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Environment Resource Center Proposed

PALIKIR, Pohnpei (FSM Information Service): February 10, 1998 - An Environment Resource Center has been proposed for establishment at the FSM Congress Library to house environment literature locally available in various government offices. The establishment is in line with Activity 1.2.2 (establish small technical libraries) of the Capacity 21 project. It will also be available to Forum Island Countries. Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Samoa and Vanuatu that currently participate in this Environment Resource Center, according to President Jacob Nena's January 28, letter to Speaker Jack Fritz. As a FSM Government and South Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP) joint project, the FSM is expected to procure required shelves for storage of environmental literature collections, and establish a task force comprised of the SPREP librarian, Mr. O'kean Ehmes and a staff of Congress Library. SPREP will provide computer, software, printer, photocopy machine and technical advise and services required for the Environmental Resource Center, Nena stated.

A workshop has been scheduled for February 9 to 11^th this year in Samoa for those who will manage the center to learn the library software and how to establish an environmental library. Participants from the FSM other six SPREP countries will meet and agree on their service needs and future requirements.

Ms. Satui Bentin, SPREP librarian was invited to conduct an assessment on the need for a Resource Center in the FSM and to appraise the existing environmental literature. She met with members of the Sustainable Development Council (SDC) and concluded that FSM does need an Environmental Resource Center.

The Congress Library was selected as the site for the following reasons: it is in existence and operative; it is within the vicinity of the three branches and the COM-FSM; departments and agencies are willing to have their collections housed in the Congress Library; the library is under utilized; and Congress Library is accessible to the public. There is a need to build up the Congress Library and to explore the possibility of networking the collection in the four states.

Ms Bentin reported favorably that Congress Library uses the same cataloging system as the SPREP Library as well as the six countries participating in the Capacity 21 project uses.

COM-FSM Library, however, impressive with its new computers and qualified trained staff has to cater to the needs of its students. It is already overloaded with existing collections and South Pacific Commission (SPC) Literature.