Library of Congress called on the carpet

Following a report from the Library of Congress's inspector general that was reported in the Washington Post, James H. Billington, the librarian of Congress, was summoned to a hearing before the House Administration Committee on Wednesday. Lawmakers asked questions about why the LOC can't find at least 10 percent of their general collection and raised questions about the agency's inventory, funding, security and priorities.
About one-sixth of the books, monographs and bound periodicals at the LOC weren't where they were supposed to be because of flaws in the systems for shelving and retrieving materials. Officials at the library say they believe most of the missing materials are misplaced, not stolen or lost. A review found that 4 percent were either on nearby shelves, checked out to the public or marked with the wrong call numbers, leaving nearly 13% unaccounted for.
Committee members suggested that the LOC should implement a system similar to that used by Wal-Mart or Target for keeping track of inventory, saying that if they were missing 10% of inventory they would be out of business. Billington responded that ""We are a working library, not a storehouse. It requires a different approach," and Deanna Marcum, associate librarian for library services, added that a library doesn't have the same resources as corporations.
Since 2002, the Library has been working to update the system by electronically tagging each item. Those items under the upgraded system can be scanned and run through a computer, updating their status every time they are checked out or moved to a new facility. Originally slated for completion by 2010, the agency has completed the transition for only 20 percent of the 17 million items. Billington noted the unprecendented size of the effort, and committee members agreed that more staff and money would help.
Several witnesses from the American Bar Association at the hearing also brought up inventory problems at the LOC's Law Library. Former Rep. Bill Orton (D-Utah), a member of the ABA standing committee on the Law Library of Congress, testified that the Library cannot catalogue, classify and shelve items quickly enough because of funding shortages. But while the larger Library may find it hard to get any increases for its inventory process, committee members hinted that they would work to solve this problem in a new way: a partnership of public and private funds.