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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The year 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the |
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designation of the Mary and John Gray Library at Lamar University in |
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Beaumont as a federal government document depository; and |
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WHEREAS, On February 7, 1957, the Government Printing Office |
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notified Julia Plummer, the librarian for what was then Lamar State |
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College of Technology, that the library had been accepted as an |
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official depository for government publications, as had been |
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requested by Congressman Jack Brooks; and |
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WHEREAS, So began the library's participation in the Federal |
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Depository Library Program, and for a half-century, it has played a |
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vital role in the effort to collect, organize, and preserve |
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information produced by the federal government and to assist the |
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public in locating and using that material; and |
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WHEREAS, The Mary and John Gray Library now contains 64 |
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percent of the documents available from the federal government and |
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provides free, unrestricted access to this information for the |
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citizens of the area and to the students and faculty of Lamar |
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University; the collection is housed at the library building on the |
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Lamar campus in Beaumont, and the staff is working to improve access |
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by offering more of the material in electronic format; and |
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WHEREAS, An informed citizenry is essential to the health of |
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the nation's democratic form of government, and the ready |
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availability of federal documents is key to that process; for five |
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decades, staff members of the Mary and John Gray Library have helped |
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safeguard the public's right to know, and their enduring efforts to |
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provide valuable information to the citizens of Texas is deserving |
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of high praise; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 80th Texas |
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Legislature hereby honor the Mary and John Gray Library at Lamar |
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University on the 50th anniversary of its designation as a federal |
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government document depository and extend best wishes to the |
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library staff members for continued success in their important |
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work; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for the library as an expression of high regard by the |
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Texas House of Representatives. |