David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, has issued a proposed plan to reduce spending levels at the National Archives and Records Administration. This plan is based in response to the Obama Administration's proposals for the Fiscal Year 2012 Federal budget. The proposed budget includes roughly $422 million for operation of the agency, a significant reduction of an 8.2 percent decrease from the FY 2011 plan.
In the new plan, Ferriero proposes several cutbacks in services. The one that caught my eye is the elimination of the National Archives at Boston-Pittsfield Annex, located in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
The following is a quote from "NARA Notice 2011-113, Date: February 14, 2011," addressed "To: All [NARA] Employees:"
"After much analysis and deliberation, we have decided to close The National Archives at Boston-Pittsfield Annex, effective October 1, 2011. This facility houses Archives microfilm publications and public access computers serving about 1,800 researchers during the last fiscal year. I regret that this decision will affect two long-time Archives employees who run this center. They will be offered other positions at other facilities within the National Archives system and we will pay their relocation expenses."
The same memo mentions other reductions in services, primarily at Archives I in Washington, D.C. and Archives II at College Park, Maryland. You can read the full memo at http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1102c&L=GOVDOC-L&P=15317
