Midwest FDLP library coordinators,

Congratulations are in order!   February 2025 marked the one-year anniversary of GPO’s new “Limited Print Distribution (LPD) Framework.”  We hope that everything is going smoothly at your libraries under this new, more digital model.  Of course, with change comes the need to adjust policies, and that’s what we’ve been working on in the Midwest NCSA steering committee.  We’re writing to you today with an update and a request.

Since December, we have been focusing exclusively on how to ensure that at least one copy of each Print Distribution Title (PDT) remains in the Midwest.  The whole LPD Framework is in fact predicated on the idea that there will always be at least one copy of each title in each NCSA. This baseline requirement was established back in 2015 by GPO’s Congressional oversight committee, the Joint Committee on Printing. However, in the new LPD Framework, such retention will not happen automatically. It can only result from intentional, collaborative decision-making. Our committee believes the simplest way to ensure the Midwest maintains at least one tangible copy of all PDTs is through Preservation Steward partnerships.  More Preservation Stewards are needed, particularly for maps dated 2024 forward.  Consult the PDT Dashboard to see which midwestern libraries are presently receiving 20-copy and 50-copy titles.

Our committee will soon be reaching out to individual libraries to gauge interest in becoming a Preservation Steward.  In the meantime, please feel free to contact me or any of my steering committee colleagues listed below if you have questions about the Midwest NCSA.

This blog post is a copy of an email from Marie Concannon, Chair, Midwest National Collections Service Area Steering Committee, and uploaded by Brent Abercrombie, Vice-Chair, Midwest National Collections Service Area Steering Committee, Indiana State Library.