About Us : Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library

Mission Enabling legislation Funding History Inside the library Floor plan Historical portraits Depository status Affiliations Staff Questions or comments	Mission The Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library is established by statute as a nonpartisan service office of the Maine Legislature. The Library serves the public interest by providing legal and governmental information services without discrimination to the people of Maine, their government and the legal community.
	Enabling legislation Maine Revised Statutes, Title 3, section 171 establishes the library and places it under the authority of the Legislative Council and its Executive Director. Section 173 specifically provides for use by all agencies of State Government and the citizens. The Library combines the functions of a legislative reference bureau and a state law library. Collections and services are fully integrated, and both collections and services are accessible to the public either on site or remotely to the fullest possible extent.
Read what our users say about us	Funding The Library is funded by state General Fund appropriations. Moneys collected from users for photocopying and mailing and faxing services are returned to the General Fund.
	History The Legislature provided funds for the purchase of books for its use in 1826. The law collection continued to grow as a section of the Maine State Library until 1971, when the Law and Legislative Reference Library was created as a legislative office. Also at that time the Maine State Library moved to the newly-constructed Cultural Building, and the Law and Legislative Reference Library moved into space in the State House formerly occupied by the State Library. The library collection now houses about 111,000 volumes and provides electronic access to many resources.
	Inside the library The library fills the second floor of the north wing of the Statehouse. The library itself is comprised of a main floor and a mezzanine. A map of the floor layout is available. The library houses six historical portraits of former legislators, judges and members of Congress. The Reference staff also keep a binder of information about the portraits and their subjects.
	Depository status The Library is a selective depository for federal government documents and conforms to the requirements established by the Government Printing Office. The Library also selects state documents distributed by the Maine State Library through the state documents depository program.
	Affiliations The Library is a member of the Central Maine Library District, the Maine Library Association, the Law Librarians of New England, and the American Association of Law Libraries. The State Law Librarian is an ex-officio member of the State Court Library Committee, which oversees the county law libraries.
	Staff A total of 13 people work in the Library. We work as a team to provide Library users with the highest level of service. Barden, John R. Director Apostola, Elaine. Principal Librarian for Public Services Bearor, Sheila . Principal Librarian for Technical Services Clark, Julie. Circulation, Interlibrary Loans Knierim, Mark. Cataloging, Serials, Reference Lambert, Judy. Circulation, Requestor, Maine InfoNet Locke, Jennifer. Federal documents, Circulation Gianine Lupo. Historical preservation and digitization Michaud, Bob. Reference, Library tours and instruction Sullivan, Donna.. Technical processing, Cataloging, Serials Vorpagel, Diane. Administrative support, Acquisitions Williams, Jon. Circulation, Warehouse Wright, Sue. Reference, Interlibrary Loans, Web design
	Questions or comments We value your input. If you have comments or questions regarding the Library, our services, or our polices, you may contact: John R. Barden, Director Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library 43 State House Station Augusta, ME 04333-0043 (207) 287-1600 john.barden@legislature.maine.gov Read what our user say about us We have gathered excerpts of comments received from users of our email reference service. We obtain users' permission before publishing any comments.