The EPA library network was established in 1971 to provide staff and the public with access to environmental information in support of EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment. The libraries differ in function, scope of collections, extent of services, and public access. Before the 2007 reorganization, the network comprised 26 libraries, each funded and managed by several different program offices at EPA: 1 library was managed by OEI and 10 by regional offices; 8 libraries were located at EPA laboratories within the Office of Research and Development (ORD), and 2 were within the Office of Administration and Resources Management (OARM). In addition, each of the following program offices had 1 library: Office of the Administrator, Office of General Counsel, Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances (OPPTS), Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, and Office of Air and Radiation. A national program manager within OEI was responsible for coordinating the major activities of the entire EPA library network. Aside from visiting a physical location, the network provides access to its collections to its staff and to the public through (1) a Web-based database of library holdings—the Online Library System (OLS); (2) interlibrary loans from another network library or a public library; and (3) through a separate online database—the National Environmental Publications Internet Site (NEPIS). EPA staff also have access to other information sources—such as online journals, the Federal Register, news, databases of bibliographic information, and article citations—from their desktop computers. EPA began to evaluate its library network in 2003. It developed and issued studies to determine the value of library services and inform regional management of their options to support library services beyond fiscal year 2006. EPA also issued an internal report in November 2005, which offered recommendations on how to maintain an effective library network if the library support budget were reduced. After these reports were issued, EPA established a Library Steering Committee—composed of senior managers from EPA’s program offices and regions—to develop a new model for providing library services to EPA staff. In August 2006, the steering committee issued the EPA FY 2007 Library Plan: National Framework for the Headquarters and Regional Libraries. The August 2006 library plan provided the framework for the network to begin reorganizing in the summer of 2006 in preparation for the proposed fiscal year 2007 budget reduction beginning in October 2006. The plan provided guidelines for EPA staff to determine how the collections would be managed; noted that OEI libraries in Regions 5, 6, and 7 would close, and that the headquarters library would close physical access to its collection but would function as a repository library, along with the OARM libraries in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. In addition, according to the plan, EPA is to develop Library Centers of Excellence, where a library with more expertise in a specific area of reference research would provide that service to staff in other regions. As a part of EPA’s 2006 reorganization effort, some EPA libraries have closed, reduced their hours of operation, or changed the way that they provide library services. Furthermore, some of these libraries have digitized, dispersed, or disposed of their materials. The future of EPA’s library network—its configuration and its operations—are contingent on final policies and procedures, on EPA’s response to directions accompanying its fiscal year 2008 appropriation, and on EPA’s 2008 library plan. Owing to the decentralized nature of the EPA library network, each library decided on its own whether to change its operations. Table 1 shows the operating status of each library in the EPA library network. While EPA’s August 2006 library plan noted that three regional libraries— Regions 5, 6, and 7—and the headquarters library would close physical access to their libraries, it did not reflect other changes that occurred, as shown in table 1. According to EPA officials, the plan focused on the OEI headquarters and regional office libraries, and they did not think it was necessary to reflect all changes that were planned for other libraries. The focus of the plan, according to EPA officials, was to set the framework on how library services would be provided electronically and not on what physical changes were to occur. Although no longer accessible to walk-in traffic from EPA staff and the public, the closed regional and headquarters libraries continue to provide library services, such as interlibrary loans and research/reference requests, to EPA staff through service agreements that the closed libraries established with libraries managed by OARM or with the Region 3 library located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As part of the library reorganization, each library in the network that was planning to close access to walk-in services independently decided which materials would be retained at their library or be selected for digitization, dispersal to EPA or non-EPA libraries, or disposal. Table 2 shows the actions taken by the closed libraries. In terms of digitization, the criteria in the August 2006 library plan noted that unique EPA materials—which, according to EPA officials, refers to materials created by or for EPA—that are not already electronically available in NEPIS would be digitized and made available in NEPIS. At the time of our review, 15,260 titles had been digitized, and EPA anticipates that a total of about 51,000 unique EPA library materials from closed and open libraries will be digitized. In terms of dispersal, EPA’s library plan noted that a library choosing to disperse its materials can send materials to one of the EPA-designated repositories, other libraries in the library network, EPA regional record management centers, other federal agency libraries, state libraries and state environmental agency libraries, colleges and university libraries, public libraries, or e-mail networks used specifically to exchange library materials. Finally, in terms of disposal, the OEI headquarters library and the OPPTS Chemical Library disposed of some of their materials as a part of the reorganization. EPA’s library plan noted that certain materials not claimed during the dispersal process could be destroyed. In total, the OEI headquarters library has disposed of over 800 journals and books, and the Chemical Library has disposed of over 3,000 journals and books. Recognizing that libraries could function more cohesively as a network, EPA established a new interim library policy in 2007 and established uniform governance and management for the network. This interim policy, among other things, (1) reestablished the National Library Program Manager position, which was left vacant from 2005 through 2007 and (2) resulted in 12 draft agencywide library procedures, including procedures on digitizing and dispersing library materials, and developing a communication strategy. EPA officials told us that they do not have a time frame for completing these procedures but will complete them before the moratorium on changes to the network is lifted. The January 2007 moratorium was imposed in response to congressional and other concerns, and extended indefinitely in February 2007. The future of the library network, its configuration, and its operations are contingent on the completion of the final policies and procedures, on EPA’s response to directions accompanying its fiscal year 2008 appropriation, and on EPA’s 2008 library plan. In an explanatory statement accompanying the fiscal year 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, $1 million was allocated to restore the network of EPA libraries that were recently closed or consolidated. The explanatory statement also directed EPA to submit a plan to the Committees on Appropriations within 90 days of enactment regarding actions it will take to restore the network. Separately, EPA officials told us that they are developing a Library Strategic Plan for 2008 and Beyond, which details EPA’s library services for staff and the public and a vision for the future of the library network. EPA reorganized its library network primarily to save costs by creating a more coordinated library network and increasing the electronic delivery of library services. However, EPA did not fully complete several analyses, including many that its 2004 study recommended. In addition, EPA’s decision to reorganize its library network was not based on a thorough analyses of the costs and benefits associated with such a reorganization. EPA initiated its 2004 Business Case study because of ongoing budget uncertainties and because of technological changes in how users obtain information and how commercial information resources are made available. While the study concluded that EPA’s libraries provide “substantial value” to the agency and the public, it raised concerns about EPA’s ability to continue services in its present form. As such, the study recommended that EPA take several actions to foster an agencywide discussion on the library network’s future. In addition, according to Office of Management and Budget guidance, a benefit-cost analysis should be conducted to support decisions to initiate, renew, or expand programs or projects, and that in conducting such an analysis, tangible and intangible benefits and costs should be identified, assessed, and reported. One element of this analysis is an evaluation of alternatives to consider different methods of providing services to achieve program objectives. However, EPA did not fully complete these assessments before it closed libraries and began to reorganize the network. According to EPA officials, EPA decided to reorganize its libraries without fully completing the recommended analyses in order to reduce its fiscal year 2007 funding for the OEI headquarters and regional office libraries by $2 million. This claimed savings, however, was not substantiated by any formal EPA cost assessment. According to EPA officials, the $2 million funding reduction was informally estimated in 2005 with the expectation that EPA would have been further along in its library reorganization before fiscal year 2007. Furthermore, EPA did not comprehensively assess library network spending in advance of the $2 million estimation of budget cuts. By not completing a full assessment of its library resources and not conducting a benefit-cost analysis of various approaches to reorganizing the network, EPA did not justify the reorganization actions in a way that fully considered and ensured adequate support for the mission of the library network, the continuity of services provided to EPA staff and the public, the availability of EPA materials to a wider audience, and the potential cost savings.