A little reason to celebrate
Freedom of Information Day
History ยท March 16
Freedom of Information Day looks at the public's right to see government records and how ordinary people can request and read them.
Freedom of Information Day falls on Tuesday, March 16, 2027. That is 140 days away.
Government agencies keep enormous amounts of paper and data: meeting minutes, budgets, inspection reports, letters, emails. Freedom of information is the principle that much of this belongs to the public, and that people can ask to see it.
In the United States, the federal Freedom of Information Act lets anyone request records from federal agencies. Some material can be withheld, such as certain personal or security information, but the starting assumption is that records should be available. States have their own public records laws covering state and local offices, which is often where the most useful material lives for ordinary questions about a town or county.
The process is less dramatic than it sounds. You write a request describing the records you want, send it to the right office, and wait. Agencies may charge modest fees for copying or searching, and the wait can be long. A narrow, specific request usually goes further than a sweeping one.
Many agencies also publish records on their own, in online reading rooms and open data portals. Reporters, historians, researchers and curious neighbors rely on these to understand how decisions were made. A surprising amount of local history sits in documents nobody has asked to read in years, such as old council minutes describing why a road was built where it was.
Ways to celebrate
- Browse a federal agency's online reading room or FOIA library.
- Look up your state's public records law and how requests work.
- Read the minutes from a recent city council or school board meeting.
- Explore an open data portal for your city or county.
- Visit a local archive and ask what public records it holds.
Dates
| Year | Date |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Monday, March 16 |
| 2027 | Tuesday, March 16 |
| 2028 | Thursday, March 16 |
| 2029 | Friday, March 16 |
| 2030 | Saturday, March 16 |
Also on March 16
Categories: History days