The Alaska State Library and Historical Collections and Talking Book Center are located on the second floor of the Andrew P. Kashevaroff Building in

Juneau Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of wha ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

Mission statement

The Alaska State Library: *promotes and coordinates

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

services to the community of Alaskan libraries, *serves as the primary research library for state government, and *collects, preserves, and makes accessible Alaska-related materials.

About the Library

The State Library coordinates library services throughout the state and serves as the information resource for the state government and the Legislature. It includes the Historical Section, which collects Alaskana and preserves private papers and materials of historical value to the state. The State Library also collects, catalogs and makes available state agency publications. This is done through the Alaska State Publications program, which distributes the publications to depository libraries throughout the state. The State Library administers federal and state grants for

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

construction and services. It coordinates the Alaska Library Network (ALN), which provides

interlibrary loan Inter-library loan (abbreviated ILL, sometimes called document delivery, document supply, inter-lending, inter-library services, inter-loan, or resource sharing) is a service that enables patrons of one library to borrow materials that are held by ...

s, cooperative

collection development Collection or Collections may refer to: Computing * Collection (abstract data type), the abstract concept of collections in computer science * Collection (linking), the act of linkage editing in computing * Garbage collection (computing), autom ...

, and resource sharing among libraries. The Governor's Advisory Council on Libraries advises on the federal long-range spending plan. Since 1950, the library has offered a mail service that will transport books to patrons in remote areas of the state. This service is currently offered through the Alaska Library Extension program at the Juneau Public Libraries.

Talking Book Center

The Alaska Talking Book Center provides audio books,

large print Large-print (also large-type or large-font) refers to the formatting of a book or other text document in which the font size is considerably larger than usual to accommodate people who have low vision. Frequently the medium is also increased in s ...

, and

Braille Braille ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...

materials to people who are blind or have visual, physical, or reading impairments that make it difficult for them to read traditional books. Materials are downloadable or can be shipped. The program serves the entire state, includes necessary equipment, and is completely free, including shipping both directions.

References

External links

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Alaska Historical CollectionsAlaska Library NetworkAlaska State Library on TwitterAlaska State Libraries, Archives & Museums on FacebookAlaska State Publications Digital LibraryGovernment in Alaska Web Archives
{{Authority control 1900 establishments in Alaska Buildings and structures in Juneau, Alaska Culture of Juneau, Alaska Education in Juneau, Alaska Government agencies established in 1900 Libraries in Alaska Public libraries in Alaska State agencies of Alaska State libraries of the United States Libraries established in 1900