Home >  The National Park Service Library Program Basics

Organizational Structure

The NPS Library Program is a program of the Branch of Information Services (BIS), Information & Telecommunications Center (ITC), Headquarters Office, Washington, D.C. ITC reports to the Chief Information Officer for the National Park Service. The NPS Library Program consists of a fulltime program manager, a parttime system administrator (for the NPS Voyager Library Catalog) and a fulltime library technician who provides administrative and technical support for program activities.

The NPS Library Program is the national coordination point for libraries throughout the agency. While the program manager is responsible for establishing Servicewide library management policy and acting as the lead representative of libraries for the agency (the position bears the official title, "Chief Librarian"), she has no line authority over the library program managers in the service centers, regional offices, or the field.

Organizationally, libraries fall under many different program areas in the Park Service, including Administration, Visitor Services and Interpretation, and Resource Management. There are 400+ libraries in the National Park Service and the majority of them are not managed by fulltime staff with professional training in Library Science.

A flexible body of individuals interested in the plans and activities of the NPS Library Program are considered to be members of a rather informal Library Advisory Council (LAC). Most of the fulltime, professional librarians in the agency sit on the (LAC) Steering Committee (current membership is at 15). The Steering Committee assists the NPS Library Program Manager with strategic planning, policy development and delivering library management workshops to the field.

Improving Management of NPS Information

The NPS Library Program establishes library management policy and provides professional guidance and technical support to NPS libraries at all levels. Particular emphasis is paid to parks without trained library staff or regional library programs. In performing this function, the NPS Library Program Manager consults and collaborates with members of the NPS Library Advisory Council, as appropriate.

Recent metadata coordination efforts across the programs responsible for libraries, administrative records, archives, technical information repositories, digital image repositories, Servicewide bibliographies (Cultural Resources and Natural Resources), GIS, and the Web Education Initiative are improving the agency's ability to manage its information resources in a more efficient and effective manner.

Improving Access to NPS Information

The NPS Library Program promotes the use of current technology and partnerships (both internal and external) to facilitate access to all information by and about the National Park Service. The scope includes the organization itself, the resources it manages and the stories it interprets, whether that information is maintained within or outside of the agency. Special emphasis is given to Internet-based resources because they are so readily and widely accessible.

The NPS Library Program has brought "enterprise" information management and delivery technologies into the Park Service. This technology implements international standards enabling information sharing across systems, formats (websites, databases, image banks, electronic documents) and communities (libraries, museums, government agencies, scientific research institutions, etc.). In particular, the NPS Library Program works closely with the recently created NPS Digital Library Program to promote the further development of this exciting new capability.