Check out the next FOIA Requester Roundtable on FOIA Libraries

Making FOIA libraries as useful as possible for requesters is the topic of the January 22 FOIA Requester Roundtable (ARC Identifier 541514)

Did you know that agencies are required under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 USC § 552(a)(2), to make available to the public five categories of records:

  • final opinions, including concurring and dissenting opinions and orders, made in adjudicated cases;
  • policy statements not published in the Federal Register;
  • administrative staff manuals and instructions that affect the public;
  • previously released records that are likely to become the subject of future requests and an index of such records; and
  • a record of the final votes of each member in every agency proceeding?

Agencies generally make these documents available in their web-based FOIA reading rooms or libraries, which are the subject of the Tuesday January 22 FOIA Requester Roundtable, a quarterly meeting with requesters sponsored by OGIS and the Office of Information Policy (OIP), the government’s FOIA policy office.

“FOIA Libraries: Maximizing Usefulness from the Requester Standpoint,” will be from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on January 22 at OIP, 1425 New York Ave. NW, near the McPherson Square Metro stop on the Blue & Orange lines and Metro Center on the Red line.

Interested? E-mail your name and phone number to OIP Training Officer Bertina Adams (doj.oip.foia@usdoj.gov). Registration is required and a picture ID is required to enter the building. If you can’t make it in person, call-in information will be provided upon registration. Questions? Call Ms. Adams at 202-514-1010. We hope to see you there!