The U.S. Government's Depository Library Program

U.S. government publications are distributed free of charge to nearly 1,250 specially designated depository libraries throughout the country. These libraries have met strict requirements of the government and have agreed to follow guidelines in making the publications accessible to the public in their regions. Depository libraries are required by law to make their documents available to all citizens.

Depository libraries automatically receive publications from the U.S. Government Printing Office that are designed for general distribution. Some depository libraries are regional depositories and must receive all publications distributed. The State Library of Ohio in downtown Columbus (274 East First Ave.) is Ohio's regional depository library for U.S. government publications. Because the State Library receives everything available through the depository system, they are a good source for borrowing items that we don't have in our collection.

Most depository libraries, like Alden Library, are selective depositories and can control the selection of their documents by choosing which items they wish to receive. If you locate something that is not in our collection, you may be able to request it online through OhioLINK because there are many other depository libraries in the OhioLINK system. You can use the OhioLINK Central Catalog to search their holdings. In this way, the publication will be delivered from another library to the Circulation Desk at Alden Library for you to use.

Alden Library selects and currently receives about 80% of the publications available from the U.S. Government, so we have a larger collection than many other depository libraries. Also, we have been a depository library for more than 118 years, so our collection is rich in historic material. Our materials are filed according to the Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) classification system. By using this system, our U.S. document collection is arranged according to the U. S. Government agency that issued the publication.

Some publications are available in print or electronically. You will see many links for accessing these electronic documents in ALICE, the library's online catalog.

Depository libraries are the best sources for researching and locating print publications from the U.S. Government. Depository libraries not only have the most complete and publicly available collections of U.S. Government documents, but also own specialized indexes, finding aids, and reference tools to access and use them.

The Government Documents Department staff in Alden Library will be happy to get you started.