Responding to an October 15, 2007 Sandia National Laboratories internal memo announcing the closure of its Technical Library’s physical stacks in favor of going 100 percent virtual, Janice R. Lachance, Special Libraries Association CEO sent a memo to SNL’s Director Thomas O. Hunter calling the move “short-sighted”. ALA Washington Executive Director Emily Sheketoff also wrote SNL’s Hunter urging him to reconsider.
On October 22nd, The Albuquerque Journal reported that Sandi managers began hearing immediately from researchers who said they could not do their work without referring to hard-copy books and journals. A Sandia electromagnetics engineer said he often found relevant information by browsing Sandia’s “high-class” library. Sandi’s CIO Art Hale said the decision was made, in part, because closing the physical stacks would save Sandia $1.1 million dollars annually. Sandia National Laboratories is a government-owned/contractor operated (GOCO) facility. Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, manages SNL for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
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