Alaska State Library

The Alaska State Library and Historical Collections is located in the State Office Building, Juneau, Alaska, with an office in Anchorage featuring the Talking Book Center.

Mission Statement

The Alaska State Library:

• promotes and coordinates library 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. The main library and reference section is located in the State Office Building in Juneau. 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 Documents Depository, which distributes the publications to depository libraries throughout the state.

The State Library administers federal and state grants for public library construction and services. It coordinates the Alaska Library Network (ALN), which provides interlibrary loans, cooperative collection development, and resource sharing among libraries. The Governor's Advisory Council on Libraries advises on the federal long-range spending plan.

Talking Book Center

The Talking Book Center provides blind, visually impaired, and physically impaired individuals, who cannot read standard print, with audio books, large print, and Braille materials. The program serves the entire state and is free to those who are eligible.

The Center houses a collection of audio books on digital cartridges that travel through the mail - free of charge - to and from registered users. A digital talking book machine is needed to play digital books and is provided by the Center.

Patrons of the service are also eligible to download thousands of available audio and braille books and magazines via Braille & Audio Reading Download (BARD) service. In September 2013, the BARD mobile application for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch became available as a free download in the iTunes App Store. An Android mobile application will be released in 2014.

External links

• Official website
• Alaska State Library on Twitter
• Alaska Historical Collections
• Alaska Library Network
• Alaska Talking Book Center
• Alaska Talking Book Center on Facebook
• RSS feeds available from the Alaska State Library