NDSU libraries celebrate membership
NDSU libraries celebrated Thursday to mark 100 years as members of the Federal Depository Libray Program.
The Federal Depository Library Program serves as an important informational resource for students and faculty across the nation.
Information provided through the FDLP serves as a vital academic resource and helps contribute to learning and success in the classroom.
“As the library of a land grant university, our mission is to serve the state of North Dakota and its people,” said James Council, dean of libraries. “The Federal Document Depository Program is just one of many ways that the library serves as an important information resource for NDSU and North Dakota.”
According to the NDSU libraries Web site, the FDLP was established in 1813 in order to guarantee public access to government information.
Responsibilities of libraries in the FDLP include maintaining and organizing the information, as well as providing cost free access to the public.
NDSU libraries are home to approximately 525,000 government items that include more than 300,000 print documents and 90,000 maps.
“We’ve got a little bit of everything, with all different levels of information from the really simple to the very technical,” said Kathryn Thomas, government documents librarian, in a recent press release.
Anyone is entitled access to any of the information in the federal depository collections.
NDSU libraries will continue to serve in the FDLP in the future and are always exploring new ways to improve the library.
“We have a number of initiatives underway to improve our services and our collections,” said Council.
According to Council, these initiatives include re-designing the library Web site to make it more user-friendly, planning a “customer satisfaction” assessment, starting a dean’s blog and exploring the possibility of extending library hours during finals week.
These improvements are being made with the intention of making the library and its resources as accessible and beneficial as possible.