funding for services to blind and handicapped citizens.

Rettig testified that the Library of Congress traditionally has served as a national library, upon which thousands of other libraries rely for both bibliographic records and services for the blind and handicapped.

"The diminution of the quality and quantity of Library of Congress cataloging has had an enormous financial impact on the nation's libraries," Rettig said. "Cataloging that the Library previously provided must now be performed by multiple libraries, often doing duplicative work, thereby wasting tax dollars."

Rettig also expressed concerns about the need for more funding for the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, whose 750,000 clients will grow with the aging of the American population and wounded military veterans returning from war zones.

For more information about Rettig's testimony, see www.ala.org.