The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) has named a University of Arkansas at Little Rock Ottenheimer librarian a member of its Depository Library Council.

Associate Professor Karen Russ, research and community engagement librarian at UALR, was appointed as one of five new members to the council serving a three-year term that begins June 1.

Council members advise GPO Director and Chief Executive Officer Davita Vance-Cooks on policy matters relating to the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). The FDLP was established by Congress to ensure the public has access to government information.

In addition to experience working in various types of libraries, Russ and her fellow council members are knowledgeable of current developments in library science and government information, Vance-Cooks said in a recent news release.

“Their advisory role on issues facing our nation’s federal depository libraries will be invaluable to me,” said Vance-Cooks.

Russ is known throughout the state and region for her leadership in marketing Federal Depository Library Program services and for her scholarship and presentations on government information.

She has also worked closely with GPO as an advisor for “Ben’s Guide to Government Information.” Russ is the recipient of multiple awards from the Arkansas Library Association.

“I am very proud to be the first representative from Arkansas in the 50-plus years of the council and its predecessor’s existence,” Russ said. “I look forward to enlarging and preserving the public’s access to information from agencies of the federal government,” she said.

UALR’s Ottenheimer Library was also one of the two Federal Depository Libraries of the Year in 2014.