The State Library of Kansas is a selective depository library for the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). The FDLP distributes U.S. Government publications to the nation's communities through libraries. According to the FDLP's website, the dissemination of congressional documents began in 1813, with approximately 1,100 libraries currently involved with providing access to and maintaining federal documents.
The State Library of Kansas is one of 17 selective depositories in Kansas. Selective libraries choose materials that will best serve their patrons. The University of Kansas's Anschutz Library is our regional depository and is responsible for keeping all documents it receives from the Government Printing Office (GPO) and providing guidance to the selective libraries in Kansas.
Our collection numbers more than 100,000 volumes in the library, as well as other tangible materials and online documents. The State Library was designated as a selective depository in 1975, although we started receiving U.S. public documents beginning in 1861.
The State Library is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the federal document collection is located on the second level of the State Library in open shelves. Photocopies are available for patrons to use for $.10 a page.
Documents are arranged by Superintendent of Documents Classification (SuDoc) number. To help search for documents in the State Library's collection, the State Library of Kansas Catalog can be accessed from the public computers.
Not all federal documents can be checked out, but those that can circulate are available to the general public for a three-week loan period. For non-Topeka residents, Interlibrary Loan (ILL) of our government documents is available through your local library.
Many documents are available as an electronic resource and can be found by searching in our catalog, the Catalog of US Government Publications, or on GovInfo.gov.
September 17th marks the day the U.S. Constitution was signed in 1787. Today, we celebrate the anniversary by learning about how the Constitution came to be and what it means to be a citizen of the United States.
During Constitution Week (September 15th-21st), the State Library will have a display showcasing items in our collection. If you can't come to the library, you can check out the resources below to learn more about the holiday and how you can celebrate!
Accessibility note: If using a screen reader, utilizing the "pop out" feature in the upper right corner of the Ask a Librarian frame may improve readability if using screen reader.