Federal Depository Library Program Fact Sheet
The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) began in 1813, when Congress first began regular distribution
of government publications to libraries. The FDLP has been called "America's first freedom of information"
program because it is based on the principle that in a democracy citizens should have unimpeded access to
information by and about their government.
The FDLP, through its network of over 1200 depository libraries, serves an estimated 13.3 million people
each year (not including those using GPO Access outside libraries), based on walk-ins and phone and electronic
contacts. That's an average of 10,452 persons per year per library.
Depositories serve as a key component of the nation’s educational, research, and development systems. Over
50% of the depositories are in colleges and universities, and about 20% are in public libraries. Over 150
law school libraries are depositories, as are national libraries, such as such as the National Library of
Medicine and the National Agricultural Library.
The FDLP is increasingly electronic. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2004, the percentage of
electronic-only publications
was 65%. In FY 2004, 32,348 new titles were disseminated through the FDLP; GPO Access makes more than
275,000 federal titles available to FDLP users as well as the public; and more than 32 million documents are
downloaded each month.
As electronic information resources grow, the need for assistance in finding information, provided by librarians
specializing in government information, also increases. Moreover, as electronic information changes or disappears
quickly, there is an increased need for libraries to provide partnership services to ensure permanent public
access to official versions of online information.
The demand for federal titles in print format is still significant. Print ensures authenticity, permanence, portability, and a variety of other characteristics that have yet to be provided as easily by electronics -- characteristics demanded by the libraries and the public they serve. In addition to distributing documents, the FDLP provides a wide variety of support services to libraries and their patrons. The program:
- acquires publications in all formats, which involves evaluating whether a given product belongs in the program, and tracks down lost publications of all types;
- provides cataloging and locator services to identify, describe, locate, and provide access to government publications in all formats;
- classifies the products, which allows libraries to tailor their collections to the needs of their constituents;
- conducts continuing education events and training initiatives which strengthen the ability of depository library personnel to serve the public, including the annual Federal Depository Conference, the annual Interagency Depository Seminar, the semiannual Depository Library Council meetings, and GPO Access training;
- provides a channel for users to direct their comments about information products and services to the publishing agencies;
- consults with and advises agencies on product design issues that may affect the public's ability to use the agency information products;
- ensures that electronic government information products disseminated through the FDLP, or incorporated in the FDLP Electronic Collection, remain permanently accessible to the public, either through partnerships or by archiving digital copies at GPO;
- answers thousands of inquiries per year from librarians and the public about what is available from the government and how to best use GPO Access and other electronic resources;
- develops a range of services to assist libraries in managing their depository collections.