A Look at Our Government Documents Program in FY25

FY25 has been an exciting year for the Government Documents Department. This fiscal year the Department received roughly 2615 documents; 2508 of those were digital items (95%) while 107 were paper items (5%). Town reports made up the majority (97%) of paper items we received.

December 2024 marked the 40th anniversary of the enactment of St.1984 c. 412. This statute, which became codified as M.G.L. 6 § 39B, stipulates that every state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts must submit copies of their publications to the State Library. Since its passage in 1984, M. G. L. ch. 6 section 39B has been vital to the State Library’s mission of preserving the legislative history of Massachusetts and ensuring access to the Commonwealth’s public documents.

Turning 40 wasn’t the only major milestone for M.G.L. 6 § 39B. With the passage of chapter 206 of the 2024 Acts, M.G.L. 6 § 39B has been updated! The new legislation takes into account the fact that government documents are increasingly published digitally rather than in hard copy. The original legislation required that 8 hard copies of every published government document be sent to the State Library. It now requires only a single copy (if originally published in hardcopy) or shareable PDF for preservation.

The State Library rung in the New Year with the publication of its first training module on MassAchieve! This module covers the basics of the State Library’s Government Documents Program and advises state employees on what materials to send to the Library for public access and preservation. Since the announcement in our February Newsletter, the module has been made available to the public on the State Library’s YouTube channel.

MyPath on MassAchieve screenshot

The Department has had two interns (not simultaneous) from Simmons University’s MLIS program. Both have been invaluable additions to the Department. They have put together awesome exhibits and written blog posts highlighting the Government Documents collection. Read some of their work here:

• Design of Town Reports by Emily Buff, published July 29, 2024
• Y2K: Crisis Averted by Emily Colson, published April 7, 2025

Check out more blog posts about our Government Documents:

• M.G.L. 6 § 39B Turns 40 and Gets a Glow Up! published December 9, 2024
• SuDoc Numbers and Other Things published January 27, 2025
• Town Report Season: 2025 published June 23, 2025

Maryellen Larkin

Government Documents & Reference Librarian