The Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) Amendments of 1990 required the General Accounting Office (GAO) to conduct a review of the Department of Education's Research Library, which is a component of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI). Data were gathered by reviewing several existing studies of alternatives for improving public access to the library, and by interviewing representatives of 20 key education association and library organizations as well as a researcher and librarians familiar with the library's collections. A department staff survey of staff use of the library was also reviewed. It was found that the Library lacks a collection development policy that specifies its users, materials, and acquisition and preservation priorities and practices; most educational organizations were unaware of the Library or its collections; more than half of the Department's staff have never used the Library; experts believe the Library's historical collections are potentially very useful; about one-half of the LIbrary's volumes have not been cataloged; and about 40,000 books in the historical and rare book collections are poorly maintained and preserved. Many organization representatives felt that the Library's collections and services should be better publicized and the dissemination of materials should be improved. It is noted that a mission statement has recently been approved and work is continuing on the articulation of a collection development policy. (MAB)