RE: SUMMARY: Sep 21 - Community use of libraries for environmental info

[Lucy Park <park.lucy@epa.gov>]

I have to take issue with this statement:  "Most community members
don't go to the library to obtain environmental
information."

I have heard from many public librarians that people do call them
or come to the library to find information about the environment
in their communities.  I've heard them say that they love the
"search by zip code" feature on the EPA web site because they get
so many of these kinds of questions.

Here is a quote from an EPA web site that I find interesting:

"In an  extensive study involving interviews with over 40,000 people
(U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 12/97), EPA
learned  that almost 35% of the parents surveyed named the public
library as their primary source of information on lead-based paint
hazards. It probably would not surprise you, as a library professional,
to learn that this response topped all other sources: TV, radio,
newspapers, magazines, government agencies, doctors, health
departments, and the workplace."

This quote (and information about a librarian's information packet
on lead hazards) is available at:  http://www.epa.gov/lead/librarian.htm

Yes, I know that use of the Internet has become more ubiquitous
since 1997, and the survey may be flawed, etc., but I still would
not want to make a blanket statement that most people don't use
their public libraries to find environmental information.

Lucy Park