Government Documents Highlight Recreation and Preservation

The current installment of the Government Documents series “Documents to the People: 100 Years of Keeping You in the Know” consists of two displays covering recreation and historic preservation in the United States.

The Get Out and Play display, located in the Hodges Library galleria, gives information about the founding of government sponsored recreational facilities with focus given to the creation of National Parks. The display also includes the “how-to’s” of fishing, boating, hiking, camping, backpacking, and even horse-back riding. Brochures and guides to some popular attractions, such as the Appalachian Trail and the Daniel Boone National Forest are also present in the exhibit.

In the Reference room, the focus of the Hot Topics, Cool Books display is about the preservation of national historic sites. The display highlights key national landmarks and monuments, especially those in Washington, D.C., including an architectural reference to the White House. The exhibit also includes information about the preservation of lesser-known “landmarks at risk,” such as abandoned gold rush towns and historic homes.

The UT Libraries is celebrating several important dates as a Federal Depository Library, marking the various stages of its role in providing government information to the public. It has been a depository library for 110 years (since 1897), a land-grand depository library for 100 years (since 1907), and a Tennessee state depository library for 90 years (since 1917).

Some of the items in the displays are available for use in the Reference Library and others are available for regular library loan. Visit old.lib.utk.edu/refs/govdocs100 for more information, or contact Janette Prescod in Government Documents at jprescod@utk.edu .