Library Journal Mobile
Log In  |  Register          Free Newsletter Subscription
Subscribe to LJ Magazine

EPA Libraries Finally Reopen

By Andrew Albanese -- Library Journal, 10/15/2008

Five regional Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) libraries reopened September 30, two years after EPA officials began prematurely closing them in response to a proposed 80 percent funding cut by the Bush administration. Under orders from Congress, which blocked the administration's controversial plan in 2007 and ordered services restored, EPA reopened regional libraries in Chicago, Dallas, and Kansas City, plus a chemical library and its headquarters library in Washington, DC.

In its September 24 Federal Register notice, EPA officials announced that the agency will begin “enhancing” library services on September 30, the last day of the 2008 federal fiscal year, promising that reopened regional libraries will be “staffed by a professional librarian...for a minimum of 24 hours over four days per week on a walk-in basis or by appointment.”

While grateful that Congress intervened to restore service, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) associate director Carol Goldberg said that scattered and incomplete collections may never be reassembled and services would be less robust than before, with most of the reopened facilities housed in smaller spaces. Also, the library in Chicago, formerly the largest regional library, reopened without “permanent furniture and shelving.” (The EPA notice stated, “It is anticipated that additional Great Lakes literature, permanent furniture and shelving will arrive in the next several weeks.”)

At a Congressional hearing in March 2008, James Rettig, then the American Library Association president-elect, echoed PEER's concerns about the damage done to EPA libraries over the past two years. “Unfortunately, there continues to be a lot that we don't know,” he told lawmakers. “We remain concerned that years of research and studies about the environment may be lost forever.”

Talkback

We would love your feedback!

Post a comment

» VIEW ALL TALKBACK THREADS

Related Content

Related Content

 

By This Author

Sponsored Links




 
Advertisement
Sponsored Links

More Content

  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Photos

Blogs


Sorry, no blogs are active for this topic.

» VIEW ALL BLOGS RSS

Photos

  • Design Institute 2007
    December 11, 2007 at Chicago's Harold Washington Library Center:Design Institute 2007
  • Learning Gardens
    New York's GreenBranches program links the library to the street.
  • Green Picks: LBD May 2007
    Want to reduce your library's carbon footprint? Join the Cradle-to-Cradle revolution. Helen Milling shares the green products her firm is using.
Advertisements





LJ NEWSLETTERS

Click on a title below to learn more.

LJ BookSmack
LJXPRESS
LJ ACADEMIC NEWSWIRE
LJ REVIEW ALERT
LJ Criticas Review Alert
©2009 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Use of this Web site is subject to its Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
Please visit these other Reed Business sites