WHEREAS, both an acceptable building and an adequate budget are necessary if the blind of Maryland are to have the quality library services sighted Marylanders take for granted; and
WHEREAS, though heartening progress is being made toward the acquisition of a new building to house the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Handicapped, no plans for increasing staff positions to even a minimally acceptable number have been announced; and
WHEREAS, without sufficient staff and an adequate budget for collection development, the promise of improved and expanded services which the new building represents will be a broken promise; Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland in Convention assembled this 11th day of September, 1988, in the City of Towson, Maryland, that this organization call upon the Governor, the General Assembly, and responsible officials within the Maryland State Department of Education to increase funding for the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Handicapped, and to add staff positions to include (at a minimum) four additional professional librarians, a children's librarian, a full-time volunteer coordinator with a budget to train and equip a sufficient number of volunteers to produce Braille and taped books for borrowers as needed (with a particular emphasis on textbooks, job-related materials, and books on Maryland topics); and sufficient clerical and backup support to ensure that services are provided in a timely fashion; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon the Department of Education to upgrade the position of the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Handicapped within state bureaucracy in accordance with its important role of providing services to blind Marylanders.