USA Law

State Law Library

State Law Library in the United States

State Government Libraries

State governments operate many types of libraries. Those we list here have their own website and web server. Types of libraries listed below include:

  • State libraries: These agencies plan, coordinate and promote library services for the state’s citizens. They study and report on the status of library usage in the state, manage the distribution of federal government funding for libraries, and may provide continuing education for librarians.
  • Law or supreme court libraries: State law libraries provide judges, legislators, lawyers and citizens access to the state and national legal documents and other materials needed for the work of the judiciary. These might include supreme court briefs, attorney general opinions, cases, statutes, regulations, legal periodicals and reports, audio and video transcripts of continuing legal education seminars, and reference works.
  • State archives: A primary mission of archives is to preserve, organize and make available materials that document the history of the state and its citizens. These are useful to genealogists, historians, students, writers and researchers. Another common archive activity is to provide records management assistance to other government agencies.
  • Legislative reference libraries: These libraries provide legislators and the public with background resources on bills under consideration and archival material.
  • Virtual or electronic libraries: These virtual libraries facilitate citizen access to collections of library materials held in the state library, local libraries and library catalogs throughout the state, and to other online resources, including librarian-designed guides to the Internet. They often contain indexes for newspapers and magazines and many other consumer, business and literary databases. Some provide access to the holdings of academic, school and special libraries as well as public libraries.

Responsibilities of State libraries may include:

  • Operating the primary research library for the state
  • Collecting and preserving materials about the state and its history
  • Providing statewide electronic access to library materials housed in the state’s libraries
  • Acting as the state’s publisher or distributor of official records and periodicals
  • Maintaining and circulating special collections, such as “Talking Books” for blind and physically impaired citizens or e-books
  • Providing telephone or online reference services
  • Operating literacy or reading programs

State Government Libraries Online Resources

Access to other libraries may be incorporated in the websites of the state departments that operate them. (To find these, please refer to the listings of departments on the State pages of State and Local Government on the Net.) For example, a state department of transportation or education might operate a specialized library of its own, primarily to serve department staff, or a state historical society might archive and make available to researchers books, periodicals and other materials that document a state’s history.

Historical Websites:

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Texas
U.S. Virgin Islands
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

State Law Library and the State Laws

Select from the list of U.S. States below for state-specific information on State Law Library:

 

State Law Library in State Statute Topics

Introduction to State Law Library (State statute topic)

The purpose of State Law Library is to provide a broad appreciation of the State Law Library legal topic. Select from the list of U.S. legal topics for information (other than State Law Library).

Resources

Further Reading

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