A 1956 Office of Education study showed that 26 million rural residents were without any public library service and that more than 300 rural counties had no public library within their borders. An additional 50 million rural residents had only inadequate service. Congress passed the Library Services Act in 1956 to stimulate the further development of public library services in rural areas under 10,000 population. These funds, allotted to the States on the bases of their rural population and matched by States on the basis of their per capita income, may be used for salaries, books and other library materials, library equipment, and other operating expenses, but not for the purchase or erection of buildings or purchase of land. This publication, the third supplement to "State Plans under the Library Services Act," contains statistical data and program summaries as reported by the States for the first 5 years of the act. An introductory section describes the principal activities, trends, and results of the program. The reports in this publication are evidence of the substantial progress made in the further extension of library services to rural residents in the 50 States, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The results to date indicate that the States and Territories, through their State plans and programs, have created a firm basis for the further extension and improvement of rural public library services and have taken a major step toward the goal of developing good public library service for all. This document includes a bibliography of manuals, surveys, and films, as well as the text of Public Law 597 (84th Congress) Chapter 407 and Public Law 86-679 (86th Congress). (Contains 2 footnotes, 7 tables, and 2 charts.) [Prepared by the Library Services Branch. Best copy available has been provided.]