EPA Won't Close More Libraries Without Consultation

-- Library Journal, 1/22/2007

The Environmental Protection Agency's decision to close five of 26 agency libraries has prompted steady criticism from the American Library Association (ALA) and others, and that criticism has paid off: the agency won't close more libraries without further consultation. "We have re-engaged," a conciliatory, contrite Mike Flynn, of the EPA's Office of Environmental Information, said Saturday at an update session sponsored by the ALA Washington Office at the Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. He said the EPA had been ineffective in communicating its plans to rely more on electronic documents. "As we move forward, EPA is in the process of analyzing and seeking stakeholder input. We're planning on taking the current plan and revising it," he said. "We're not on a road to close all our physical libraries. We're looking for the right mix."

After the publication of ALA President Leslie Burger's December 8 op-ed about the issue in the New York Times, the EPA requested a meeting with ALA's Washington Office, and agreed they wouldn't close more libraries without further public outreach. ALA and EPA staff met several times, and on January 4, the EPA agreed to send several representatives to the Midwinter Meeting. Flynn met with a welcoming but skeptical response from several librarians, some of whom reported difficulty in getting EPA documents via interlibrary loan or who said that scientists they work with have been frustrated by the closures of physical libraries. Flynn said that unique EPA-created documents from the closed libraries should all be digitized by the end of January and, while some documents might have been unavailable in the "early stages," now the agency has a tracking system. He also agreed that representatives from ALA and other library organizations should review the quality of the agency's digitization.

EPA had last year justified the closures as part of a $2 million budget cut, but it turns out that, thanks to a continuing budget resolution emanating from budget gridlock, the appropriation for FY07 will remain at the level of FY06. However, Flynn said, the agency's future budget is uncertain and, anyhow, the plans to streamline the library system and rely more on electronic delivery had been proposed more than three years ago. "The budget plays into it, but it's a culmination of steps."

Emily Sheketoff, executive director of ALA's Washington Office, retained some skepticism. "They recognized they overstepped and now they're backtracking," she told LJ. She noted that letters from powerful Congressional representatives and an ongoing investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have also put pressure on the agency. Still, the six EPA reps were hard to miss in Seattle. Commented ALA Councilor (and longtime government librarian) Bernadine Abbott Hoduski at a Council session Sunday, "They've been doing to meetings nonstop. I think they're beginning to understand our concern. They're apologizing at every meeting for not paying attention to the library community."