Every year the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Legislative Research Librarians staff accepts nominations from across the country for outstanding state and legislative documents. From those nominations, the Notable Documents Awards are selected and awarded at the NCSL Summit — this year taking place in August in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Traffic Safety Council receiving certificate of achievement from the National Safety Council, 1962, State Governors’ Negative Collection, 1949-1975, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov

As home for the Washington State Depository Library program, the Washington State Library is in the unique position of collecting state agency publications for posterity. By law, the State Library receives copies of state documents intended for public distribution to ensure the continued preservation, retrieval, availability of information made available by state agencies, as well as the ongoing accountability of state government agencies to making their information available now and in the future. Since 2017, the State Library has processed and made accessible nearly 5,000 electronic publications from state agencies, commissions, and legislative committees. The Washington State Publications Collection contains thousands of such documents in print and digital format dating back to the territorial government, and is a valuable resource for researchers, policy makers, and members of the general public.

This year, the State Library’s staff has identified the following state publications as notable examples of outstanding documents and submitted them for consideration for NCSL’s Notable Documents Awards:

• “Projected Sea Level Rise for Washington State – A 2018 Assessment” Washington Coastal Hazards Resilience Network.

• “The Forest Resiliency Burning Pilot Project: Report to the Legislature” Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

• “Report and Recommendations” Southern Resident Orca Task Force.

• “Reducing the Supply of Illegal Opioids in Washington State” Washington State Attorney General’s Office, Washington State Patrol, and Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

• “Consolidating Traffic-Based Financial Obligations in Washington State: Recommended Plan and Program” Washington State Attorney General’s Office.

• “Finding Our Balance: Washington State Action Plan for Older Adult Falls Prevention” Washington State Department of Health.

• “Floodplains by Design: Report to the Legislature” Washington State Department of Ecology.

• “Promoting Renewable Natural Gas in Washington State: A Report to the Washington State Legislature” Washington State University Energy Program and Washington State Department of Commerce.

• “2018 State of Salmon in Watersheds: Executive Summary” Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office.

• “An Evaluation of National Board-Certified Teachers in Washington and Review of Financial Incentives in Other States” Washington State Institute for Public Policy.

• “The Effectiveness of Washington’s College Bound Scholarship Program” Washington State Institute for Public Policy.

• “Firearm Fatality and Suicide Prevention: a Public Health Approach” Washington State Department of Health.

• “Analyzing Development Costs for Low-Income Housing” Washington Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee.

• “2017 Public Records Reporting: Briefing Report” Washington Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee.

Congratulations to all of the researchers, authors, and designers of these reports on their nominations. Thank you for your hard work on the behalf of our state’s taxpayers and for exemplifying the high quality of Washington State’s government reports.

If you have questions about the State Library or the State Depository Program, please don’t hesitate to Ask a Librarian.