Bush budget ax could cut hours of EPA library

Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Budget cuts proposed by President Bush could force an Environmental Protection Agency library in Denver to reduce its hours and access to copies of scientific journals.

Overall, the president's 2006-07 budget seeks a $2 million cut for EPA libraries across the country. For the EPA Region VIII library in Denver, that would translate to a 50 percent reduction, or $150,000, in its spending plan.

The libraries provide data to hundreds of EPA employees across the Rocky Mountain region. They also serve the public, often represented by lawyers, real estate companies and students, said Maureen Kiely, who manages the EPA's regional information center and technical library at 999 18th St., in downtown Denver.

In a worst-case scenario, she said, the library would have to trim its hours from 40 to 32 a week. But, Kiely said, the agency would also have to drop many subscriptions to scientific journals related to environmental research. The budget cut, she said, "would have a very large impact on collections ... our budget for technical journal subscriptions would be decimated." The agency may be able to find ways to obtain the same journals through electronic subscriptions, an option she's still studying, Kiely said.

EPA officials locally are committed to keeping the library open, Kiely said, and moving it - along with the rest of the agency's offices - to a new building not far from the current lower downtown location. "We are looking at some creative ways to manage funds here in Region VIII," Kiely said.