Article Abstract #3

Orr-Waters, Laura. Love it or Leave it: Government Depositories in Law Libraries. 15 (3/4) Legal Reference Services Quarterly 133 (1996)

Law libraries were given permission to become government depository libraries in the 1980s. In this article, Orr-Waters covers the pros and cons of remaining in the depository program. Some of the reasons she lists for leaving the program include the space problems generated by the volume of materials sent and the increased labor costs. Most of the reasons she lists are related to the bureaucratic requirements of the federal government.

Orr-Waters also gives several reasons for remaining a government depository library. Some of the reasons for remaining a depository library include the fact that the administrative procedures to withdraw are prohibitively time consuming, the possibility that once withdrawn, a library can never rejoin the program, and finally there is the fact that some materials can only be obtained through the depository program.

Libraries do have options besides remaining or withdrawing from the program. Orr-Waters lists some of these. They include withdrawing from the program slowly, more aggressively deselecting materials and improving processing procedures. Orr-Waters ends the article by including the procedures for leaving the depository program.