Washington – The University of Florida Smathers Libraries signs a Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) to become a Preservation Steward library in GPO’s Federal Information Preservation Network (FIPNet).  Under this agreement, the Smathers Libraries pledge to permanently preserve its print collection of congressional hearings, primarily from the House of Representatives, for the years 1995 through 2010. 

To help Federal depository libraries meet the needs of efficient Government document stewardship in the digital era, GPO has established Preservation Stewards to support continued public access to historic U.S. Government documents in print format. Preservation Stewards contribute significantly to the effort to preserve printed documents and GPO welcomes all Federal depository libraries that wish to participate as Preservation Stewards. The Norlin Library of the University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Kentucky Libraries, The University of Hawai‘i at M?noa, The State Library of Ohio, The Ottenheimer Library at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and The University of Iowa Libraries also serve as Preservation Stewards.

Through the FDLP, GPO works with approximately 1,150 libraries nationwide to provide public access to authentic, published information from all three branches of the Federal Government in print and electronic formats. The program's antecedents can be traced back to the act of Congress dated December 27, 1813 (3 Stat. 140), which provided that one copy of the journals and documents of the Senate and House be sent to each university and college and each historical society in each state. GPO has operated the FDLP since 1895. FIPNet is an initiative of the FDLP to expand public access to Government information in depository library collections through collaboration with non-depository library institutions and resources that also possess collections of Federal documents and publications. This effort will result in a National Collection of U.S. Government Information for the use of future generations, and will transform GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications into an index of that comprehensive body of Federal information. 

“GPO welcomes the Smathers Libraries into this important program of maintaining Government information in all platforms,” said GPO Director Davita Vance-Cooks.”  I encourage more libraries to become part of this venture of preserving valuable print collections of Government information.”