Video: Librarian of Congress James Billington Discusses LC's 2012 Budget Request With House Appropriations Committee

Several political pundits have said the debate and politicking over the 2012 Federal Budget will make what the events surrounding the 2011 budget seem somewhat tame.

In this video (via C-SPAN; 103 minutes),  you can watch Librarian of Congress, James Billington, discuss the Library of Congress 2012 budget request with the House Appropriations Committee.

It’s not interesting to see the Librarian of Congress justify why the need the money for it’s just as interesting (and informative) to listen to the questions and comments from committee members.

Direct to LC budget request video (Recorded March 22, 2011)

The Complete LC budget request/ justification document is available here. (214 pages; PDF)

Note: In the document the Librarian of Congress writes that funding for two mission-critical areas need additional funds.

• Improved IT to “strengthen the level of protection for information and systems within the library
• “Broaden the research expertise at the Congressional Research Service.

Filed under: Funding, Libraries