"It was created as a way to let the citizens know that the government is up to.”
That’s how Kathleen Krizek, senior librarian in the Special Collections Department at the Main Library Downtown, describes the Federal Depository Library Program.
It was established in the 1800s by an act of Congress and since 1914, the Jacksonville Public Library has served as a designated storehouse for some of the federal government’s most important – and in some cases, most obscure – documents and publications.
Many of the materials are displayed on shelves on the fourth floor of the Main Library, while the more rare and fragile are held in a restricted area and are available only upon request.
The Jacksonville collection is a “selective depository,” meaning the library receives about 25 percent of the documents distributed each year by the federal government, said Krizek. Over the years, the collection has grown.
“We have publications about canning fish in World War II and Department of Agriculture reports from as far back as the Civil War,” she said.
Data ranging from decades of weather reports to the laws of the land also are included in the inventory.
“A lot of self-lawyers use our materials,” Krizek said.
Krizek and her staff also are inventorying and evaluating materials the library has taken into its custody over the years.
She said the library has boxes full of documents and artifacts, some of which probably were donated by people who didn’t want to just discard the materials.
“Where did it all come from? I don’t know,” she said.
The library has been contacted by the U.S. Government Printing Office to begin planning a centennial celebration for the depository. Krizek said the official observance is still in the planning stages, but a date will be announced this summer.
In the meantime, she said, more information about the depository and the other aspects of the Special Collections department is available at jpl.coj.net or by visiting the fourth floor of the Main Library.
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