Government documents staff in Minnesota chose their favorite documents, grabbed a camera, and let loose their creativity. The results are the photos below, READ (Docs!). It's a new take on the American Library Association's (ALA) celebrity READ campaign using real people and real documents! The web pages were printed as posters for display at the 2003 Minnesota Library Association (MLA) Annual Conference.

Documents pictured will be found in Federal Depository Libraries across the nation. To find the nearest one go to http://www.gpoaccess.gov/libraries.html.

More information

Library	Government Publications
Duluth Public Library	Reports of explorations and surveys...
	United States Coast Pilot 6, Great Lakes and Their Connecting Waterways 2003
	Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 1913-1914
	Navigation Rules, International-Inland
Hennepin County - Southdale	Performing Arts at the Library of Congress
	Air House, A History by Perry D.Jamieson
	U.S. Virgin Islands
Minneapolis Public Library	Traffic Safety Facts 2001
	This is Ann [anopheles mosquito]...she drinks blood! (1943)
	Index of Patents, 1998
	NOAA Diving Manual
Minnesota State University, Mankato	He's Bac!; a Children's Guide to Keeping Food Safe
	First Flight
St. John's University	Roswell Report Case Closed
St. Paul Public Library	American Women
University of Minnesota - Morris	Railroad Maps of North America
	MMWR Morbidity and mortality weekly report
	FDA consumer
	Brazil a country study
	How our laws are made
	Portuguese Programmatic course Volume 1 (revised)
	United States Army Weapon Systems 2003
	SunWise a school program that radiates good ideas
	Battle of the barricades U.S. Marines in the recapture of Seoul
	The History of the United States Capitol
	Religion and the Founding of the American Republic
	American Women
	Crime in the United States 2001
	Forest and rangeland birds of the United States
	Sprocket Man (CPSC Comics)
	Down home healthy cookin' Recipes and healthy cooking tips
	Crime in the United States 2001
	Performing Arts Motion Pictures
	Perspectives on John Philip Sousa
	Craft multiples
	Presenting nature The historic landscape design of the National Park Service 1916 to 1942
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities	Measuring America
	The Face of Venus
	Hawaii volcanoes Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
	Assorted Publications
	U.S. Industry & Trade Outlook
	Historic Preservation
	Elizabeth Nourse, 1859-1938 a salon career
	A Guide to State and Local Census Geography
	The Adventure of Echo the Bat
	EOSDIS Global Portrait
	A Guide to State and Local Census Geography
	Regulators Handbook
	Outstanding Gasoline Service Stations

How did READ (Docs!) come to be?

Glad you asked! READ (Docs!) came into existence haphazardly at a meeting of Minnesota government documents librarians in March 2003. Our fearless leader and magnificent regional librarian, Julia Wallace, was featured as one of the Movers and Shakers in Library Journal. The March issue came out just days before we met, so of course we had lots of questions for Julie, and wanted all the juicy details of what it was like to be photographed and written about!

Julie's pose in her photo came under intense discussion. Why that pose? Why holding a pen? Why not holding a government document? Why not holding a government document? We asked again. "We should take pictures of Julie holding a document." "Yeah, and we could blow them up and hang them in all our libraries!"

Rejoicing in the recognition of our friend pulled exuberance into the room. Spirits were high, laughter came. You know how it is when people get together…someone tosses out a thought and it gets built upon, it grows, it takes on a life of its own. "No, I know," someone said, "we should take pictures of all of us and hang them in our libraries! Just think, our patrons could say - Hey! I know who that is! That's my librarian - and what's that document in their hand…I'd better check it out, looks cool!" And so it went…

When suddenly, someone said, "why don't we do this? You could coordinate it, someone could post them on the web, it would be fun! It would be different and new! It's got all sorts of possibilities!"

And so we did.

-- Christine Dent

For more information, contact:
Christine Dent
Reference Librarian
Ramsey County Libraries - Roseville
2180 North Hamline
Roseville MN 55113
651-628-6803