Illinois State Library

ABOUT THE FEDERAL DEPOSITORY LIBRARY PROGRAM

The Illinois State Library gives library patrons free access to information on the policies and programs of the federal government through the Federal Depository Library Program. The State Library has an extensive retrospective collection of federal documents. As a regional depository library for Illinois, the State Library has the legal responsibility for permanently retaining federal documents, providing interlibrary loan and reference service to patrons and providing assistance to selective depositories in their retention/disposal of federal documents distributed by the Superintendent of Documents. There are 52 depository libraries in Illinois including the State Library.

The Illinois State Library Depository Collection includes access to:

• Congressional Serial Set including the American State Papers
• Congressional hearings, committee prints, documents, reports and bills (paper copy and microfiche)
• Census of population, housing, economic, agriculture, government
• Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
• United States Code
• Code of Federal Regulations
• Federal Register (proposed and final rules and regulations of federal agencies)
• Public Laws
• United States Statutes at Large
• Congressional Record
• Statistical Abstract of the United States
• Electronic products distributed in the depository program, such as the Census Bureau’s 2000 Census on CD-ROM and Tiger Files.

In addition, the State Library publishes the directory entitled Federal Documents Depository and Depository Librarians in Illinois, and works with other federal documents librarians in promoting access to the collections.

GPO Access, an on-line database that includes the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulation, Commerce Business Daily and many more federal publications, can be accessed at the: GPO Access website.

With the explosion of federal information on the Internet, the Illinois State Library is dedicated to keeping access to government information free for the citizens of Illinois through the Federal Depository Library Program. If the information is electronic or in paper the Illinois State Library will assist patrons in accessing the information they need.