Contact:
Cara Battaglini
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M: 202.236.4247
cara@sla.org
Public Health and Safety Imperiled by Slashing of EPA Library Services, Information Professionals Association Warns U.S. Senate Committee
Special Libraries Association Seeks "Environmental Impact Study"
By EPA on Dramatic Library Cutbacks
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, February 6, 2007 - Warning that plans to slash services at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) network of 27 libraries could threaten public health and safety by hindering environmental research, the Special Libraries Association (SLA) today urged the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to review EPA's intentions carefully and to encourage the Agency to develop a realistic plan and budget to provide continued public access to EPA data.
According to SLA, a global organization for innovative information professionals, EPA began dramatically reducing services at its regional library network in 2006 without a workable plan or budget guaranteeing uninterrupted public access to important environmental data.
In a letter to the Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Barbara Boxer, (D-CA), on the eve of a hearing by the Committee on the proposed service cutbacks, and in some cases closures, Janice R. Lachance, SLA Chief Executive Officer, wrote, "We are particularly concerned about the effects the proposed closures will have, and are having, on the ability to access data and information necessary to scientists, policy makers and corporate entities to operate in the public good."
"We have heard from many SLA members in the scientific and medical community who have told us the closure of the EPA libraries will impact their work directly," she wrote. Lachance encouraged Boxer to press EPA officials on whether they have conducted formal research on the impact the reduction of services might have on public health and safety. She also suggested the Committee ask environmental officials if they have sought the opinion of the U.S. Justice Department about possible legal ramifications surrounding the digitizing and future use of official EPA documents in legal proceedings.
"While the loss of some libraries may be inevitable, our primary concern is the loss of access to the crucial information contained in these libraries, which could have devastating long-term impacts on public health and safety," she wrote.
About SLA
The Special Libraries Association (SLA) is a nonprofit global organization for innovative information professionals and their strategic partners. SLA serves more than 11,000 members in 75 countries in the information profession, including corporate, academic, and government information specialists. SLA promotes and strengthens its members through learning, advocacy, and networking initiatives. For more information, visit us on the Web at www.sla.org.
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