2.2 Legal Requirements

The structure of the FDLP that is in place today comes from the Depository Library Act of 1962 (DLA). This Act, among other things, doubled the number of libraries per Congressional district, eliminated the requirement that libraries pay postage for their depository receipts, allowed for the distribution of non-GPO publications, and created regional depository libraries.

The authority for the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and the legal requirements of Federal depository libraries are found in Chapter 19 of Title 44 United State Code. In addition to the provisions of the DLA of 1962, Chapter 19 includes who designates depository libraries and which libraries are eligible for Federal depository designation.

The chapter also provides the access, service, and collection statutory mandates of your depository library:

• Make government publications available for free use by the general public;
• Properly maintain government publications and make them accessible to the public;
• Report the conditions of your depository library to the Superintendent of Documents every two years by completing the Biennial Survey (see Chapter 11 for more information on Collaboration with GPO);
• Maintain a library collection, other than Government publications, of at least 10,000 books;
• If your library is a selective depository served by a regional depository, you MUST retain Federal publications for at least five years, unless they are superseded or the discards are authorized by the Superintendent of Documents;
• If your library is a selective depository not served by a regional, you MUST retain permanently at least one copy of all government publications in print or microfacsimile, unless they are superseded or the discards are authorized by the Superintendent of Documents. For more information on the superseded policy, see chapter 5 on Depository Collections in this Handbook.
• If your library is a Federal library, you are not required to maintain depository titles for five years. Materials may be withdrawn at any time and disposed of after they have been offered to the Library of Congress and the Archivist of the United States. Your discards are not handled by a regional depository library.
• If your library is the highest state appellate court library, Chapter 19 provides special privileges:
  • No obligation to provide free public access to depository resources;
  • No five-year retention requirement before discarding depository publications; and
  • No requirement to discard property through a regional depository library.
• If your library is a regional depository, Chapter 19 delineates additional responsibilities that come with the regional designation:
  • Provide interlibrary loan and reference service to depositories within the region;
  • Assist selectives with the disposal of unwanted government publications; and
  • Retain permanently at least one copy of all government publications in printed or microfacsimile, unless they are superseded or the discards are authorized by the Superintendent of Documents.

Related Title 44 Chapters affecting depository libraries include Chapters 17 and 41. Chapter 17 authorizes the distribution and sale of public documents and the Cataloging and Indexing Program; chapter 41 authorizes GPO Access and allows GPO to provide access to Federal electronic information. For a complete version of Title 44, chapters 17, 19 and 41, please click on the display below.

United States Code Title 44 - Public Printing and Documents

Title 44
Browse through a list of all chapters and link to the full text

Chapter 17
Browse through the laws governing the Distribution and Sale of
Public Documents and the Cataloging and Indexing Program

Chapter 19
Provides the laws governing the Federal Depository Library Program

Chapter 41
Provides the enabling legislation for GPO Access and the locator services