VCU librarian Nia Rodgers is the incoming chair of the Depository Library Council and will serve in this national role July 2026 - June 2027.

This council, created in 1972, is an advisory committee to the federal agency formerly known as the Government Printing Office (GPO) and rebranded as the United States Government Publishing Office in 2014. The office produces and distributes information products and services for all three branches of the Federal Government and official publications of the Supreme Court, the Congress, the Executive Office of the President, executive departments and independent agencies. The Library of Congress oversees the GPO. 

The advisory council, made up of librarians, addresses such issues as improving public access, optimizing resources, indexing and classification, format, storage and administration. The Council consists of 15 members who serve three-year terms, with five members retiring and five new members stepping in each year.   

These members advise the Government Publishing Office on policy matters relating to the Federal Depository Library Program. In this program, the government distributes government information free to libraries. And the libraries provide free access for all users to this information. In addition, information specialists–like Nia Rodgers–are available at these libraries to assist researchers with locating Federal information. 

Rodgers is a zealous advocate for access to government information. “In our current fractured political sphere, assuring access to accurate government data and information has never been more essential,” she says. 

VCU Libraries became a member of the Federal Depository Library Program in 1971 and makes available a growing collection of U.S. documents. Increasingly, these documents are digital. Most of the 50 states have a regional depository library, a library designated by a U.S. Senator to maintain responsibility for the integrity and comprehensiveness of a state or region's depository collection of U.S. Government information. Virginia's regional depository library is at the University of Virginia's Edgar Shannon Library. As a selective depository, VCU’s government documents collection is tailored to information that supports the academic departments and colleges of VCU.  

An advocate for community engagement around her expertise, Rodgers organizes the annual Constitution Day Lecture, which features VCU political scientists, historians and other experts in conversation around timely constitutional issues. 

Rodgers is committed to providing public access to government information. To that end she created and hosts the podcast “Civil Discourse.” The podcast’s mission is to familiarize listeners with government documents and the government’s effect in their everyday lives.  

“Serving on this national council has given me the opportunity to engage with topics concerning modern libraries, from search techniques to questions surrounding the preservation of digitally born materials,” Rodgers said. “I look forward to the next year and a half on the Council in these interesting times.”