NASA Goddard library forced to close

[BAROBA]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/climate/nasa-goddard-library-closing.html

NASA’s Largest Library Is Closing Amid Staff and Lab Cuts​

Holdings from the library at the Goddard Space Flight Center, which includes unique documents from the early 20th century to the Soviet space race, will be warehoused or thrown out.

By Eric Niiler
Dec. 31, 2025 Updated 5:58 p.m. ET

The Trump administration is closing NASA’s largest research library on Friday, a facility that houses tens of thousands of books, documents and journals — many of them not digitized or available anywhere else.
Jacob Richmond, a NASA spokesman, said the agency would review the library holdings over the next 60 days and some material would be stored in a government warehouse while the rest would be tossed away.
“This process is an established method that is used by federal agencies to properly dispose of federally owned property,” Mr. Richmond said.
The shutdown of the library at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., is part of a larger reorganization under the Trump administration that includes the closure of 13 buildings and more than 100 science and engineering laboratories on the 1,270-acre campus by March 2026.

I am not an American, but this makes my blood boil...

 

[alberchico]

I imagine if these books and documents are put on sale there would be a small army of space and history enthusiasts ready to snatch them up. Recently in NYC, the Municipal Archives had a large number of books that they had to get rid of, and despite very little advertising, people showed up in droves and cleaned them out.

https://hellgatenyc.com/the-nyc-municipal-archive-book-sale-was-a-banger/
For those people overseas who don't understand this penny wise pound foolish attitude, don't expect U.S. government policy to make much sense for the next 3 years. There doesn't seem to be a grand master plan. For example, this administration clearly wants to get boots on the Moon as soon as possible, but at the same time they're giving NASA a hard time with sweeping budget cuts. How does that make any sense ?

 

[exclaimedleech8]

For those people overseas who don't understand this penny wise pound foolish attitude, don't expect U.S. government policy to make much sense for the next 3 years. There doesn't seem to be a grand master plan. For example, this administration clearly wants to get boots on the Moon as soon as possible, but at the same time they're giving NASA a hard time with sweeping budget cuts. How does that make any sense ?

Those ICE stormtroopers don't work for free you know. The money's gotta come from somewhere

 

[UpForce]

From said institution's Facebook page (the irony).

The overview effect is a wonderful thing.

Foster it for those who may have fewer resources to experience it.

 

[NMaude]

For those people overseas who don't understand this penny wise pound foolish attitude, don't expect U.S. government policy to make much sense for the next 3 years. There doesn't seem to be a grand master plan. For example, this administration clearly wants to get boots on the Moon as soon as possible, but at the same time they're giving NASA a hard time with sweeping budget cuts. How does that make any sense ?

IMO this move is right out of the Heritage Foundation's treasonous Project 2025. Once the Trump regime is gone there needs to be a serious reckoning.

 

[Dilandu]

For example, this administration clearly wants to get boots on the Moon as soon as possible, but at the same time they're giving NASA a hard time with sweeping budget cuts. How does that make any sense ?

Because both American parties by now are run by ignorant apparatchik's, differentiated only by slogans they mutter. They don't understood science or engineering; they don't understood that nation can't be run like a corporation.

 

[NMaude]

Because the Republican Party is run by ignorant apparatchik's, differentiated only by slogans they mutter.

FTFY.

 

[Hood]

This is a wider problem that just US politics - libraries and archives everywhere are being pruned and material dumped.

University libraries went on a purge of journals in favour of electronic access (even if a lot of them had not electronically archived their historic volumes) and now that the subscription fees for these journals are reaching extortionate levels universities are now cancelling subscriptions and inter-loaning items instead where they can (the publishers of course are wise to this and have taken steps to avoid universities sharing their subscriptions). And all the 20-30 years of back issues the uni's had on the shelf are now rolls of toilet paper.
The shelves have been dumped too in favour of comfy chairs, because as any fule kno students only access their materials via their laptops and books are an alien technology to them.

The Age of Information is over.

 

[Brett Davidson]

Goddard is a major centre for climate research and that is likely why it is a target for the current regime. This is getting Orwellian. If any official is going to comment, they'll say that it's not happening because it can't happen 'here' and if it is, it's different. Both are true. (Sarcasm)

Note that in the link below, they've already dropped the word 'climate.'

https://www.giss.nasa.gov/

 

[Dilandu]

FTFY

Please. The other guys aren't smarter; they just endorse different kinds of stupidity.

 

[Brett Davidson]

The Age of Information is over.

Welcome to the Age of Bullshit. It's been going for a while. The new age will have its years numbered AZ (guess what the 'Z' stands for). Then again, it might be AX. Hmmm, let the techbro wars begin.

 

[Brett Davidson]

Please. The other guys aren't smarter; they just endorse different kinds of stupidity.

Arguing over whether Tweedledum of Tweedledee are at fault doesn't help. Either or, the enemy is ignorance.

 

[Arjen]

different kinds of stupidity

I think you need a closer look at current US politics. The truth is rarely pure and never simple.

 

[Jemiba]

The sad news is made public now here, the following discussion unfortunately drifted off a bit too far into politics …..