I am assuming many of the listers have used this collection in the past.

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Bernadine Abbott Hoduski [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
To: Wired Montana; ALA federal librarians; Govdoc-L
Subject: [FAFLRT] NARA Library abolished Archivist Memo 2011-113

Hello All,
The Archivist of the United States has issued Memo 2011-113, which
announces
the abolishment of the National Archives Library by the end of this
fiscal
year.
I went to the NARA site and found the Archives Library Information
Center
(ALIC) to find the number and jobs of the staff and the services
provided. 
This center is heavily used by historians, genealogists and others.
Check it
out youself.

The library is part of the by-law program run by GPO and is entitled to
all
the government publications issued through the GPO. The library collects
publications such as phone directories and other publications that
concern
personnel. These types of publications usually do not go to depository
libraries or if they are, they are discarded when the new edition is
issued.

NARA keeps those older editions and these are invaluable to researchers
and
genealogists as well as agency historians.
Since some of the planning for the future of the depository library
program
has depended upon back up collections at NARA and LC and the national
libraries, it is important to know what will happen to the collections
held
by ALIC. Will they be kept by NARA and sent to other units or will they
be
discarded? Will librarians throughout the world be able to borrow those
publications and will they be able to send researchers to NARA in DC to
do
research? The staff at ALIC have provided excellent service and have
created on line tools to help researchers more easily find both
govenrment
documents and other resources. Who will provide this service once these
librarians are gone?

It is important to know what will happen to RG 287 (This is the
collection
of several million government documents collected and cataloged by GPO. 
The collection was transfered from the Department of Interior in 1895 to
GPO
and was organized by Adelaide Hasse. It was transferred to NARA by GPO
in
1972 so it would be permanently protected as government records). RG287
is
under the control of NARA Legislative Archives. It is not clear where
RG287
is housed and whether it is kept as one unit or scattered among various
units of NARA. It is not clear as to who is providing service to this
collection. It would make sense to transfer library staff most familiar
with government documents to legislative archives so that the nation can
continue to benefit from the expertise and knowledge of librarians at
NARA.

As we all know as librarians, libraries are often the first to be cut in
an
economic crisis. We also know that once the resources in these libraries
are lost they are almost impossible to replace.

I have listed the names and positions of the library staff below along
with
the memo from the Archivist. Please send this message on to your state
association list serves and other organizations.

Bernadine Abbott Hoduski 4942 Walnut 1 S, K. C. MO 64112 816-442-7153
[log in to unmask]

National Archives Library (ALIC) abolished - Archivist Memo 2011-113

7 positions to be eliminated:
Current Library employees:
1. Jeff Hartley [Chief Librarian]
2. Carolyn Gilliam [Reference]
3. Randall Fortson [Reference A2]
4. Torin Pollock [Technician]
5. Melissa Copp [Cataloger]
6. Nancy Wing [Reference head A1] (Military)
7. Tim Syzek [Reference (Military)]
8. Marquetta Troy [Technician]
9. Maryellen Trautman [Documents Cataloger-By Law]

NARA Notice 2011-113Date: February 14, 2011
To: All Employees
Subject: President Requests $422M for National Archives 2012 Budget
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------
President Barack Obama today sent to Congress a proposed Fiscal Year
2012 budget request for the Federal Government that calls for
$422,501,000
for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The
requested amount for NARA is an 8.2 percent decrease from the FY 2011
President's
Budget request of $460,287,000. NARA still has not received an annual
appropriation for FY 2011 and we are operating under Continuing
Resolution Authority that holds our spending to FY 2010 levels. 
 
This is a difficult budget climate that has required extraordinary
actions such as freezing Federal Government civilian employee pay for
two years. NARA's budget reflects that reality. However, with the
resources provided,we will be able meet our vital mission to preserve
the nation's importantrecords and make them accessible to the public as
soon as possible. 
 
The greatest budget savings will come from the earlier decision to stop
development of the Electronic Records Archives (ERA) and move directly
into an operations and maintenance mode. This transition at the end of
FY 2011 will reduce program expenditures by $36,300,000. 
 
Beginning in FY 2012, ERA will become an operational system and will be
moved back into the Operating Expenses (OE) appropriation. In FY 2012,
the President is requesting $403,742,000 for the merged OE and ERA
appropriation. This is a net decrease of 7 percent or $30,447,000 from
the combined FY 2011 President's Request for OE and ERA of
$434,189,000.While the majority of the decrease is within the ERA
program, we followed Administration guidance to reduce or eliminate a
variety of programs instead of taking across the board cuts to ensure
that available resources are going towards our most critical mission
requirements. 
 
These reductions were taken to meet budget targets set by the Office of
Management and Budget.Many of you will ask how this budget will affect
our transformation efforts.Our budget realities are evolving, and of
course, affect how much we can do and on what timetable. Any impact of
the Federal budget environment is separate from the transformation, but
the transformation is all the more important because of it. 
 
Two of the cuts taken to meet our budget target affect NARA staff. After
much analysis and deliberation, we have decided to close The National
Archives at Boston-Pittsfield Annex, effective October 1, 2011. This
facility houses Archives microfilm publications and public access
computers serving about 1,800 researchers during the last fiscal year. I
regret that this decision will affect two long-time Archives employees
who run this center. They will be offered other positions at other
facilities within the National Archives system and we will pay their
relocation expenses.
 
In addition, we will reduce the scope of the Archives Library
Information Center (ALIC), currently operating out of Archives I and
Archives II, by the end of FY 2011. This move affects seven staff
members, who will be offered other opportunities at NARA, and will
curtail costs associated with adding to the ALIC collection.  

ALIC was originally designed and staffed to meet the information needs
of NARA staff members, and it currently helps support public archival
research. 
Reference materials from the ALIC space at Archives I will be relocated
to assist consultation in Archives I research rooms and to provide a
continuing
presence at Archives II. Our on-line library reference services will
become the primary information resource for staff. In no way do these
difficult changes reflect on the staff affected by these cuts. Their
dedication to their profession in performing this work over the years is
greatly appreciated. These staff-at both Pittsfield and ALIC-have been
supported by students and volunteers over the years and, in some
cases,for decades. Our appreciation also recognizes their efforts. 
 
New priorities that we will be able to accommodate within available
funding include: hiring 15 new employees to improve government-wide and
internal electronic recordkeeping; obtaining storage space for archival
records to address the critical shortage of records storage space in the
Washington,DC, area; supporting records storage space requirements for
archival recordsat the new National Personnel Records Center in St.
Louis, MO; continuing to build and expand the IT infrastructure for the
National DeclassificationCenter; and hiring 11 employees to improve
research room holdings protection in the Washington, DC, area. The
President also recommends a 3.5 percent decrease in the budget for
NARA's Inspector General, which returns their funding to FY 2010 levels
of $4,100,000. For Repairs and Restoration (R&R) to NARA-owned
buildings, the President is seeking $9,659,000, a decrease of 18.5
percent from the FY 2011 request.These resources will be applied to
NARA's base R&R requirements.  T
 
he Budget also requests the removal of restrictions placed on $6,341,000
in previous fiscal year building project funding. We will use $341,000
to support baseR&R requirements and the remaining $6,000,000 will be
used for the top priority project in NARA's Capital Improvements Plan,
which calls for changes to the infrastructure on the ground floor of the
National Archives Building in Washington. This will complete the work
planned to begin in FY2011 with Congressional support to prepare the
infrastructure for creationof an orientation plaza to improve visitor
circulation to the Charters of Freedom, Public Vaults, McGowan Theater,
and Lawrence F. O'Brien Gallerytemporary exhibit gallery. It will also
create space for a new Freedom Hall gallery and expand the gift shop.
The Foundation for the National Archives has committed to raising
matching funds for this project.  For the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC),the grant-making arm of the
National Archives, we will be able to maintain a viable grant program
with the President's $5,000,000 request for this program. This is a 50
percent reduction from the FY 2011 request.  
 
DAVID S. FERRIERO Archivist of the United States For questions on this
notice
contact:Richard Judson, NA [log in to unmask] 2300, Archives II> 


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