GAO Report on LC available on the Web -Reply

[Evan St. Lifer]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I heard a good analysis and report on this last night on NPR's All Things 
Considered.  The committee chair in Congress (don't remember his name)
 was  reacting to testimony from Billington.  He said (as I remember it),"
We  support the current mission of the LOC.  We want you to examine
possible  changes in management."

It sounds as if the consultants weren't asked to look at the mission but 
were asked to look at only day-to-day operations.  Does any one else
know  more about this?
--
Wilfred Drew (Call me "Bill") Serials/Reference/Systems Librarian
SUNY College of Ag. & Tech.;   P.O. Box 902;  Morrisville, NY
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Internet: DREWWE at SNYMORVA.CS.SNYMOR.EDU
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LibraryLinks: http://www.snymor.edu/pages/library/
--

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
I actually was down in DC for Library Legislative Day and attended a
good part of the LC hearing to which you refer. What follows is a quick
briefing from my perspective. My apologies for being unable to give you
more indepth stuff, but I'm on deadline....so here goes: Although I am still
piecing together the testimony and report by Booz Allen, the consultants
mandated to offer assessments and recommendations to Congress on
LC, my impression is that while the Joint Committee on the Library
respect and appreciate the work Librarian of Congress Billington has
done, there have been too many serious management problems for them
to ignore, i.e., questionable hiring practices with respect to minorities,
security, etc.  Thus Sen. Hatfield, while effusive in his praise for
Billington has asked the Librarians pointedly  to come up with a "new and
improved" mission of LC that acknowledges some of the
suggestions/directions of the Booz Allen report. Some of the Booz Allen
findings that I am aware of are somewhat alarming: the recommendation
to consider fee-based services to generate revenue from their
cataloging and copyright recordation functions. My concern is that while
Congress appreciates the integral role LC plays in helping it function, I
don't know that it is aware of the essential role LC has with the library
infrastructure. I think Billington's challenge is to be able to give Congress
a mission that allays their concerns about LC's management while still
preserving its traditional core services and goals that continue to make it
the nation's library.  

Evan St. Lifer 
Senior Editor
Library Journal
STLIFER at LJ. cahners.com
212-463-6817