UNC SILS Awarded Five Year, $25.3 Million Contract to Continue Operating the EPA’s Research Triangle Park (RTP) Library

From the University of North Carolina School of Information and Library Science:

The UNC-Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science (SILS) has been awarded its largest contract ever to operate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Research Triangle Park (RTP) Library over the next five years. The new award, of $25.3 million, significantly expands the scope of work to manage agency-wide subscriptions to journals and other information products.
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SILS has operated the EPA-RTP Library since 1975 and more than 300 graduate students have served as interns in the program.
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“This contract represents a highly effective and efficient partnership between a public university and a government research organization. SILS attracts experienced librarians to manage the library operations and the EPA library internships attract outstanding students to UNC-Chapel Hill. These interns not only gain practical experience in a full-service research library but also work with library professionals to create new kinds of services to support EPA scientists and staff,” SILS dean Gary Marchionini said.
The EPA-RTP Library serves EPA staff and contractors in the Research Triangle Park, providing access to information that supports the research mission and policy decisions of the EPA. The library is home to an extensive collection of information with a particular focus on air pollution with emphases on chemical toxicity, chemistry, meteorology, geophysics and related sciences. The Library hosts more than 1,000 journal titles, over 6,000 books, 150,000 microfiche documents, and paper copies of more than 13,000 EPA, trade association, international agency and other Federal agency documents. The library serves more than 2,000 EPA employees.
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The EPA-RTP Library is one of only three EPA repository libraries, nationwide; EPA Headquarters Repository is located in Washington, D.C., and the Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research Center Library (AWBERC) is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The EPA additionally hosts 10 regional libraries, four specialty libraries, and eight research laboratory libraries across the United States.

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Awards, Journal Articles, Libraries, Open Access, School Libraries