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Depository Library Council Meeting
Tampa, Florida
04/20/2009
At the Fall 2008 meeting of the Depository Library Council (DLC) the Public Printer asked the Council to focus their next meeting on regional depository library issues. Specifically Mr. Tapella asked that they examine: 1) how the partnership between depositories and GPO can thrive and 2) how the relationship between regionals and selectives can be strengthened. He stated:
"I believe that with the release of our final report [on conditions in regional depositories] and discussions with Congress and the beginning of a new administration and the beginning of a new Congress, the timing is right."
In response to the Public Printer’s charge, the two afternoon plenary sessions have the theme “A New Birth of Freedom – Creating an Informed Citizenry through Depository Libraries in the 21st Century”. We believe this theme is appropriate as it extends the 2009 inaugural theme chosen by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which celebrates President Abraham Lincoln, “A New Birth of Freedom”. There are common threads that run through President Abraham Lincoln, President Barack Obama, and the Federal Depository Library Program:
- Originating from humble roots;
- Serving the grass roots supporters, the general public in America; and
- Transparency in Government.
On January 21 President Obama issued two memoranda to the heads of executive departments and agencies, which are of particular interest to the depository community. In one he stated, "All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government. Disclosure should be timely.” Further, he directed the Office of Management and Budget to provide guidance to agencies “to increase and improve information dissemination to the public..."
In the other he called for an unprecedented level of Government openness to “strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government”. To achieve this he directed agencies to take specific actions to implement the principles of a transparent, participatory, and collaborative Government.
GPO fully supports the open and transparent Government initiative and hopes to work more closely with the President’s staff to implement it. It has, after all, been GPO’s role since it was established in 1861. It also was the intent of Congress when the statutory antecedent of the FDLP was enacted in 1813 and it was reaffirmed with the Printing Act of 1895, which moved depository libraries from the Interior Department to GPO.
In the spirit of President Abraham Lincoln, the new Obama administration, and the long tradition of the Federal Depository Library Program, what we’d like to do today is mobilize you to help improve the FDLP from the grass roots, up. We want you to reach out to the Depository Library Council and to GPO; tell us the challenges you face as a Federal depository library today; convey your ideas for change or modification; let us know what GPO can do to help you manage your depository operation in a manner that will create an informed and engaged citizenry.
Discussions over the next three days, and particularly today’s discussion, will provide GPO with an agenda for near, mid, and long-term actions. Much of what we hear will feed directly into the strategic plan for the FDLP. At the last Depository Library Council meeting in October 2008, three goals were agreed upon:
- Develop new models for Federal depository collections
- Develop new models for Federal depository services
- Develop new models of communication for the depository library community
There will be discussion of what is allowable under the current law in Title 44, United States Code that authorizes the FDLP. In your packet you will find copied pages from chapters 17, 19, and 41 that cover cataloging and indexing, the FDLP, and GPO Access respectively.
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