[InetBib] Could this happen here? Lessons to be learned from the Environmental Protection Agency Library Network

["Berlin PA IRC" <IRCBerlin@xxxxxxxxx>]

Could this happen here? Lessons to be learned from the Environmental Protection 
Agency Library Network
Barbie Keiser, Information Resources Management Consultant 

Monday, November 5, 2007
14:00 - 16:00

U.S. Embassy
Neustädtische Kirchstr. 4-5
10117 Berlin, Germany
Fax 011 49 30 2045 3644
email: ircberlin@xxxxxxxxx

The program was organized in cooperation with the Initiative Fortbildung. 

Registration required NLT Friday, November 2, 2007. 

In February 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that 
it would have to reduce the budget allocation for the Agency's libraries by $2 
million.  The proposed budget cut would have reduced the 35-year-old EPA 
Library Network's budget by 80 percent.  Partly in anticipation of the budget 
cuts, which would have reduced the library network's budget by 80 percent, EPA 
moved ahead with the closing of five libraries.  EPA efforts to consolidate 
regional and other libraries has drawn criticism from agency employees, 
environmentalists and congressional Democrats, who say it could deprive agency 
staff of key risk and enforcement data.  Earlier this year, lawmakers won a 
commitment from agency officials that they would impose a temporary moratorium 
on further closures until they developed procedures for determining whether any 
more libraries will be closed.  Additionally, the pending Senate version of 
EPA's fiscal year 2008 funding bill would force the agency to use $2 million to 
reopen the closed libraries.  It also directs the Agency to submit a plan that 
shows how the money will be spent to reopen facilities and maintain robust 
collections in each region.  As a result, EPA is currently re-evaluating the 
structure of the EPA National Library Network also with the goal of using, 
where possible, information technology to move toward more efficient delivery 
of information services.   Libraries in other U.S. government agencies face 
similar cutbacks, requiring fewer staff to do more work.  

During this seminar, we will explore the warning signs that should not have 
been missed at EPA, mistakes that were made, and lessons to be learned. Could 
it happen here? Not if we heed the warning signs, take a preemptive strike to 
refocus our efforts, and communicate changes to our stakeholders. What are the 
right moves to make? 

Barbie Keiser has worked extensively with corporations, publishers, government 
agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.  She is a frequent guest speaker at 
information industry meetings.  Ms. Keiser received her MSLS from Case Western 
Reserve University.  She received the SLA President's Award for her work with 
international information professionals in 2005.  She was a Fulbright Senior 
Specialist in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 2004; and currently has a Fulbright grant 
for a project in Lithuania at the University of Vilnius.