A new home page from the Library provides links to state libraries, library agencies and commissions in all 50 states. The State Libraries page, which was inaugurated on Dec. 9, is accessible from the Library's main home page, available at http://www.loc.gov/. The new page is a cooperative initiative of the Library of Congress and the American Library Association (ALA) in an effort to strengthen LC's ties to the library community as well as its largest association, ALA.
"The Library of Congress is eager to simplify access to the major state libraries, library agencies and commissions with its new home page," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. "Now, users have a set of links that quickly connects them to the resources of their home state and those of other states."
The Library of Congress also received cooperation from the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) in designing the page and determining appropriate sites for links.
"The input of ALA and COSLA was essential to the implementation of the State Libraries home page," said Associate Librarian for Library Services Winston Tabb. "This new page provides tangible, as well as virtual, links between the Library of Congress and the nation's libraries."
The information from state libraries supplements other state information offered by the Library of Congress home pages of the Newspaper and Current Periodicals Reading Room (http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/) and the Center for the Book (http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/).