STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
NASA's plans for the new year include sending a spacecraft near the moon. Some of the work for missions like that takes place at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, and that is where the Trump administration is closing a library where scientists did a lot of work. What's the connection between high technology and an old-style center of learning? NPR's Katia Riddle reports.
KATIA RIDDLE, BYLINE: Over the course of his 30-plus-year career as a planetary scientist, Dave Williams estimates he spent thousands of hours in the library at Goddard. He recently retired, but he can still return to that building in his mind.
DAVE WILLIAMS: It's got basically two floors, and maybe two-thirds of the first floor is this big collaboration area.
RIDDLE: The collaboration area is where he spent time brainstorming with colleagues. He says meetings there were often spontaneous. They led to light bulb moments.
WILLIAMS: Another third are just shelves, shelves and shelves of old scientific journals - you know, some of them dating back into the 1800s.
RIDDLE: Many of these documents are historical and not digitized.
WILLIAMS: Of course, they've been building this collection for, you know, like, 70 years now. It's an amazing collection.
RIDDLE: Now that the library is closing, Williams is concerned staff won't have access to these important resources. Since he heard of its closure, he's been grieving.
WILLIAMS: I feel like crying. I mean, it's horrible. I'm so frustrated. I'm so mad, and I'm just so upset.
RIDDLE: NASA officials say that the library's closure is part of a long-standing, quote, "transformation effort." Staff interviewed for this story said that many of the buildings on the campus are in need of repair, including the one that houses the library. But they point out that closures of buildings like this was not in the original plan. They say these closures have been rushed and disorganized, with no clear blueprint to replace important spaces. Monica Gorman works at Goddard.
MONICA GORMAN: The way that they've gone about it has just been extraordinarily haphazard and chaotic, and really to the point of being cruel to the people who work in these buildings.
RIDDLE: Gorman is a research analyst, but she spoke in her personal capacity. Hundreds of workers left or were cut from Goddard under the Trump administration. For months, remaining staff like Gorman say they've been experiencing chaotic disruptions. They recount laboratories moved with little notice, offices relocated and delicate lab equipment treated carelessly. Losing the library, says Gorman, is especially painful and confusing.
GORMAN: They kept telling us, oh, you can't work from home because you have to be in person to collaborate with people. You have to sit across the table from people in real life. And this was one of the best places on campus to do that, and they're just throwing it away.
RIDDLE: Representatives from NASA and Goddard declined an interview for this story, but NASA administrator Jared Isaacman posted on X in response to news reports about the library closure. He insisted the Goddard staff will still have access to the resources they need, writing, quote, "the Goddard community does have and will continue to have access to books via the federal interlibrary loan process." This has not been reassuring for many people, including Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen. He represents Maryland.
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: NASA Goddard really is the crown jewel of the NASA facilities when it comes to space science.
RIDDLE: Many of the federal employees who were cut from Goddard are his constituents. He says the library is symbolic of a bigger problem - that the Trump administration has targeted NASA for cuts in its budget with no explanation.
VAN HOLLEN: This administration is essentially doing things without letting the team at NASA Goddard know what their intentions are.
RIDDLE: Van Hollen plans to visit the Goddard campus this week. He says he and his colleagues in Congress continue to fight for America's investment in space and science.
Katia Riddle, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF HAL HARTLEY'S "END CREDITS, SIMPLE MEN (2024 REMASTER)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.