Reading through the 1964-1965 issues of the ALA Bulletin was an intriguing experience. As I began reading, there was an almost overwhelming sense of familiarity in the discussion of upcoming meetings and conferences, and even the advertisements for books and furniture seemed startlingly typical. But as I read farther, it quickly became apparent that today¡¯s ALA exists in an entirely separate universe?especially as we consider equity of access. Obviously, the topic was of some concern during that time period, but the librarian¡¯s attitude during that time (at least as reflected by the bulletin) was disturbingly patronizing, perhaps even patriarchal.

All of the photographs that accompanied articles in the ¡°Providing School Library Services for the Culturally Disadvantaged¡± series, for example, featured children from ethnic minorities. Most of the photographs in other sections of the journal?and nearly all of the advertisements over the two-year period?featured white children. The greatest shock, however, was reading the call to a Membership Meeting to be held at the Detroit Conference that would consider if ¡°library institution membership in the ALA [should] be open only to libraries which are integrated¡± (ALA Bulletin, June 1965, p. 447). The fact that many libraries at that time were not is almost unimaginable to someone of my generation.

In the end, it was difficult to find projects and initiatives from 1964-1965 that related directly to equity of access as we now understand it. Therefore, the captions I have included below for the most part are minor shifts in that direction along with a few peripherally related library milestones. They are best included in the timeline only if an extremely liberal interpretation of access is adopted.

• January 26-27, 1964
  

  Access to Public Libraries Considered by ALA Council
  

  The controversial Access to Public Libraries study is taken up by ALA Council during the Midwinter Meeting. The Board of Directors of the Library Administration Division find that the report is ¡°acceptable and useful in some of its parts, but not in others¡± and recommend further study, especially regarding attitudes about services to the underprivileged and patterns of discrimination. The complete text of this report in printed in the April 1964 issue of ALA Bulletin.
  

• January 30, 1964
  

  Congress Passes the Library Services and Construction Act
  

  The Library Services and Construction Act is passed by Congress. The Act, which pledges $55 million of annual federal aid to public libraries, brings renewed hope and the promise of greatly expanded service.

• February 11, 1964
  

  President Johnson Signs the Library Services and Construction Act
  

  President Lyndon Baines Johnson Signs the LSCA into law saying, ¡°There are few Acts of Congress which I sign with more pleasure, and certainly none with more hope than this new Library Services and Construction Act.¡±

• November 19, 1965
  

  International Effort to Extend Access
  

  ALA Executive Director David H. Clift reports that the ALA International Relations Office and International Relations Committee have pledged to assist with collection building for the general libraries at the Haile Selassie I University of Ethopia. The project will be funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation.