The NASA library in Greenbelt, Md., was part of John Mather’s daily routine for years leading up to the astrophysicist’s 2006 Nobel Prize for shedding new light on the Big Bang theory of universal origin. He researched existing space hardware and instrumentation there while designing a satellite that collected data for his prize-winning discovery.
So when he learned that federal officials were planning to close the library, Mather was stunned.
“It is completely absurd,” he said. “The library is a national treasure. It is probably the single strongest library for space science and engineering in the universe.”
Mather is one of thousands of people who critics say could lose access to research materials as the government closes and downsizes libraries that house collections vital to scientific investigation and the enforcement of environmental laws.
Across the country, a half dozen federal libraries are closed or closing. Others have reduced staffing, hours of operation, public access or subscriptions.
In Washington, books are boxed at an Environmental Protection Agency library that helped toxicologists assess health effects of pesticides and chemicals. The General Services Administration headquarters library, where patrons conducted research on real estate, telecommunications and government finance, was shuttered this year, as was the Department of Energy headquarters library that collected literature for government scientists and contractors.
Officials say the cutbacks have been driven by tight budgets, declining patronage and rising demand for online services. And they say leaner operations will improve efficiency while maintaining essential functions. “We are trying to improve access and … do more with a little less money,” said Linda Travers, acting assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Environmental Information.
Although hundreds of federal libraries remain open, critics say the downsizing, especially at the EPA, demonstrates the Bush administration’s indifference to transparent government and to scientific solutions to many of the country’s most pressing problems.
“Crucial information generated with taxpayer dollars is now not available to the public and the scientists who need it,” said Emily Sheketoff, head of the American Library Association’s Washington office. “This is the beginning of the elimination of all these government libraries. I think you have an administration that does not have a commitment to access to information.”
Opponents of the EPA’s reductions say they are likely to slow the work of regulators and scientists who depend on librarians and reference materials that are not yet online.
They fear that some publications will never be digitized because of copyright restrictions or cost. They worry that important material will be dispersed, discarded or lost. And they contend that many people will lose access to collections because they cannot navigate online services.
In addition to shutting its headquarters library and a chemical library in the nation’s capital, the EPA has closed regional libraries in Chicago, Kansas City and Dallas that have helped federal investigators track sources of fish kills and identify companies responsible for pollution.
Travers said all EPA-generated documents from the closed libraries would be online by January and the rest of the agency’s 51,000 reports would be digitized within two years. The EPA, she said, would not digitize books, scientific journals and non-EPA studies but would keep one copy of each available for inter-library loans.
The Library of Congress has digitized more than 11 million items in its collection of 132 million, and it retains the originals. But Deanna Marcum, associate librarian for library services there, said maintaining library space with staff provides important benefits, especially at highly specialized libraries.
“The librarians are so accustomed to doing searches and know the sources so well, and it would be difficult for scientists to have the same level of comfort,” she said. “So, will they take the information they get and use it rather than being exhaustive in their searches?”
Mather, who shared this year’s Nobel for finding new evidence supporting the Big Bang theory, said the library’s paper collection at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center library in Greenbelt, Md., is indispensable. “If we ended up moving into an age where paper did not exist, we would need the equivalent to reach all the texts and handbooks, and until the great library is digitized, I think we need the paper,” Mather said.
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