Federal Libraries and Public Information at Risk

Concern over Federal Library Closures and Preserving Access to Critical Scientific Information

Recent downsizing and in some cases, closures, of U.S. and Canadian libraries have caused alarm in the library and scientific communities served by these libraries. ASLI has expressed its concern in letters to Congressional committees and in a column in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS).

The ASLI letter is posted here along with updates and links to websites of other organizations actively working to continue support of federal libraries and access to public information.

2008 Interior Appropriations Bill has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to reopen its closed libraries with a $2,000,000 funding increase.

Preserving and Accessing Information Critical to Our Community (pdf)
From the July 2007 issue of Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Posted with permission from AMS.

ASLI Letter to U.S. Congressional Committee on Appropriations (pdf)

American Libraries Association -Offices

Special Libraries Association Continues Dialogue with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Library Closures
(http://www.sla.org/content/SLA/pressroom/pressrelease/07pr/pr2712.cfm)

Current Affairs at the SLA Government Information Division Blog
(http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/government_information/current_affairs/index.html)

U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS)
NCLIS Restates Position on Federal Libraries and Access to Public Information (pdf)