Underutilization Leads GSA To Close Library

-- Library Journal, 10/26/2006

In another case of a federal agency downsizing library service, the General Services Administration (GSA) closed its inhouse library in Washington, DC, on October 1, but in this case, GSA officials say there have been no complaints. "With Internet usage increasing, the utilization rate has diminished," Gail Lovelace, chief human capital officer, told LJ.

The agency, which serves other federal agencies, had downsized the library steadily, eventually moving three staffers to other jobs and hiring outside contractors—once two FTE but eventually just one—to run the 7197-square-foot library. The number of volumes had diminished from 20,000 to 7000. "Some of the content is still valuable," Lovelace said. Some of the materials will be given back to the primary owner, such as legal content going to the general counsel's office. As for online databases the library purchased, Gallery Watch (a legislative tracking service) and EBSCOHost (Newspaper Source & Business Elite), GSA has continued to pay for them but in the next few months will evaluate whether to keep them. Because of that, Lovelace couldn't estimate the overall cost savings.