State Library of Massachusetts FAQ

The State Library is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Massachusetts legal holidays. A list of Massachusetts legal holidays can be found on the Secretary of State's Website. 

The State Library houses a specialized collection of books and other items that focus on Massachusetts state and municipal publications and histories, legislative research materials, and other law volumes.  Much of the Library’s efforts in the past decade have been centered on providing electronic access to historical and contemporary state documents and digitizing older Massachusetts-related materials.

The Special Collections department houses rare and special items, directories, maps and atlases, architectural plans, physical artifacts, photographs, audio and video recordings, and manuscript material collected by the Library since its founding. Treasures include the Bradford Manuscript, a complete copy of Audubon’s Birds of America, and the medal presented to Senator Charles Sumner by the Haitian government.

Yes, many (but not all) state publications are freely available online in the State Library's digital repository. The Library adds digital state publications here daily, including publications that the Library has either scanned from our print holdings or captured from the web.

Although Massachusetts does not have ready-made legislative histories, the State Library has the resources needed to compile a legislative history. Because of its complex nature, legislative history research must be performed by library patrons on-site rather than via email or over the phone. Our Reference Librarians are happy to guide you in your research.

The Main Library in Room 341 State House and the fourth-floor balcony in Room 442 State House are open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., no appointment necessary.

The Special Collections Department is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Appointments are recommended. Researchers without an appointment are encouraged to arrange their visits Monday- Wednesdays between the hours of 9:30 and 4. For questions call 617-727-2595 or email special.collections@mass.gov.

In many instances you may borrow items form the State Library using the online catalog at your local library. You can request materials through Commonwealth Catalog (ComCat) with a valid Massachusetts Public Library Card. Contact your local library for more information or assistance. The State Library participates in interlibrary lending of some of its collections through OCLC Worldcat.

The State Library does not circulate rare books, local history books, genealogy books, or special formats such as maps, atlases, photographs, or microfilm but you are welcome to use these materials at the State Library.

State employees are eligible for library cards, which enable them to borrow library materials and access the Library’s databases. State employee remote access requires a library card number and password. If you need a password, please call the Reference Desk at (617) 727-2590 or Email reference.department@mass.gov.

Other visitors can receive guest passes that will allow them to use public access computers and databases while in the Library for two hours. We regret that we are unable to provide remote access to the databases to non-state employees. However, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners offers access to a wide variety of databases to Massachusetts residents. In addition to databases offered by their home public libraries, Massachusetts residents are also eligible for Boston Public Library cards, which allow for access to a large selection of additional databases.

The State Library is a closed-stacks library, which means that patrons are not permitted access to the stack areas where the majority of our materials are located. Please ask Library Reference Staff members to assist you in retrieving any materials you may need.

There are a few ways to tour the State Library:

1.  If you can’t come to the State Library, take our web tour.
2. Walk-ins- As you enter the library, there is a self-guided tour sheet that has details about the library’s beautiful artwork, architecture and historical materials.
3. Tours for constituents, schools, librarians and organizations are available. They can be arranged by contacting the reference department at reference.department@mass.gov 

           *Tours need to have a minimum of 5 participants and maximum of 16.

The library has several public access computers in Rooms 341 and 442 that provide access to the Internet and the Library’s databases, as well as Microsoft Office. These computers are connected to a printing workstation that allows for black and white printouts for $.20 ($.50 for color). We do not have a public scanner. The Library offers wireless Internet access. 

Our digital repository is an online collection of items that is completely free and open to all users. These items include thousands of Massachusetts state government reports, legislative materials, maps, photographs, and other historical or cultural materials that either have been digitized by the State Library or other institutions or were “born digital,” meaning that they were published online originally and not in print. 

Visit the State Library's DSpace Digital Collections page for more information.