"California Sen. Alex Padilla made the designation in a letter sent Thursday to the Government Publishing Office"

What does this mean. U.S. Senators can unilaterally designate federal depositories?

It sounds like it was at the request of IA:

> "...in response to the enclosed letter I received from the Founder and Digital Librarian of the Internet Archive, Mr. Brewster Kahle, I am designating the Internet Archive as a federal depository library in California."

Which seems a lot more agreeable than unilateral designation (which is also how I initially read this).

a small scroll:

>Under federal law, members of Congress can designate up to two qualified libraries for federal depository status.