Dr. Billington's letter
in resonse to the GAO's report, Feb. 1997
| February 14, 1997 | |||
Since 1960, the Library of Congress has provided centralized acquisition services to locate, identify, purchase and distribute important research materials from foreign sources. This effort not only benefits our own collections but also provides critical research materials for university and research libraries throughout the United States. The General Accounting Office has informed the Library and its oversight cornmittees that the Library may not continue to retain reimbursements from libraries for the operating expenses associated with the foreign materials we acquire for them, without express Congressional approval to do so. The Library has moved swiftly and decisively to make funding adjustments for the remainder of fiscal year 1997 so that we may not disrupt the program at mid-year, but remedial legislation is urgently needed to allow the Library to continue providing this service.
The portion of the Library of Congress foreign acquisition program that acquires materials for other libraries, known as the Cooperative Acquisitions Prograrn, is a perfect example of how the Library is uniquely positioned to serve the nation's library systems. Currently, the Library of Congress provides this centralized service so that 78 of the nation's premier academic libraries may secure hard-to-acquire foreign research materials. As originally conceived, the program was a way to make use of foreign currencies that the U.S. government would accumulate all over the world [P.L. 83-480]. As P.L. 480 funds have been depleted, the Library, since 1983, has been able to operate the program by recovering costs from the participating university and research libraries.
I must underscore the urgency of this request for legislation. Through the Library's six overseas field offices, located in Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kenya and Pakistan, books and research materials from 66 countries are acquired for participating institutions. In fiscal year 1996, the Library acquired 550,840 pieces of foreign library materials through this prograrn. As noted above, no appropriated funds are used for this service; the participating libraries have been paying their fair share of the cost to operate the Cooperative Acquisitions Program as well as the cost of the materials they receive.
In brief, GAO's opinion [B-271127.2, dated l/30/97], concluded that, although Congress has over the years recognized and approved the operation of this program, the Library lacks the specific authority to use and retain that portion of reimbursements from participating libraries that represents the incremental cost to the Library of Congress of acting as a central purchasing agent for these libraries. GAO's opinion provides the Library of Congress the latitude to expend only those amounts representing the direct costs of purchasing, binding, and shipping the books. The Library incurs other direct and indirect costs on behalf of participating libraries that would not be incurred if the Library operated its foreign offices only to acquire books on its own behalf. The Library has to date collected $442,986 from participants to cover their share of the program's fiscal year 1997 operating expenses. GAO has said this money must be turned over to the Treasury. [The GAO opinion is enclosed for your reference.]
The Library of Congress has for several years sought Congressional approval for a revolving fund for the operation of its programs that can be run only on a cost recovery basis The Cooperative Acquisitions Program is one of those programs The Library is currently working with GAO to iron out final details on this general revolving fund legislation to make it as accountable and businesslike as possible. GAO's opinion on the Cooperative Acquisitions Program, however, means that immediate congressional action is necessary to authorize a revolving fund separately for that prograrn if it is to continue at all. Absent proper statutory authorization to operate the program under a revolving fund, the Library must reluctantly cease operating the Cooperative Acquisitions Program by October 1, 1997.
I have also enclosed proposed legislative language to set up a revolving fund that would govern only the operation of the Cooperative Acquisitions Program, effective upon enactment. We are asking that the fund be initially capitalized through a transfer to the fund of those funds previously collected by the Library of Congress that were identified by GAO as indirect costs. Without this transfer authority, those funds would have to be paid to the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts, and the Library of Congress would need appropriated funds to keep the program in operation, or would need an appropriation to shut down the program and re-start it when the revolving fund is in place.
The enclosed draft legislation also provides program accountability to the Congress by incorporating an annual audit requirement. It provides an additional measure of oversight by limiting obligations in any fiscal year to the express obligational authority included in the Library's appropriation for that year.
In addition to requesting revolving fund authority for this activity, the Library is requesting authority from its Appropriations subcommittees to reprogram up to $300,000 of appropriated funds to cover participant operating expenses for the remainder of the current fiscal year, if necessary. These funds, if approved, will be reprogramrned from the current appropriations of the six overseas field offices. In order to absorb these costs as a stop-gap measure, each office will postpone certain planned expenditures until fiscal year 1998, on the assumption that revolving fund authority will then be in place.
I will be happy to arrange a briefing for you or your staff on any aspect of this request to continue operating the Cooperative Acquisitions Program. Please contact the Library's Congressional Relations Office at 7-6577 if you have any questions regarding the program or this request. For your reference, I have also enclosed a list ofthe U.S. academic and research libraries currently participating in the prograrn; it is on their behalf as well as the Library of Congress' that I seek your assistance and support at this time.
Sincerely,
James H. Billington
The Librarian of Congress