Government

Portland Public Library collects government RESOURCE LINKS and receives government documents as part of the Federal Depository Library Program (since 1884). Our trained staff will help you find the government information you need (demographics, statistics, legal, politics, military, forms, etc.) whether around opportunities for civic engagement, for government services application forms, or for immigration support. PPL’s Government Documents are managed by the Business and Government Team, which manages the Library collections, online resources, and programming on government-related topics as well as business-related topics (management, economics, financial literacy) and careers & jobs information.

“A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or both.“

– James Madison

Find Help During COVID-19 »

Find resources available during COVID-19 for food, support, unemployment assistance, and more.

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Businesses and Government Resources. »

Please continue to check our Business and Government pages for the latest updates and helpful resources to help you through this difficult time.

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USCIS Immigrant Outreach, 2020 »

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) together with the Portland Public Library will host a series of information and outreach session at the Portland Public Library.

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American FactFinder: US Census Data

The U.S. Census Bureau is the leading source of statistical information about the nation’s people, places, and economy, providing not only snapshots of the nation’s population size and growth, but also detailed portraits of the changing characteristics of our communities.

American FactFinder provides census and ACS (American Community Survey) data that can be downloaded in a tabular format and joined with Census Tiger line files so the data can be displayed in ArcMap.

This database is uniquely qualified to help teachers and students learn and apply statistics because it is a primary source of economic and demographic data for the U.S. and is uses the work of thousands of statistical experts.

Resources for Criminal Justice Statistics »

On July 7th, we heard President Obama address a nation in mourning, “If communities are mistrustful of the police, that makes those law enforcement officers who are doing a great job and are doing the right thing, it makes their lives harder. So when people say ‘Black Lives Matter,’ that doesn’t mean blue lives don’t matter; it just means all lives matter, but right now the big concern is the fact that the data shows [emphasis added] black folks are more vulnerable to these kinds of incidents. “

The data shows. Click through for resources, that can help link you to data to better understand this multi-faceted, extremely important topic.

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Practice for Your Driving Tests Online! »

PPL has partnered with Driving-Tests.org to bring you Maine DMV practice tests online. It’s easy and free! Includes car practice tests, motorcycle practice tests, CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) practice tests, online driver’s manuals (car, motorcycle, CDL) and an FAQ section with detailed answers to 100+ DMV-related questions.