By JUDD WEIL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Public Library (HPL) announced they are celebrating 60 years of participating in the Federal Depository Library Program on Friday, June 30.
"It's a historic moment for the library, it's also historic for Hutchinson," Katie Broker, HPL Adult Programing Coordinator, said. "The Hutchinson Public Library was the first public library in Kansas to become a federal depository library."
There are federal depository libraries all over the U.S., however Broker added there are only 1,150.
"That means our residents have the ability to walk in here, access publicly any information that we have related to government, federal document, state, and local," Broker said.
Public access to the government documents collection is guaranteed by public law under Title 44 United States Code.
The Hutchinson Public Library has approximately 8,000 items in their collection. This includes government magazines, such as the Smithsonian, Library of Congress, and Military Review. There are 7,300 government documents in the collection itself.
"Our collection includes but is not limited to, one of the most popular items that we have are maps of national parks and historical sites," Gina Long, Government Documents Depository Coordinator, said. "We have items here in Kansas, for example, the Quivira Wildlife Refuge and refuges around it."
Long added it is little known by people that Hutchinson has two historical sites to the west. The first is Fort Larned in Larned, Kansas. The second is Nicodemus, Kansas, noted for being the furthest western settlement of freed African slaves following the Civil War.
People can use the federal depository collection to find locations, hours, and contact information for these historical sites and more.
Long said HPL also receives a lot of military history and branch-specific information for their collection.
"For example, we just got a volume in that talks about all of the commanders for the Air Force through, I want to say, 2002, with biographies and photos and everything." Long said. "That's a bound volume."
As part of the Federal Depository Library Program, HPL also receives import and export raw data for every port in the U.S. This is very important for the Kansas international trade business and economy, as quite a bit of the state's products are exported.
Other items include congressional hearings, particularly transcriptions relating to Reno County and Hutchinson. There are also transcriptions from the Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Defense, NASA, and the Smithsonian.
This is a historic milestone for the Hutchinson Public Library and the Hutchinson community and the library is looking forward to celebrating it with with their patrons just in time for Independence Day. Everyone is invited to the celebration, even if they have not been to HPL before.
This is a great opportunity to learn about the services the library offers and meet the people that make those services possible.
The itinerary leading up to the day of the celebration on June 30 includes:
A Buffalo Hunt in the Kansas Room where all week long HPL will have a scavenger hunt for buffalo hidden in their Kansas room. Find one, return it to the reference desk and receive a prize. There is one special white buffalo hidden each day with a special prize. There is only one chance to find the white buffalo per day. Look for information around the Kansas Room about the white buffalo and its importance in Native American culture.
A Monument Match, which will be a monument matching game to play all week at the library. People can visit the GovDocs display by the reference desk and match the 3D model to the monument name for a prize.
The day of the 60th anniversary celebration will have cake from Holly's Sweet Treats in Hutchinson, ice cream, and more activities.
Additionally, there will also be a historic photo display featuring the library and Downtown Hutchinson from the Reno County Museum.
Dillon Nature Center and the Cosmosphere will also be part of the celebration with activities and information inside the library on the second floor.
Live music from the Hutchinson Mountain Dulcimers will be in the Kansas Room.
Whether you are researching Congressional reports, Supreme Court decisions, Kansas laws, election results, fiscal budgets, consumer information, or NASA projects, you will find helpful information in the documents collection at the Hutchinson Public Library.
Most items can be checked out for a three-week period and there is no charge to access federal depository information.
The anniversary celebration will take place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The Hutchinson Public Library is located at 901 North Main St.
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