Laws, census publications, agricultural data, municipal plans, and maps comprise only a small portion of the collection. Topics range from geological investigations and environmental impact reports to tax forms and congressional hearings. Government agencies collect and publish statistics on a variety of subjects. For example, the Census Bureau collects a huge array of data on United States populations which includes race, age, income, and other demographic information. California State publications are published by the California Office of State Printing.
Local governments produce their own documentation at the city, county, and regional levels.
However, government agencies also contract with private industry to collect information, conduct studies and publish reports. Generally speaking, a depository is a place to store documents. The US Federal government, California state government, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission each send our library selected government publications that we make available to the public. The Robert E. Kennedy library became both a US Federal and California State depository in 1969. In 1980 our library also became a depository for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.