Resolution Opposing EPA Library Closures

ASEH Resolution Opposing EPA Library Closures

WHEREAS the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its network of libraries have provided access to vital information for historians investigating environmental issues and environmental conditions; and

WHEREAS the EPA Libraries house and catalog unique collections, including approximately 50,000 primary source documents not available elsewhere in any format, on vital environmental issues; and

WHEREAS the EPA Libraries serve as institutional repositories for internal documentation as well as commercially published literature about the topics agencies regulate, investigate, and research; and

WHEREAS the EPA Libraries operate public reading rooms, providing vital access to collections; and

WHEREAS the Draft EPA FY 2007 Library Plan: National Framework (June 1, 2006), including the current proposal to move materials to the web, does not ensure that the public, researchers, scientists and policymakers will have continued access to the staff, services, and high quality, accurate information found in the EPA Libraries; and

WHEREAS based on our assessment of EPA’s long-range library plan, it appears that the EPA intends to stop providing most EPA library services to the public; and

WHEREAS some of EPA’s library collections are already being dispersed without establishing any standard procedures or criteria to ensure that important documents are not lost; and

WHEREAS EPA plans for digitization do not clearly include a schedule for timely completion, coverage for records from before 1990, or an adequate budget, leaving historians, other researchers, and the general public without access to information for unreasonable lengths of time; and

WHEREAS the proposed FY 2007 budget for EPA Libraries contains a $2.5 Million cut which has already resulted in the closure and imminent closure of some headquarters, regional and laboratory libraries and the reduction of staff at other EPA Libraries; will put the collections and services of the EPA Libraries at risk, causing essential information about the environment to be lost; Therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the American Society for Environmental History (ASEH) urge Congress to devise a method to make all EPA library holdings available to the public; and be it further

RESOLVED, that ASEH urge the EPA to restore funding to the EPA regional and laboratory libraries; and be it further

RESOLVED, that ASEH urge the EPA to stop library closures and dispersal of library materials until the GAO has completed its report, and until Congressional review is completed; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the ASEH urge the EPA to develop a responsible information and collections management strategy, including ensuring access to pre-1990s documents, and make it available for public comment, to ensure continued access for the public and other stakeholders to the collections and services of the EPA Libraries.

For more information please see the ASEH EPA background document.