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Date: April 22, 2005 (Earth Day)



News of the USGS Library Retirements
By Linda Musser, April 22, 2005

Many of our colleagues in the USGS Library system retired as of April 1,
2005. There was little advanced knowledge of these retirements and no
information about the plans for the future of the Library or the
positions vacated. For about a month I, along with representatives of
the American Geological Institute, Special Libraries Association and
others, have been seeking information from the USGS about the
retirements and their plans for the future. At last I have some
information to share.

On April 21, 2005 I spoke with Mike McDermott, the National Coordinator
of the Natural Science Network at the USGS. The Natural Science Network
is a new organizational entity within the Geospatial Information Office
of the USGS. The purpose of the Network is to bring together all public
service functions within the USGS. Thus, the USGS Library(s), the Earth
Science Information Centers, the mapping warehouse in Denver, etc. will
all be part of this Network. Since the Library is now part of the
Network, Mr. McDermott is the primary contact for issues related to the
USGS Library.

Mr. McDermott provided details about the retirements from the Library as
follows.
There were 19 retirements across the Library system:
9 from Reston (Eastern Region)
1 from Headquarters (Eastern Region)
6 from Denver (Central Region)
1 from Flagstaff (Western Region)
2 from Menlo Park (Western Region)
Approximately 28 people continue to be employed in the Library;
therefore the retirements represent a 40% reduction in workforce at this
time. The retirements were part of a buyout under the following two
federal programs - VSIP and VERA (Voluntary Separation Incentive
Payments and Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, respectively). Mr.
McDermott stated that 9 or 10 employees were expected to take advantage
of the VSIP/VERA opportunity and that double that number was unanticipated.

When asked about future plans for the USGS Library, Mr. McDermott
assured me that there are no plans to close any of the libraries and
that they are working on a plan to restructure their organization,
combining the Library with other information services in order to build
more digital library capabilities. They hope to see changes in FY06. As
far as the positions gained from the retirements, they are in the
process of evaluating their needs, re-writing jobs, and giving
consideration to possible outsourcing opportunities. (Under the
VSIP/VERA programs, new employees cannot be hired by the agency to do
the same job, however, agencies have the ability to hire in a new job
category.) Mr. McDermott stated that he welcomes input from the library
community about the USGS Library, how they can make the transition to a
digital library, and how they can better utilize knowledge management.
His contact information is Mr. Mike McDermott, 12201 Sunrise Valley
Drive, Reston, VA 20192-0002 USA; 703-648-5771; [log in to unmask]
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.

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