We hope to repeat this meeting format again in the future. Our speaker and meeting host was the library's government documents specialist, Chris Rogers. Chris gave an overview of the federal depository library program and then outlined the major federal resources that non-profits should review in order to identify grant and funding opportunities. Federal depository libraries are located in nearly every U.S. Congressional district. These libraries facilitate no-fee public access to information collected by all branches of our Federal Government.
Information is provided in print and electronic formats.
Better yet, professional assistance in accessing the information is available at all locations from a documents librarian. One of the resources used most often by grant seekers is the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. This annual publication outlines some 1400 federal grant programs. Chris cautions that because federal agencies develop unique web sites, search engines will vary. Some are cumbersome while others are very user-friendly.