North Carolina Libraries
North Carolina has always been friendly to scholars and knowledge-seekers in general. Serving as a house to the popular Research Triangle of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University and North Carolina State University, knowledge is spread across the state as it boasts over eighty public libraries. Probably the most famous in the state is the State Library of North Carolina located in the City of Raleigh. Serving as the main depository for North Carolina state publication, the library has been a key institution in serving government employees access to information resources that are important to public decision-making and economic development. The library was established in 1812 as a project of the North Carolina General Assembly for safeguarding documents and records for the state legislature. In the 1870s the public was allowed to use the reference collection and circulation books. In 1958, the State Library started providing library services to the blind.
Listed in the succeeding sentences are the services that the State Library provides. The Center for the Book serves to promote literacy in North Carolina by encouraging people to read books and visit libraries. he Interlibrary Loan allows employees who work outside Raleigh to borrow books in other local public libraries. NC LIVE provides online access to electronic resources. The state library also maintains the North Carolina Encyclopedia that gives an overview to the people, government, history, and resources of North Carolina. Collections in the state library include one of the largest and most comprehensive North Carolina genealogical resources in the state which includes books, periodicals, census indexes, and microfilms. Its general collection is noted for its diversity, containing fiction, travel books, biographies and children’s books related to and of interest to North Carolina and North Carolinians. The library also keeps a comprehensive account of government documents and North Carolina newspapers. In fact, the library has an impressive collection of 3 million newspapers on microfilm. Rare books are also shelved in closed stacks which are accessible exclusively to staff.
Its reference section which is shelved in open stacks includes current periodicals, magazines, telephone directories, statistical materials, and maps. It also includes a vast collection of videocassettes and DVDs. The state library is located next to the North Carolina State Legislative Building and near to the North Carolina Museum of History and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. It is a division of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources and it also serves other North Carolina libraries. Among the public libraries that the state library governs are the following: Appalachian Regional Library in North Wilkesboro City, Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library in Washington City, Chapel Hill Public Library in Chapel Hill, Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center in Fayetteville City, Fontana Regional Library in Bryson City, Hyconeechee Regional Library in Hillsborough, Scotland County Memorial Library in Laurinburg and more.