SF-Based Internet Archive Is Now a Federal Depository Library. What Does That Mean? | KQED

By Morgan Sung, Jul 24

Various types of electronics sit on a shelf at the Internet Archive offices in San Francisco on March 24, 2023. The Internet Archive, thanks to its designation by California Sen. Alex Padilla, joins a network of over 1,100 libraries that make government documents accessible to the public. (Beth LaBerge / KQED)

The San Francisco-based Internet Archive now has federal depository status, joining a network of over 1,100 libraries that archive government documents and make them accessible to the public — even as ongoing legal challenges pose an existential threat to the organization.

California Sen. Alex Padilla made the designation in a letter sent Thursday to the Government Publishing Office, which oversees the program. In the letter, shared exclusively with KQED, Padilla praised the Internet Archive for its “digital focus” and said it “is leading the way when it comes to providing online library services.”

“The Archive’s digital-first approach makes it the perfect fit for a modern federal depository library, expanding access to federal government publications amid an increasingly digital landscape,” Padilla said in a statement to KQED. “The Internet Archive has broken down countless barriers to accessing information, and it is my honor to provide this designation to help further their mission of providing ‘Universal Access to All Knowledge.’”

Under federal law, members of Congress can designate up to two qualified libraries for federal depository status.

Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle said that while the nonprofit organization has always functioned as a library, this new designation makes it easier to work with the other federal depository libraries. That, he said, is a service to everyone.

Brewster Kahle closes a storage container with books from the Allen County Public Library at an Internet Archive storage facility in Richmond on March 30. (Beth LaBerge / KQED)

“ I think there is a great deal of excitement to have an organization such as the Internet Archive, which has physical collections of materials, but is really known mostly for being accessible as part of the internet,” Kahle said. “And helping integrate these materials into things like Wikipedia, so that the whole internet ecosystem gets stronger as digital learners get closer access into the government materials.”

The Federal Depository Library Program was established by Congress in 1813, with the intention of ensuring that government records would be accessible to the American public. It includes maps, environmental reports, health studies, congressional records, newspapers and books.

These records account for “millions and millions of pages” that can take up entire floors of public libraries, Kahle said. San Diego’s public library gave up its federal depository status in 2020 because its government documents took up so much space and often went unused.

These records account for “millions and millions of pages” that can take up entire floors of public libraries, Kahle said. San Diego’s public library gave up its federal depository status in 2020 because its government documents took up so much space and often went unused.

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