The New Jersey State Library has been a Federal Depository Library since 1895. Federal depository libraries provide free access to federal publications and resources and make available, trained librarians to assist in their use.
The New Jersey State Library is a selective federal depository library, selecting 57% of what the Government Publishing Office (GPO) distributes to federal depository libraries.
About the Collection
The State Library's US Documents collection is tailored to meet the needs of State government, with an emphasis on the Social Sciences, Legal, and Congressional materials. State Library holdings include a complete Census collection, dating back to the 1st Census (1790), and a comprehensive collection of Congressional reports and documents. The State Library contains major holdings from the following federal agencies: Commerce, Education, Environmental Protection, Health & Human Services, Justice, and Labor.
Cataloging
All the federal documents the State Library currently receives from the Government Publishing Office (GPO) are cataloged*.
*Since March 2009, the State library has participated in the GPO's Cataloging Record Distribution Program. This Program distributes cataloging records directly to federal depository libraries, providing automatic dissemination of cataloging records and direct access to online documents. Many documents are now released in electronic format only. These documents are included in the State Library's catalog, which enables library users to access government documents both remotely and on-site.
Earlier, pre-1976 documents that don’t appear in our catalog can be retrieved by using our subscription and free GPO databases.
Location
The majority of the State Library's US Documents collection is shelved in Superintendent of Documents classification number order on level 4 and level 1.
Legal materials like the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations, the United States Code, and the Statutes at Large, are located in the Law Library on level 3.
What Circulates?
The majority of the collection circulates; reference items or periodicals do not circulate.
The Federal Depository Library Program was established by Congress to ensure that the American public has access to its Government’s information. The Government Publishing Office (GPO) administers the FDLP on behalf of the participating libraries and the public. Information products from the Federal Government are disseminated to these nationwide libraries that, in turn, ensure the American public has free access to the materials, both in print and online.
Federal Government information is made available for free public use in Federal depository libraries located throughout the United States and its territories. Anyone can visit Federal depository libraries and access the collections.
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Keeping America Informed by 
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This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new window This link opens in a new windowDiscovery Service for the NJ State Library
You can start your research using the Discovery Service - this service is an easy way to search in almost all of the NJ State Library's content at once. Searching here will look in the library catalog, many databases, journals, magazines, government documents and institutional repositories.
Enter the title of a document to find out if it is available in one of the online databases or the NJ State Library's catalog.
Please note that remote access to online journal content is restricted to State Library authorized users: NJ state employees and, unless otherwise noted, Thomas Edison staff and students. Authorized users needing a State Library access card, should complete the appropriate online borrower registration form
