The Essential FDLP: Share Your Experiences with GPO

The best check and balance systems require folks to have access to accurate information from (and about the workings of) the government. How else can we have an educated populace that votes in its own favor?

—Stephani L Rodgers, Public Affairs Librarian, Virginia Commonwealth University, James Branch Cabell Library

Budgets are a big issue with libraries so one of the advantages about being a federal depository is that we obtain our collection for free and can work with other depositories to receive resources or documents that may be needed, also free of charge. We receive documents that are current, relevant, and can be used as main primary source. Documents are also usually received before the library purchases published books on certain topics, such as ISIS, Mueller Report, Space Force, etc.

—Whitney Gerwitz, Government Documents Coordinator, St. Charles City-County Library District, Middendorf-Kredell branch

Libraries are advocates for open and free information with librarians being information warriors, which is exactly what a federal depository brings to the community. Our residents deserve transparency with their government. As a democratic society, free information is pertinent to a free society, and as a depository, we provide that free information and have the resources to continue providing that information even during times of a governmental transition or shutdown.

—Whitney Gerwitz, Government Documents Coordinator, St. Charles City-County Library District, Middendorf-Kredell branch

Our Government Documents branch also specializes in health literacy, and we can use our documents to assist with directing people to Medicare answers, government grants for nursing homes, health statistics from the CDC and Health & Human Services, and much more. One specific instance I remember is a patron wanting the status of a bill that had been introduced multiple times in Congress regarding Medicare. She wanted to know what organizations were lobbying for this specific bill, which I was able to find, so she could personally reach out to these organizations and help fight for this bill.

Another demographic we work with is our veteran population. St. Charles County is the home for over 20,000 veterans and we have plenty of resources to help veterans find assistance whether they just left the service or are veterans from past conflicts. I have worked with Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange find federal information that will help them in their medical cases with the VA.

The list of patrons is endless when it comes to finding government aid or knowing what their rights and benefits are as an individual whether it's regarding the workplace, disability, healthcare, etc. Libraries are taking on a lot of social roles within the community, and I believe Federal Depositories have an advantage with this. We have the resources to search, the networks to utilize, and we know what is happening within the federal government and the changes that may take place regarding a certain bill. I always say we offer government information, not government assistance, but offering information is the first step in offering assistance.

—Whitney Gerwitz, Government Documents Coordinator, St. Charles City-County Library District, Middendorf-Kredell branch

Without the FDLP there is no way we would have such a connected and collaborative program that spans the entire nation and allows citizens and non-citizens alike to have free access to important government documents, some which literally form the basis of our democracy, and some which provide access to valuable information not available from anybody else.

—Charlie Amiot, Student Services and Outreach Law Librarian, University of Kentucky, College of Law Library

Many of the documents create the foundation of democracy in the United States, and the rest just have really cool information that isn't found just anywhere else. Government information can be a valuable tool that also creates a shared responsibility between the federal government and the people.

—Charlie Amiot, Student Services and Outreach Law Librarian, University of Kentucky, College of Law Library

I use my local Federal depository library because I'm getting the information straight from the source, and it is often accompanied by librarians who know how to best guide my usage of it.

—Charlie Amiot, Student Services and Outreach Law Librarian, University of Kentucky, College of Law Library

I'm now a law librarian, but I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for two amazing FDLP librarians, Peggy Roebuck Jarrett and Cassandra Hartnett. Their support of me throughout my program is the reason I completed my program, and I found a love of and a passion for government documents through their love and passion for the materials. I commemorated my graduation by getting the FDLP logo tattooed onto me. It was the perfect tribute to both them and what the FDLP means to me.

—Charlie Amiot, Student Services and Outreach Law Librarian, University of Kentucky, College of Law Library

It often surprises me how many government documents address so many facets of our daily lives. There are documents that deal with nutrition, health, environmental concerns, space, history, veterans’ affairs, sources of energy, agriculture, business concerns, finances, taxes, and other areas of which we need to be aware.

—Holli Redden, Government Documents Assistant, Columbus State University

Free access to government information is important so that the public has easily accessible, accurate, and up-to-date information made available to them. The public can then use that information to make decisions that are necessary, and often crucial, to everyday life.

—Holli Redden, Government Documents Assistant, Columbus State University

During the last presidential election, our FDLP collection was used almost daily by patrons doing research about speeches that had been made and other information about past presidents and also about candidates that were running for election. I think that it is essential that the public educate themselves to know how to make good choices about the officials that they seek to elect.

—Holli Redden, Government Documents Assistant, Columbus State University

Documents made available through the FDLP are up-to-date and easy to access.

—Holli Redden, Government Documents Assistant, Columbus State University

Keeping the community informed access to quality information not only educates the community, but also keep our community informed, from immigration, social security or other education policies that help educate the community and next generation.

—Alice Sherwood, Librarian, Houston Public Library

Government agencies provide a variety of information in various formats, and its information provided is more than we realize and it is important to keep these documents to see history over time, keep the community informed with authoritative information.

—Alice Sherwood, Librarian, Houston Public Library

To see related information of updated laws, as Houston has it own Johnson Space Center, and a huge veteran population. It is cool to view these Hubble space books, presidential papers, recent biographical and memorabilia published by the government that we can be sure it is authenticated information.

—Alice Sherwood, Librarian, Houston Public Library

New tools and apps on the government agencies gets developed all the time in the days of the 21st century helping us location new information with appropriate tools through tools such as American Fact Finder and Tiger. As our old collection is getting more fragile over time as it ages, it is important to keep ourselves informed and stay in the FDLP to engage ourselves in the new tools provided to help our customers and ourselves access this information pertaining to the needs of the community.

—Alice Sherwood, Librarian, Houston Public Library

It is immensely important that public citizens and private researchers have access to these federal documents, so we can understand how our government has worked and does work. It's essential to our democracy.

—Kim O’Connell, Writer, The Library of Virginia

As a Virginia Humanities fellow at the Library of Virginia, I was conducting research about the Vietnamese immigrant and refugee experience in Virginia. The Library’s collection of federal records yielded several congressional reports from the mid-1970s illustrating how the U.S. government grappled with the question of what it owed postwar refugees from Southeast Asia . . . Despite the divisiveness that characterized the Vietnam War era, these records revealed that members of Congress, regardless of their political persuasion, were united in their empathy about the plight of refugees. I also found a March 1970 State Department primer with helpful facts on the Vietnamese people, land, and history . . . Finally, I was most taken with the inclusion in federal reports of documentary photographs by Life magazine photographer Dick Swanson, who captured images such as Vietnamese children crowded together on bare mattresses, long lines of refugees waiting for meals, and a woman in the traditional Vietnamese long dress (ao dai ) searching a printout for the names of missing family members. That was moving and painted a true picture of a tumultuous time.

—Kim O’Connell, Writer, The Library of Virginia

Our rural community college library is the only library in our town and serves a significant number of community patrons in addition to our students. Our small collection of tangible government documents allows a community that has very little contact with federal governmental agencies to gain insight and understanding into the vast, intricate, and important work the federal government does on our behalf. Seeing the USC helps our patrons gain appreciation for the expertise, the time, and the effort that goes into the functioning of our democracy. Sometimes our patrons want to know that sources are there if needed, even if they don't see a need for them in that moment. We provide a valuable point of reference for civic engagement, faith in the processes that contribute to our democracy, and access to a few essential documents. As the county seat, we have a fair number of lawyers who utilize our collection because we are the only higher education institution in our county.

—Lisa Pritchard, Director of Library Services, Government Documents Librarian, Jefferson College Library

Without the FDLP, government information would not have an official network behind keeping it open, trustworthy, and freely accessible. Government information is the heart of our democracy.

—Sarah Erekson, Regional Government Documents Librarian, University of Florida

Government information is a matter of life and death. Having accurate and trustworthy information on the weather is essential for daily life and business. Like many things deemed as “for the public good”, identifying, tracking, and forecasting hurricanes would be too expensive for the private sector to do. There is no way that this weather information is political or good for only some Americans.

—Sarah Erekson, Regional Government Documents Librarian, University of Florida

With the advent of free government information online, nearly any public library can provide government information, and FDLP library services don’t have to belong in the “adult services” departments. At Alachua County Library District’s Headquarters Branch, the Youth Services Departments’ Hurricane Tracker is the talk of the patrons and staff. Created using National Hurricane Center data, the tracker bulletin board is both fun and serious. It has fun and engaging imagery, but it also helps even the youngest patrons connect weather outside with storms. One young patron looked out the windows at the heavy rain and back to the bulletin board and wondered if the Hurricane on the board was impacting the rain outside.

—Sarah Erekson, Regional Government Documents Librarian, University of Florida