It’s not too late to get a first-hand look at 100 years of U.S. history.

UMR’s Curtis Laws Wilson Library is celebrating its 100th anniversary as a
selective depository for U.S. government documents with an exhibit that
includes an 1882 U.S. Geological Survey color lithograph of the Grand Canyon,
among other historical documents. The exhibit has been extended to Dec. 31, and
the campus community and the public are invited to come and take a look.

As a member of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), the UMR
Library acquires, maintains and provides access to materials distributed by the
Government Printing Office (GPO). The library also provides services supporting
the use of those resources to the UMR community and the public.

The UMR Library was designated a depository March 1, 1907, when the
university was known as the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (MSM). The
library now receives about 35 percent of all materials published or distributed
by the GPO, including technical reports, journals, maps, statistical
information, Congressional hearings, pamphlets and books.

Among the oldest printed government documents housed at the UMR Library is
Letter from the Secretary of State to Mr. Monroe, on the Subject of the Attack
on the Chesapeake, published in 1809. The library also owns a number of U.S.
geological surveys from the late 1800s. Excluding digital resources, the
library now owns more than 500,000 government documents on microfiche, in print
or on CD-ROMs.

Some of the most frequently used documents include Code of Federal
Regulations, Statistical Abstract of the United States and USGS topographical
maps. The collections of FDLP materials stored at UMR are especially relevant
to aerospace engineering, geology, mining engineering, nuclear engineering,
education and environmental sciences (EPA).

Recently, the UMR Library acquired online access to the American State
Papers (1789-1838) and the U.S. Congressional Serial Set (1817-1980).
Increasingly, documents dsitributed through the FDLP are digital, and the role
of the depository library continues to grow and change to support the use of
electronic resources.