EPA libraries coming back: following an outcry over closings, the federal agency will reopen all shuttered facilities, staff them with info pros, and make them available to the public.

All Environmental Protection Agency libraries that were closed in budget-cutting actions will reopen by the end of September, the agency says in a report to Congress.

Regional libraries in Chicago, Dallas, and Kansas City, plus the headquarters repository and chemical library in Washington, D.C., will reopen for walk-in or appointment use at least four days a week--with professional librarians at each site, the agency pledges.

EPA officials discussed the report in a conference call with SLA and other interested organizations the day after it was released.

"I am thrilled to learn of the EPA's plans to reestablish the collections, as well as appropriate library staff, at the closed libraries before the end of the year," said SLA CEO Janice Lachance. "This kind of thinking and planning is exactly what we expected would come from extensive efforts by SLA staff and members to bring about a turnaround on this issue, and I think that EPA is currently moving in the right direction."

The report lays out the general approach EPA plans to take for each library location to reopen, and establishes operational standards applicable to all libraries in the EPA network. Specific site plans are still in the works.

For all the libraries, the EPA has established the following guidelines, which are quoted here directly from the report:

* Libraries must provide adequate space and resources to accommodate in-person interactions between library staff and patrons. This includes separate workstations for library staff and patrons, including EPA staff and the public. Workstations must provide a computer with appropriate software for access to electronic resources and EPA's digital collections, along with printing and copying capabilities.

* Libraries must establish and maintain an on-site collection of materials developed and tailored to meet local/regional needs. Library facilities must provide appropriate shelving for library collections. Initial acquisition of core collection materials will be through FEDLINK services offered by the Library of Congress.

* All libraries will be staffed by one or more library professionals with appropriate expertise and experience to provide services to EPA staff and the public via phone, email, or in person.

* The libraries must provide access for EPA staff and public patrons at least four days per week on a walk-in basis or by appointment during core business hours. The mechanism for public access to the library and its resources may vary to some extent, depending on local facilities and security requirements of individual sites. Some sites may be open for walk-in public access while others may require access by appointment.

* All libraries will meet standard services requirements and will provide core services of reference/research assistance and interlibrary loan/ document delivery.

* Libraries may enhance their local service offerings through agreements with Lead Service Centers, designated network libraries with expanded capabilities to provide services. The service centers can assist with reference and research assistance, as well as some of the technical aspects of library operations such as cataloging and interlibrary loan/document delivery, which can be done more efficiently from a central model.

* All libraries will follow network procedures on various library services. These procedures are being finalized and will be implemented to ensure that all EPA libraries maintain or exceed standard service levels in accordance with library best practices.

According to the report, "Over the next few months, we will continue to engage affected stakeholders (including our employee unions) as we finalize our specific plans for each library. The Agency is committed to working with its employees and outside parties on its future digitization plans (based on the third party review), a customer needs assessment, and long term strategic planning efforts."

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SLA Participation

EPA has also requested that, because it is a major stakeholder in the success of the libraries, SLA and its members continue to provide counsel as part of a workgroup that will review the proposed digitization strategy and provide feedback on the agency's next steps.

Lachance said, "SLA members, information professionals armed with knowledge and skills of current and most effective practices, are precisely the experts that need to be at the table as these matters are being discussed. I am glad that EPA will be taking us up on our offer of assistance, and we will do all that we can to ensure the strategic plans for digitization of the Agency's collections are in line with their stated mission of providing the public with access to the vital environmental information they need when faced with important decisions."

SLA was the first library organization to publicly express concern with the actions of the EPA when the association heard the news in February 2006. As the EPA moved to begin reorganizing the network of 26 EPA libraries and information centers across the United States, SLA denounced the proposal to close EPA libraries.

"SLA is gravely concerned with the proposal in the Bush Administration's FY2007 budget to close the network of ... libraries and information centers within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency," Lachance said at the time. "With this proposal, EPA's leadership is making it more difficult for the agency's policymakers and the public to leverage the extensive knowledge found in high quality, accurate information to make important decisions on our nation's environment, potentially compromising the public's health."

The following August, SLA denounced EPA's decision to close libraries before Congressional action. Later in the year, Congress began to take action calling for the Government Accountability Office to look in to the closures.

The EPA continued closing its libraries and started to sell furniture and other assets in its library in Chicago. In November 2006, Democratic senators and one Independent wrote to appropriators asking that the EPA be directed, through the budget process, to maintain physical access to its libraries while the public had an opportunity to comment on planned closures. The letter referred to requests made by SLA and other organizations.

In January 2007, the EPA agreed to stop closing libraries without further consultation.

In March of this year, only two weeks before the EPA released its report to Congress, the GAO published its review of the library closings. The GAO report said the EPA had not adequately consulted agency staff, outside experts, or stakeholders before undertaking the reorganization, and had failed to take into account the needs of the public to have access to EPA materials.

The GAO report had been requested by the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee a year earlier, following an outcry by the public and the library community over the destruction of documents and restriction of access to public health information contained in EPA libraries.

At the request of the GAO, SLA staff participated in the investigation to voice the concerns of the specialized librarian community.

With the release of the GAO report, Lachance said, "We believe that this is another step along the right path, and we look forward to continuing our open dialog with EPA on recommended next steps as they move in a better direction to improve, rather than hinder, the ability of scientists and the public to gain access to vital environmental information and data."

Background and Reports

* EPA National Library Network Report to Congress (26 March 2008), www.epa.gov/natlibra/documents/Library_Report_to_Congress.pdf

* Information on EPA's National Library Network, www.epa.gov/libraries

* A history and timeline of SLA's involvement in this issue is available at: www.sla.org/content/SLA/advocacy/EPA/epaupdate.cfm