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The Secretary highlighted the following status reports which had been distributed in advance of the meeting:

[[underlined]] Popular Book Publishing Review [[/underlined]]

Recognizing the need to clarify the Institution's objectives in regard to Smithsonian-related books for popular readership, the Secretary recommended in January that a panel of Smithsonian Council members and commercial publishing executives be asked to survey existing programs and to recommend ways to make those programs more effective and efficient.

André Schiffrin, Director of Pantheon Books and Smithsonian Council member, was asked to chair the panel, which included the following:

Anthony M. Schulte, Executive Vice President, Random House, Inc.;
Irving Goodman, President, The Viking Press;
Morton L. Levin, Vice President, McGraw-Hill Book Company;
Ada Louise Huxtable, New York Times, Smithsonian Council; and 
Frank B. Golley, National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Council.

After receiving background information on Smithsonian programs and on books under contract with commercial publishers, the panel met in Washington on March 6, 1980.  The agenda included discussions with the Smithsonian Publishing Council, the directors of Smithsonian Exposition Books and Smithsonian Institution Press, the Publishing Coordinator, the Treasurer, and the Under Secretary.

A report from the panel is being prepared by Mr. Schiffrin.  With guidance from the Smithsonian Publishing Council, the Secretary will submit a statement of popular book publishing objectives to the Regents at the September meeting.