50 Years as a Depository--marked by a government shutdown

Today marks the beginning of our year-long celebration of our 50th anniversary in the Federal Depository Library Program. It's an exciting day, and we looked forward to all the programs that we will have throughout the year. However, today is also a solemn day. Congress has been unable to reach an agreement, so the government has shutdown.


But, I'm going to take this opportunity to focus on the positive. As you may have noticed, I, Sonnet Ireland, am writing in a first-person voice, which is something I try to avoid in this blog. This blog is dedicated to connecting its readers to government information. Today, I'm taking a side-trip to tell you just how important depositories are.


The government shutdown means furloughs for many people. It also means that many resources are, and will be, unavailable to the public. It means that certain government sites won't be updated, like GPO, or, worse, will be shut down, like Library of Congress and the Census. So now you're thinking, "how is this focusing on the positive?" Well, the depository libraries are still open. Now, more than ever, depository libraries are vital to the people. The information that used to be at the finger tips of every human being on the good side of the digital divide has vanished. There is no magic IT person who can fix it. We are at the mercy of Congress, void of certain resources until a solution is reached and a bill is passed. Except...for those who choose to utilize their local depository. Need to know how many people were in your area in 1920? We got that. Need to know why Pluto is no longer a planet? We got that, too. Any information you need, we either have it or have access to a vast network of other libraries that do. Remember, the Internet isn't down. If you need a government document that your library only accesses online, and if that document has disappeared, we can call up another depository and do our darnedest to get a fax or a scan of that information.


So, to our users, we are here for you! You can't find what you need during this information blackout, we will help you. To my fellow depository librarians, I put a call out that we work together across the country to help our patrons. I ask that we unite to do what we do best: finding government information even when the government makes it difficult.



PS: Keep an eye out for our tweets about the government shutdown. #govshutdown2013


Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents and Microforms
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Liaison Librarian:

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