The U.S. depository library program and the separation of powers

Abstract

The Depository Library Program (DLP) is caught in a struggle over separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches of government. The federal printing laws present executive branch agencies with a fundamental conflict in that they prevent agencies from exercising management control over essential executive functions, namely, production and distribution of information products. This longstanding conflict will not be resolved until Congress reforms itself. Because of the conflict, executive branch agencies will resist giving DLP a blank check for electronic information products as well as making the Government Printing Office (GPO) the primary information packager for the federal government. The author argues that depository librarians would be better served by urging that DLP be legislatively removed from GPO and placed in the National Archives and Records Administration.