HARRISBURG- First Lady Lori Shapiro joined Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin and Deputy Secretary for the Office of Commonwealth Libraries Susan Banks to tour the State Library of Pennsylvania and highlight $70 million in new funding for local libraries in the 2023-24 budget.
“It was a pleasure to join Dr. Mumin and his team at the State Library of Pennsylvania,” said First Lady Lori Shapiro. “Libraries provide valuable human connections such as safe spaces for children, classes for older adults, access to technology, and other worthwhile resources to communities across the Commonwealth. The State Library of Pennsylvania has a long legacy of excellence and continues to be a model institution. I look forward to seeing how the library’s new space enhances its mission to serve Pennsylvanians.”
During the visit, First Lady Shapiro and Secretary Mumin toured the newly renovated library spaces, including the main Reading Room, the closed stacks, the Digital Collections area, the Law Library, the Rare Collections Library, and the STEMLab – a makerspace devoted to hands-on science education and programming for children and adults. Upon the completion of renovations, the State Library will re-open to the public on January 9, 2024.
The 2023-24 budget invests $70 million into the Public Library Subsidy, which goes directly to local libraries, library systems, and 29 district library centers. It also provides every Pennsylvanian access to statewide resource center libraries at the State Library of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the libraries of The Pennsylvania State University.
“Libraries are the cornerstones of their communities, and the State Library is the keystone of the Commonwealth,” said Secretary Mumin. “The recent renovations to this historic space have returned it to its former glory, and we look forward to re-opening the space to the public at the beginning of 2024.”
The State Library of Pennsylvania serves the information needs of state government; supports innovative library practices; and acts as the library of record for unique collections focused on Pennsylvania. The State Library’s collection consists of more than four million print volumes, newspapers, microfilm reels and Pennsylvania and U.S. government documents. This unique and rare collection includes the original Assembly Collection, a collection of colonial imprints dating from 1745, and the largest collection of historic Pennsylvania newspapers in the world. The State Library also provides access to electronic resources to support state government, serves as one of four Statewide Resource Centers in the Commonwealth, and offers rapid access to the collections of other major research and academic libraries of Pennsylvania and worldwide.
The State Library strives to be the government’s library and be viewed as a place where all three branches of government can come for research assistance and authoritative quality information. The library subscribes to over 90 online databases that are available to any state employee with a library card.
