As we gear up for the 250th anniversary of our Nation’s founding, the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) is excited to assist FDLP libraries with America250 resources and showcase your activities and libraries. Explore and order free promotional resources from GPO to give to patrons.

Celebratory Resources

• Freedom 250: Salute to America 250 Task Force (White House)
• America 250 Years in the Making: america250.org
• Library of Congress Celebrates America’s 250 Years
• Freedom 250: Celebrating the Triumph of the American Spirit (National Archives & Records Administration)
• Opening the Vault (National Archives & Records Administration)
• 250 Years of American Independence (National Park Service)
• Our Shared Future: 250 (Smithsonian)
• VA Freedom 250 Virtual Exhibit (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)
• Celebrating 250 Years of American History (U.S. Department of State)

 Events & Activities Shared by FDLs

Looking for ideas on how to celebrate America250 at your library? Assembled here is a sampling of the many ways in which depository libraries are commemorating this important moment in U.S. history. 

• New Mexico State Library created an America 250 craft: Pocket Constitution earrings! Learn how to create your own.
• East Tennessee State University’s Sherrod Library held a Rare Collections event where they created an exhibit using the library’s collections and invited the public to walk through for a guided tour. The collections included Government publications, such as the Congressional Record from multiple years where Congress read George Washington’s farewell address, historic USGS quadrangle maps, and a collection of documents published by the Smithsonian Institution’s Bureau of American Ethnology. Follow the guided tour through Sherrod Library’s Facebook reel.
• The Indiana State Library is hosting a U.S. 250 Trivia event. This free lunchtime game will test participants’ knowledge of American history. The winner will receive tickets that can be redeemed for any of the Indiana State Museum’s 12 historical sites.
• At the University of Pennsylvania, partners across the university are exploring how history can help us better understand the present and create a sustainable and inclusive future. View their America 250 at Penn web pages.
• The State Library of Kansas offers patrons helpful starting points to understand the Semiquincentennial on their website’s America 250 resources page.
• Ohio’s Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library is hosting events and exhibits across their 41 branches. View their America 250 page.
• The State Library of Pennsylvania invites you to engage with its unique collections and explore what Pennsylvania was like 250 years ago, when leaders gathered in Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776, through their digital collections
• Numerous FDLP libraries have created America 250 LibGuides. Check these out:
  • University of North Carolina Wilmington Library (highlighting many of the resources in their catalog that come from the monthly FDLP Data Manager downloads)
  • New Mexico State Library
  • Connecticut State Library
  • Delaware Division of Libraries

Share with GPO

Please consider sharing with GPO:

• America 250 Plans & Visuals:
  • A brief overview of your planned America 250 plans, events, and resources
  • Photos of activities, media, staff preparation, or displays (online and in the library)
• Historic anecdotes:
  • Brief stories of how your library has impacted the Nation
  • Notable visitors to your library over time
  • Moments in U.S. history in which your library has played a role in your community