ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 11, Number 42 May 16, 2002 In This Issue: Update on GPO Active discussion is occurring in DC and elsewhere on OMB Memorandum M-02-07, "Procurement of Printing and Duplicating Through the Government Printing Office," As these discussions ensue, we will share information that we think you might find of use and interest. Some basic information includes: Section 501 of Title 44 of the United States Code generally requires Federal agencies of the executive branch to use GPO for their printing and printing procurement needs. OMB Memorandum M- 02-07, "Procurement of Printing and Duplicating Through the Government Printing Office," is an attempt to allow executive branch agencies to produce or procure their own printing without being required to come to GPO for these services. Under the OMB memorandum, agencies would still be required to supply GPO with copies of any publications that qualify for inclusion in the Federal Depository Library Program. Agencies also could still use GPO for their printing and procurement needs under certain conditions, but they would no longer be required to do so. This policy will not take effect immediately. The OMB memorandum calls for a revision to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), the set of rules under which executive branch agencies obtain goods and services. OMB has stated that they intend to provide a Notice and Comment period prior to any final rule change. Even if OMB's new policy is finalized in a revised FAR, Title 44 still requires that executive branch agencies send their printing and printing procurement requirements to GPO. Unless the law is changed, agencies are bound to comply with it. This is not the first time such a change has been attempted. It was attempted in 1987 and 1993-94. Congress did not support the change either time because of concerns about the potential for cost increases in Federal printing, reduced public access to Government information through depository libraries, and the impact on GPO and our ability to carry out our job. These same concerns are being raised again. We also direct your attention to the printing industry's report on the OMB memo at http://members.whattheythink.com/gporeport.html and the response of Andy Sherman (Director, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at GPO), at http://members.whattheythink.com/home/gpo.cfm Stay tuned to ALAWON for further GPO developments and contact Patrice McDermott at pmcdermott@alawash.org with your questions or concerns. ****** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. To subscribe to ALAWON, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc@ala.org or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. To unsubscribe to ALAWON, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff. Executive Director: Emily Sheketoff. Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Camille Bowman, Mary Costabile, Don Essex, and Miriam Nisbet. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Jennifer Hendrix, Carrie Russell, Claudette Tennant. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.