Historian James Billington taken to task by the NYT for the way he runs the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress has long been a beacon for an informed democracy, evolving in Washington into the world’s largest library and a revered institution built on the foundation of Thomas Jefferson’s many books and insatiable curiosity.

This makes it all the more troubling that the current librarian of Congress, James Billington, has been criticized and repeatedly prodded to change his management approach to one of the keys to the library’s future: its complex systems of information technology.

Mr. Billington, a respected scholar who has run the library for 28 years, has ignored calls first heard 20 years ago that he hire a chief information officer as required by law, according to a new, yearlong investigation by the Government Accountability Office. “The library does not have the leadership needed to address these I.T. management weaknesses,” the report concluded in urging Mr. Billington to “expeditiously hire” a permanent chief with the power to get a grip on the library’s assorted computer systems.

Another new study looked at the library’s other mission, running the United States Copyright Office, and found similar mismanagement. The office, so crucial to modern business, was found to need considerable technology upgrades and investment to meet the standards of the digital world.

Both reports cited weaknesses in computer planning, security and inventory procedures. In less than three years, there have been five acting information officers, who, according to investigators, never had full authority to manage the library’s systems.