In 1965, just one year after the founding of the IPFW combined campus, Helmke Library joined the U.S. Depository Library Program, becoming a campus and community destination for government information.  At the start of 2016, we look back over the last 50 years and invite you to view the official agreement between IPFW and the United States Government Printing Office (GPO): "Acceptance of Designation as a Depository For United States Government Publications."   At the very bottom of this document is the signature of Carper W. Buckley, dated June 2, 1965.  Who is Carper W. Buckley, you might ask?  His name is unfamiliar to most of us, and yet, as the U.S. Government's Superintendent of Documents, Buckley received as many as 15,000 letters a day.  Most of these letters were routine requests for GPO publications, such the best-seller pamphlet, "Infant Care," which, by the early 1960s, had sold more copies than Gone with the Wind.  However, Buckley also heard from citizens afraid that IPFW and the Federal Depository Libraries were providing classified information to the Russians.  Buckley explained that only declassified documents were made available to the public (see "The Harassed Chief of the Federal Printing Office," New York Herald Tribune, 2/25/1961).  Carper W. Buckley's signature of designation marked IPFW's beginnings as a steward of public information. 

The Government Printing Office is now the Government Publishing Office, a change which reflects GPO's immersion in both digital and print publishing.  As a Depository Library, IPFW Helmke Library supports free access to GPO's over 1 billion items that can be accessed electronically.  And, Helmke also offers an excellent print collection of documents - including key publications from Congress, the President, Justice Department, Department of Defense, Health and Human Services, CIA, Patent and Trademark Office, and Census Bureau, just to name a few -- as well as important historical materials, such as the U.S. Serial Set.  These documents are of tremendous interdisciplinary relevance and touch upon fields as diverse as biology, economics, engineering, the health sciences, and business.  For more information, check out Helmke Library's Government Gateway, visit USA.gov, or contact Ann Marshall.