Cyber data insufficient

Contrary to public opinion, librarians aren't social recluses who favor horn-rimmed glasses and hairstyles that range from tight- to loosely-tied buns.

In fact, these highly-trained specialists -- a master's of library science degree is required even to be considered for an entry-level job at any library -- may be the most important guardians of democracy in our society. They take care of our collective memories. They preserve our laws, our heritage, our history. They make sure even the poorest of society have access to information. And, as any history student can tell you, information is freedom.

Right now librarians across the United States are mad, and so are we. The House Appropriations Committee has passed a proposal to eliminate the Federal Depository Program, which provides that thousands of federal documents are provided to designated libraries across the nation free of charge. Last year the government distributed 16.1 million copies of 40,000 titles at a cost of $30 million.

The University Library is one of those libraries, as is the library for the City of Long Beach. The two libraries have worked closely together to ensure that their collections are complementary, so that the citizens of this area have complete access to every document produced by the U.S. government.

Janousek heads the government-documents section of the University Library. She and her staff directly handle the thousands of documents that the federal government presently provides the university, both for use by students and faculty as well as the public at large. Transcripts of Congressional debates, of hearings and reports eventually wind up in the archives at CSULB. As does every law that Congress passes. As does the work of hundreds of federal agencies.

Janousek and other librarians firmly believe that this cost-cutting measure -- proponents think the information can be distributed equally well on the Internet -- threatens the very principals this country was founded upon.

Simply put, not everyone knows how to access the Internet, not everyone has easy access to the Internet, not every piece of government information can be easily handled by today's computers, and there simply aren't enough computers at most libraries to accommodate those who need the information.

Even in a computer-savvy environment of a university campus, this issue affects us all -- and not only because it might make our research projects more difficult.

We, as educated or soon-to-be educated citizens, are the leaders of society. And if that society is to truly be a democracy, then easy and universal access to information is a must.

At the City of Long Beach library, some of the patrons who review the U.S. Code are people who have been charged with violating it.

"They're in trouble," said Long Beach librarian Diane Erdelyi, "and they're trying to figure out how to get out of it." If devising one's own criminal defense isn't direct democracy in action, then what is? We think this issue is a no-brainer.

"This proposal," said Sue Curzon, the dean of the library at Cal State Northridge, "will only widen the digital divide and disenfranchise those who can't afford or can't access technology."

Precisely.

Thirty million dollars is a pittance of the U.S. government's annual budget. We spend more on a single jetfighter.

It's a bargain to preserve our freedom.