The Census Bureau has proposed eliminating the U.S. Statistical Abstract as part of an FY 2012 budget reduction plan presented to Congress. (See the full plan or the relevant excerpts posted by the Population Studies Center of the University of Michigan.) This resource would no longer be published in print or online. Although little information is available, it is felt in the library community, particularly the academic library community, that this valuable resource would be a significant loss. In this plan, the County and City Data Book and the State and Metropolitan Data Book would also be eliminated.
There is no coordinated effort yet to save these resources, but people are beginning to contact legislators about their concern over this proposed cut. Hailey Mooney, Data Services and Reference Librarian at Michigan State University Libraries, has written a letter that she shared on a Government Documents discussion list (GOVDOC-L) with permission for people to adapt it for their use when contacting members of Congress.