NASA Permanently Shuts its Largest Library at Goddard Space Flight Center Housing 100,000 Scientific Volumes Amid Infrastructure Reorganisation

Key Points:

The largest library of NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland was permanently closed down on Friday, January 2, 2026. It has stored a collection of over 100,000 documents, journals, and books for researchers’ access since 1959. The shutdown was part of a broader reorganisation of the space agency’s infrastructure.

The consolidation drive will result in the closing of around 13 buildings and more than 100 science and engineering laboratories spread across the 1,270-acre campus by March 2026. The restructuring is being carried out to reduce operational costs and address long-standing maintenance issues. NASA spokesperson Jacob Richmond spoke about the agency’s plan to review the library materials over the next 60 days to decide which items would be stored in a government warehouse and which would be tossed away.

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Another NASA spokesperson, Bethany Stevens, described it as a “consolidation” and not a closure, stating that it was the result of a long-planned reorganisation. She said this would save around $10 million annually, along with avoiding an additional maintenance cost of $63.8 million. The closure is a follow-up process that has led to the shutdown of seven other NASA libraries across the US since 2022, leaving only three NASA libraries operational nationwide from next week onwards.

The move has drawn concern from scientists and engineers who relied on the facility for mission planning and historical research. Planetary scientist Dave Williams described the role played by the library for engineers working on missions to the Moon and beyond. Dr Williams worked for the library, compiling and preserving scientific materials that were exclusive to the Goddard library. There were even some data in the library that is not available online, as older materials are yet to be converted into digital format.

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However, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman clarified the issue on his X handle regarding the materials. He said, “At no point is NASA ‘tossing out’ important scientific or historical materials, and that framing has led to several other misleading headlines.” He further added that such an incident was “unfortunate at a time when the world should be energized by a plan to send NASA astronauts farther into space than ever before and return us to the lunar environment with a commitment to stay.” He also said that researchers would still have access to the information when needed.

The NASA Administrator also stated that a structured evaluation would follow a process that digitizes data while reducing the physical collection. Materials will be assessed to decide whether they should be transferred to other libraries or preserved for historical purposes before proceeding with the final decisions.

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