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Mission

Serving Indiana residents, leading and supporting the library community and preserving Indiana history

The Indiana State Library is responsible for:

  1. Developing and providing library services to state government, its branches, its departments and its officials and employees;
  2. Providing for the individual citizens of the state those specialized library services not generally appropriate, economical or available in other libraries of the state;
  3. Encouraging and supporting the development of the library profession; and
  4. Strengthening services of all types of publicly and privately supported special, school, academic, and public libraries.
  5. Presenting and promoting publications, programs, and other opportunities for Indiana citizens of all ages to learn and teach about the history of their communities, the state of Indiana, and their relationships to the nation and the world.

Throughout its history, the Indiana State Library has developed strong collections in the fields of Indiana history and culture, Indiana state government and United States government publications, Indiana newspapers, genealogy and family history resources on Indiana and the eastern United States, Braille, large print, and books on tape for the visually impaired, library science, and American history, politics, and economics. Its collections in these areas support research by state agency employees, scholars, genealogists, librarians, students, Indiana residents who are blind or have physical disabilities, and the general public.  The Indiana Historical Bureau provides public and digital history publications, programs, and educational opportunities that promote a more thorough and diverse understanding of Indiana history and the process of creating history. They have operated the State Historical Marker Program since 1946 and the Indiana Legislative Oral History Initiative since 2017, among other public programs. The Library Development Office and Professional Development Office work to improve and support the libraries of Indiana through assistance, training, and supervising the distribution of state and federal funds.

To fulfill our mission, we will:

  • Provide excellent customer service.
  • Assist patrons in meeting their own information needs.
  • Be aware of and utilize a wide variety of resources and technologies to increase the quality and efficiency of our work.
  • Continue to be the most educated and proficient researchers on the topics of Indiana history and genealogy.
  • Continue to have the most complete collections of federal and state documents in Indiana.
  • Stay ahead of the curve in utilizing new information resources by continuing to purchase new resources to better meet our patron’s needs.
  • Track our services through quality control checks and conversations with users.
  • Develop new services and consistently re-evaluate existing services.
  • Demonstrate leadership within the library and historical community by establishing a presence within professional associations and literature.
  • Commit to change when necessary and update our skills to accommodate those changes.
  • Utilize strategic alliances with other organizations to help us accomplish our goals and provide outstanding service to our patrons and community partners.
  • Continue to maintain and circulate Indiana's most comprehensive collection of special materials for its citizens who have a visual or physical disability that prevents them from reading standard print.
  • Remain conscientious of these initiatives to help meet the mission of the Indiana State Library.

ADM SA 8-17-2023