Lehigh faculty, staff, and students are invited to celebrate a historic milestone. On Monday, April 13, 2026, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Linderman Library, Room 200, Lehigh Libraries will mark 150 years as a member of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), a national network that ensures free public access to U.S. government information.

Designated a Federal Depository Library in 1876, Lehigh is the longest-serving FDLP member in Pennsylvania. For 150 years, the Libraries have helped ensure that government information remains accessible to students, scholars, and the public. Read the full story and explore highlights from Lehigh’s government documents collection.

Sponsored by The Friends of the Lehigh University Libraries, the program will feature remarks by Scott Matheson, Superintendent of Documents at the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO). A former Yale Law Librarian, Matheson leads the GPO’s national initiative to provide public access to federal information and has collaborated with the Preserving Electronic Government Information Project, which works to ensure that born-digital government information is preserved for future researchers.

The celebration also features a curated display of historic government documents from the Libraries’ collections, highlighting the long tradition of public access to federal information. The display is on view in Fairchild-Martindale Library, 6th Floor South.

While visiting, guests are invited to explore Unfinished Chapter, the Libraries’ current exhibit examining the history of freedom in America and presented in recognition of the approaching 250th anniversary of the United States.

The event is free and open to the public. Please register to attend.

We hope you will join us in celebrating this milestone and the legacy of public access to government information at Lehigh