Northwest College

Northwest College will celebrate 50 years of having a U.S. Federal Depository Library on its campus with a Tuesday, March 21, reception from 2-4 p.m. in the Hinckley Library Amphitheater.

Northwest College joined the Federal Deposit Library Program (FDLP) March 15, 1967, shortly after a new library space was opened in the Frisby Building.

The mission of the Federal Deposit Library Program is to provide free, ready and permanent public access to federal government information now and for future generations.

The United States Government is the largest publisher in the world and it distributes materials in a variety of formats including electronic, CD, microfiche and paper. As part of its publishing program, the U.S. Government distributes government documents free of cost to designated libraries throughout the country. These Libraries are known as Federal Deposit Libraries.

The FDLP was mandated by Congress in 1813 to provide one copy of the House and Senate journals and other congressional documents to various libraries throughout the country. The first Federal Depository Library was founded in Massachusetts by the American Antiquarian Society. Today, there are more than 1200 of these libraries throughout the United States.

Over the years, NWC has received various documents and publications including:

• Public papers from Presidents of the United States (from Herbert Hoover to Barack Obama)
• Agricultural yearbooks from 1894-1993
• U.S. Geological Survey publications from 1884
• U.S. Forest Service maps for Wyoming and contiguous states
• Historical military documents
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) publications
• Archaeological studies of public lands and national parks