Home » Posts tagged 'EPA libraries' (Page 3)
Tag Archives: EPA libraries
EPA halts library closures – 1st Amendment Center
Courtney Holliday from the First Amendment Center reports that the Environmental Protection Agency is halting its library closures plan "in response to heavy criticism from lawmakers and advocacy groups":
"Under pressure from members of Congress and groups such as the ALA, the EPA announced in January that it would not close additional libraries until more public outreach was done, according to the Library Journal."So it's not over yet, per se. Continue reading
ALA Wiki on Federal Libraries Closures
Rory Litwin of Library Juice reports that ALA's Washington, DC office and Committee on Legislation have started a Federal Libraries Wiki to cover government library closures. It's just beginning, so it needs some beefing up, but sadly, I'm sure that content will be added frequently. Continue reading
EPA library closings “Orwellian”
Why would a federal agency trash its libraries?, by Jeff Ruch, High Country News, April 9, 2007.
Then, after it had already begun closing libraries, EPA discovered that copyright limitations prevented it from digitizing materials not written by EPA staff. As a result, hundreds of reports from the agency's contractors, as well as academic and corporate researchers, will remain in hard copy, but housed in one of three "repositories." At times, EPA's actions have taken on an Orwellian cast, as thousands of documents and whole collections were hastily dispersed to anyone willing to accept them. The three repositories of documents have grown into giant information dumps whose contents will remain un-cataloged for years to come, and in Chicago, the largest regional library, furnishings -- shelves, desks and cabinets worth some $40,000 -- were sold for $327.Continue reading
Employees Say: EPA Library System Continues to Implode
Thanks to Bernadine Abbott Hoduski for passing along this press release from a federal employees group regarding the EPA Library controversy: ----------------- Contact: Carol Goldberg (202) 265-7337 EPA LIBRARY SYSTEM CONTINUES TO IMPLODE Union Charges EPA with Unfair Labor Practice for Refusing to Consult on Closures Washington, DC — Despite public pledges of cooperation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is refusing to consult with its own employees about the effects of past or schedule of future library closures, according to an unfair labor practices complaint released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). In the face of growing congressional opposition, EPA continues to shutter libraries and make collections unavailable both to its own staff and the public. The unfair labor practice complaint was filed on Monday, February 5, 2007 by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National Council of EPA Locals, Council 238 before the Federal Labor Relations Authority. The complaint centers on the closure of the EPA Regional Library in Chicago and charges that EPA has refused to bargain on the impacts this action has on scientists and other specialists. The complaint asks for intervention to force EPA to enter binding arbitration on the subject. "EPA touts its outreach efforts but has refused to consult with its own professionals or anyone else prior to hacking apart its library system," stated PEER Associate Director Carol Goldberg. "It is ridiculous that our nation's top environmental professionals have to wage legal battle just to keep access to information." This Tuesday, in an oversight hearing before the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson testified that only five of the 26-library network had been closed. In fact, additional libraries have been shut, including, most recently the EPA Regional Library in Atlanta (serving eight southeastern states) where virtually all services had been transferred to Cincinnati. When confronted by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the committee chair, Johnson said he knew nothing about this functional shuttering of the Atlanta facility. The rationale for EPA's library shutdowns has shifted. Originally it was to save funds but agency studies show that its libraries produce cost savings several times their budgets by eliminating staff time that would otherwise be spent on tracking down documents. In addition, EPA's plan to digitize tens of thousands of documents will likely cost far more than the $1.5 million it estimated it might save. Now, EPA claims that it wants to modernize its information system, even as its budget is being cut - the FY 08 proposed budget unveiled by President Bush this week would cut EPA's budget by 6.6%. The agency, however, has not described how the new system it is implementing on a piecemeal basis will ultimately function. Nor is it known how this still-developing new system will perform any better. "EPA is forcing its entire staff to become their own librarians, wasting countless hours and sacrificing access to mountains of information formerly available," Goldberg continued. "These shuttered libraries handled tens of thousands of information requests each year, not the handful that EPA is now implying." ----------------- More information and commentary can be found at the PEER website. If EPA Officials authorized to speak on the record wish to comment on any of the claims above, especially: "The rationale for EPA's library shutdowns has shifted. Originally it was to save funds but agency studies show that its libraries produce cost savings several times their budgets by eliminating staff time that would otherwise be spent on tracking down documents. In addition, EPA's plan to digitize tens of thousands of documents will likely cost far more than the $1.5 million it estimated it might save." Please send an e-mail with a verifiable return address to admin AT freegovinfo.info and we will make an unedited blog posting out of your reply. Continue reading
Why are EPA Libraries Closing?
FGI has been tracking on the issue of the closings of Environmental Protection Agency libraries around the country for some time now. I reported on the many meetings that EPA officials had with librarians of the Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT) at last month's ALA conference in Seattle. Much of the talk revolved around esoteria like digitization, preservation and public service numbers -- terms that **yawn** don't necessarily resonate with the general public. I think the elephant in the living room that was missing from the ALA meetings was a discussion about the obvious political aspects of the Bush administration's overt attack on federal environmental protection laws and regulation. Now here's an article that explains the political attack on EPA libraries in a way that will resonate with the public. Christopher Moraff's article in In These Times (2/1/07) is filled with budget slashing, EPA doublespeak and the shift in the political winds that may save the rest of the EPA libraries from the fate of EPA’s Region 5 facility in Chicago. Please read and distribute.
In February 2006, when President Bush unveiled his budget proposal for FY 2007, the EPA Library Network learned that its annual disbursement would be slashed 80 percent from 2006 funding levels—from $2.5 million to just $500,000. A month later, administrators at the EPA’s Region 5 facility in Chicago circulated an e-mail announcing it would be the first to close. By October, two other regional libraries were gone. Together, the three facilities had served the entire middle United States.Continue reading
Latest Comments