Library of Congress and FTC will take their sites offline if government shuts down

With the possibility of an American federal government shutdown looming, at least some government websites are going dark, including the Library of Congress and the National Park Service.

Gayle Osterberg, director of communications for the Library of Congress, explained that “funds to operate websites in general are not available" and later added that "visitors to the site or those who follow a link to an internal page from a search engine result, for example, would see a simple splash page explaining the current status of the federal government." “Many of the services offered through our websites, such as reference services and cataloging queries, require staffing,” Osterberg said. “Those activities and corresponding expenditures are not allowed in the event of a shutdown.”