California State Library

The California State Library empowers the people of the nation's most diverse and populous state by: * Providing credible information services to all Californians, especially those in state government and the Legislature, libraries, academia, and persons with disabilities; * Leading and establishing partnerships with California libraries through funding, program development, and support; * Preserving and providing access to California’s unique history to enrich the lives of current and future generations. Established in 1850, the California State Library is the oldest continuously operated public library in the American West and is the central reference and research library for state government and the Legislature. The library collection includes more than 4 million titles, 6,000 maps, and 250,000 photographs. It has an extensive collection of documents from and about the state’s rich history and is one of the major genealogical reference libraries on the West Coast. It also holds significant collections from Mexico, the United Kingdom and Europe, with manuscripts dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries. The State Library is both a State and Federal Depository Library, providing free and open access to government information, and is a U.S. Patent and Trademark Resource Center. It is home to the Bernard E. Witkin State Law Library and the Braille and Talking Book Library. It also directs state and federal funds to support local public libraries and statewide library programs and services.