This article examines changes in restructuring the library side of this partnership. A future article will discuss the government side. A strengthened and renewed Depository Services Program will help the federal government meet many of these objectives with respect to published government information. It is the role of the DSP to ensure that Canadians have universal and equitable access to essential government information resources. Libraries are the public institutions selected to receive copies of federal government publications and make them available to the public.
Depository libraries serve both English and French linguistic communities.
Under the current operation of the DSP, full depository status is granted to Canadian libraries nominated and approved by a Committee of representatives of the National Library of Canada and the Depository Services Program. This status is granted as English, French or bilingual, depending on the clientele of the library in question. Due to their special information mandates, the National Library and the Library of Parliament also receive copies of each publication. Full depository libraries automatically receive shipments of all publications listed for distribution in the Weekly Checklist of Canadian government publications for that week. There are 48 full depositories in Canada and one each in England, Germany, Japan and the United States.