WHC Partner

Washington State Library Collection Policy
Olympia, Washington

Mission

Agency

The Office of the Secretary of State promotes public trust by:

• Safeguarding vital government records, documents, and process
• Preserving the integrity of elections in Washington State
• Providing the business community and public with easy access to information about corporations and charities
• Leveraging technology to improve efficiency and customer service

The mission of the Office of the Secretary of State "promotes public trust by: Safeguarding vital government records, documents, and process…[and] Leveraging technology to improve efficiency and customer service."

OSOS Vision Statement: Provide the public with relevant information about and access to Washington State’s history, businesses, and elections.

Division:

The mission of the Washington State Library is to:

• Collect, preserve, and make accessible to Washingtonians materials on the government, history, culture, and natural resources of the state.
• Provide leadership and coordination of services to all libraries in the state of Washington.
• Support the information needs of residents in state institutions and of the visually impaired.
• Serve as the primary source in the region for published information from the federal government.

WSL Goals

Goal #1: Restore library research and reference services to the legislature and state government agencies in support of public policy development and implementation

Goal #2: Collect, preserve and make accessible to all citizens of Washington materials on the government, history, culture, and natural resources of the state.

Goal #3: Provide leadership and advocacy for libraries in the state of Washington

Goal #4: Support the information and literacy needs of populations that are unmet by traditional library services

Collections at PPB

Federal Publications
The Washington State Library is part of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), and serves as the Regional Federal Depository for the states of Washington and Alaska. As a regional depository, the library receives all material distributed by the Government Printing Office's Federal Depository Library Program. The requirements for the program are in Section 19 of Title 44 of the U.S. Code. The formats distributed through the program include printed reports, microfiche, CD-ROMs, DVDs, and maps. The program also provides access to online publications and services via the Internet.

Free access to the resources of the depository collection by the general public is a fundamental obligation that all Federal depository libraries share. (See here for more information about the FDLP.) visit the following web page:

In addition to the depository collection, additional federal agency material is acquired to serve the needs of library customers, including citizens of Washington and other federal depositories in the states of Washington and Alaska. Subject areas of particular emphasis include:

• Commerce and trade
• Demographics and statistics
• Environment
• Health
• Labor and workforce training
• Law, legislation, and regulations
• Public policy and administration
• Washington and Pacific Northwest

State Publications

The Washington State Library is the permanent depository for State of Washington publications and, as provided in Chapter 40.07 RCW, maintains the state publications distribution center. RCW 40.06.020 requires the Washington State Library to "…utilize the depository library system to permit citizens economical and convenient access to state publications."

State publications include annual, biennial, and special reports, state periodicals and magazines, books, pamphlets, leaflets, and all other materials, other than news releases sent exclusively to the news media, typewritten correspondence and interoffice memoranda, issued in print by the state, the legislature, constitutional officers, or any other state department, committee, or other state agency supported wholly or in part by state funds. RCW 40.06.010 (1) defines "print" as including all forms of reproducing multiple copies, with the exception of typewritten correspondence and interoffice memoranda.

Northwest Collection

The Northwest Collection provides comprehensive information on the geographic area now known as Washington state. Diverse subjects dealing with Washington state are included such as government, history, education, ethnic groups, genealogy, geology, geography, environment, individuals, flora, fauna, counties, cities, transportation, sports, and the arts. Coverage of subjects tends to more popular or academic rather than technical. Time periods covered are from the pre-written history era through the Territorial Period (beginning 1853) and Washington Statehood (1889) to the present. Special focus of the collection is history with an emphasis on the history of Washington territorial and state governments. The collection provides access to and preservation of information about Washington, including that provided by historic newspapers.

The target audience includes citizens of the state, as well as those outside of the state’s borders wishing to obtain information about this part of the country. Members of the general public who enjoy this collection include genealogists from both in and out-of-state, those doing historic research, and students of all ages. Circulating materials are lent out and frequently borrowed through interlibrary loan, especially newspaper microfilm.

The Northwest collection contains both circulating and library use only materials. Multiple copies will be purchased, when available, for high interest or high demand materials. The primary medium is print, and primary language collected is English with only a few examples of other languages included. The collection is adult level material, although children’s and young adult materials are being added in response to the Washington Reads program. Adult and juvenile materials are inter-filed with adult materials. The majority of the collection is non-fiction, but it does contain historical and contemporary fiction and poetry dealing with Washington. The collection is primarily published materials, with some exceptions (see listing below).

Gifts are added to the collection at the discretion of designated WSL staff in conformity with the collection development guidelines. Materials in the Northwest collection represent several subsets, listed below:

• NW books, circulating
• Rare
• Territorial Library
• Washington Authors, including Governor’s Writers Award winners
• Newspapers, hard copy
• Newspapers, microfilm
• NW microfilm (other than newspaper)
• Archival materials (also known as manuscript collection)
• Maps
• Pamphlet and newspaper clipping files
• Miscellaneous – videos, films, audio tapes, posters, etc.
• Electronic - databases and CD’s