Administrative Notes 

Newsletter of the Federal Depository Library Program

Vol. 24, no. 14 GP 3.16/3-2:24/14 December 15, 2003 

HIGHLIGHTS

Jellen Joins 

Docs 1

Biennial 

Survey 1

New 

Catalogers 2 

Interagency 

Seminar 2

Depository

Library of the 

Year: Tulsa 3 

Larry Jellen Joins SuDocs 

Larry Jellen joined the Superintendent of Documents organization 

effective September 6, 2003. He is serving as expert consultant in the 

New Business Development and Library and Customer Relations areas. 

This assignment will be involved with all components of Library and 

Customer Relations, as well as the development of new business 

initiatives and partnerships. He will also be responsible for developing 

business plans and financial models for new products and services. 

Mr. Jellen's prior professional positions include President of Time Life 

Direct and Time Life Books. He has had numerous marketing 

management assignments at Time Life, AMA, Sears Communications, 

and IBM. He was also the managing director of Brand EQC, a brand 

consulting company in Chicago. Larry has been responsible for the 

development of new business areas in all of his previous assignments. 

2003 Biennial Survey Almost 

Completed

Many thanks to all those libraries that completed the 2003 Biennial Survey 

by the deadline of December 5. The survey is required by law and 

provides valuable data on depository libraries and on the Federal 

Depository Library Program.

Any libraries that have not yet submitted their Biennial Survey should do 

so as soon as possible, at: 

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/bisurvey/03survin.html. 

December 31 is the last date for filing to be considered in compliance with 

GPO regulations.
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New Catalogers Appointed 

Beth Deahl has recently joined the Cataloging 

Branch as a monographic cataloger. She 

comes to the Washington area from Southern 

California, where she lived and worked for 

ten years, most recently as a cataloger at the 

Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. She 

also worked at the University of California 

San Diego and San Diego State University, 

and was self-employed as a researcher and 

information services consultant for several 

years. She has an M.S. degree in Library and 

Information Science from Drexel University, 

Philadelphia, and an undergraduate degree in 

Art History from the University of Delaware. 

Another recent appointee is Violet Lee, who 

is currently cataloging monographs and maps 

at GPO. She graduated from the National 

Chung-Hsing University in Taichung, 

Taiwan, majoring in Western Language and 

Literature. She received her MLS degree 

from the Alabama A&M University in 1980. 

During 1981-1984, she taught in the 

Department of Library & Education 

Information Science, Tamkung University, 

Taiwan, as an Instructor. Returning to the 

U.S. in 1985, she worked as a cataloger, most 

recently serving as Head of the Cataloging 

Department at the Howard University 

Library. 

New Documents Staff: Plan Now to Attend the 

2004 Interagency Seminar 

Who: Documents staff with three years or 

less of recent experience with 

Federal Government documents. 

Attendees with reference or public 

service responsibilities will find 

these sessions particularly useful. 

What: An overview of various agencies'

information products and activities 

as they relate to Federal depository 

libraries. 

Where: Washington, DC 

When: June 2 – 9, 2004 

Why: To acquire information and to 

discuss and exchange ideas with 

colleagues, agency representatives, 

and Information Dissemination staff 

of the Government Printing Office. 

How: Register online at <http://www. 

access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/tools/ 

 04interagency_reg.html> 

How much: It’s free! (But attendees are 

responsible for their own 

transportation, lodging, and per 

diem expenses.) 

For agenda, see Administrative Notes, v. 24, 

# 13 (11/15/03). 

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Federal Depository Library of the Year: 

A Long Journey Worth the Effort 

Suzanne Sears 

Government Documents Librarian 

Tulsa City County Library 

In March 2003 I gave a tour of the Tulsa 

City-County Library documents collection to 

a colleague, Sharon Bish, from the 

Metropolitan Library System in Oklahoma

City, Oklahoma. She had recently been given 

the task of overseeing reference in the 

Metropolitan depository collection and 

wanted to see how we handle things in Tulsa. 

Around the same time, GPO announced they 

were accepting nominations for Federal 

Depository Library of the Year. In a thank 

you email Sharon suggested I nominate my

library for the award. My first reaction was 

pride that she thought so well of our system. 

My second thought was that there was no 

way my small selective with a staff of 1.5 

FTE could compete against the other fabulous 

depositories and so it wouldn’t be worth my

time to turn in a nomination. I put her email 

in my files and went back to work. 

In April 2003 I attended the Depository 

Library Council Spring Conference in Reno 

where I learned a little more about the award; 

it seemed GPO would take into account the 

size of the depository collection when 

determining whom to select. Maybe I did 

have a chance. I had several long discussions 

with my regional librarian, John Phillips from

Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, and 

finally decided it was worth a shot. After all, 

what harm would it do to send in the 

nomination? 

The problem was then what to send in as a 

nomination. This was a new award so there 

were no examples of acceptable submissions. 

I reread the original GPO announcement. 

Did my library fit all the criteria? In my 

opinion it did! 

I decided to write my nomination in narrative 

form addressing each of the criteria. For each 

qualification I composed one or two 

paragraphs to answer how our library met 

that qualification and included statistics from

the last two years to show growth in use of 

the collection. I then considered other items I 

could submit to support my nomination letter. 

I added thank you letters from customers to 

document the value of the collection to our 

users, examples of flyers and handouts from

recent presentations, and a copy of my 

library’s depository collection development 

policy. Part of my job includes working with 

GIS software to provide customers with 

census data in tabular and graphical formats 

for user-defined areas – I included an 

example of this service to show enhanced 

access to Federal information. 

In August, I received a phone call from Judy 

Russell telling me we had been selected. I 

couldn’t believe my ears; I was in total shock. 

I emailed Judy later to ask for more details 

because my brain must have shut down when 

she told me we had won. One condition from

the GPO was that our achievement had to be 

kept a secret until the Fall FDLP Conference. 

This was very hard to do! Luckily, my

regional was informed, so I could share the 

news and my excitement with him.

GPO went all out providing my library 

director, Linda Saferite, and me with an all 

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AN-v24-#14-12/15/03 

expense paid trip to the fall conference. The 

staff at GPO were efficient, pleasant, and 

always available to solve any problems we 

encountered and answer even the silliest of 

questions we had. Linda and I took time off 

from the conference on Monday to pay 

personal visits to the two Senators from

Oklahoma and to invite them to the Tuesday 

evening reception. This visit resulted in a 

picture opportunity with the Senior Senator 

from Oklahoma, Don Nickles. Judy Russell 

very kindly met Linda and me at Senator 

Nickles’ office for a group picture with the 

award. 

Tuesday morning our library was announced 

as the winner of the award. Linda and I were 

introduced and received a framed certificate 

proclaiming the Tulsa City-County Library as 

the Federal Depository of the Year. The 

secret was finally out and everyone was 

invited to a reception that evening in our 

honor. 

Tuesday evening was a wonderful night. 

Refreshments were provided by GPO and the 

accolades from colleagues and government 

officials were so rewarding. Linda and I 

received another award from GPO at the 

reception – a beautiful crystal statue 

recognizing our library as Federal Depository 

Library of the Year. The Mayor of Tulsa 

even proclaimed November 2003 as 

Government Information Month in the City 

of Tulsa. 

I want to take this opportunity to once again 

thank everyone at GPO for this recognition;

TCCL is honored to be recognized as the first 

Federal Depository Library of the Year. I 

would also like to thank my wonderful 

regional librarian John Phillips, Oklahoma

State University. John is there whenever I 

need him for support and advice; he is a 

supreme example of an effective regional 

librarian. Without his guidance, none of this 

would have been possible. 

I encourage every FDLP member to submit a 

nomination next year. Let’s raise the bar, 

celebrate our successes, and honor the work 

we do! 

Suzanne Sears

Government Documents Librarian 

Tulsa City County Library 

2003 Federal Depository Library of the Year

Director Linda Saferite, Suzanne Sears, and Public Printer Bruce James 

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AN-v24-#14-12/15/03 

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Best 

Wishes 

for a 

Happy 

Holiday 

Season 

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AN-v24-#14-12/15/03 

Table of Contents 

Larry Jellen Joins SuDocs............................................................................................................. 1 

2003 Biennial Survey Almost Completed .................................................................................... 1 

New Catalogers Appointed........................................................................................................... 2 

New Documents Staff: Plan Now to Attend the 2004 Interagency Seminar................................ 2 

Federal Depository Library of the Year: A Long Journey Worth the Effort / Sears.................... 3 

Administrative Notes Cumulative Table of Contents 

http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/adnotes_toc.pdf 

Updated with each issue 

Searchable by keyword 

Administrative Notes is published in Washington, DC by the Superintendent of Documents, 

Library Programs Service, Government Printing Office, for the staffs of U.S. Federal 

Depository Libraries. 

It is published on the 15th day of each month; some months have additional issues. 

Postmaster send address changes to: The Editor, Administrative Notes 

U.S. Government Printing Office

Library Programs Service, SLLD 

Washington, DC 20401 

Internet access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/adnotes/index.html 

Editor: Marian W. MacGilvray (202) 512-1119 mmacgilvray@gpo.gov

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