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California State Library

Sep 15, 2026

Sacramento, California, USA

Established in 1850, the California State Library is the central reference and research library for California state government and the Legislature, serving both state employees and the public through collections on California history, government publications, California law, genealogy, and materials for readers with print disabilities.

Overview

The California State Library is a California state government agency and the central reference and research library for state government and the Legislature. Its collection includes more than 4 million titles, roughly 6,000 maps, and about 250,000 photographs, with an extensive collection of documents from and about California's history that makes it one of the major genealogical reference libraries on the West Coast. The Library also holds significant collections from Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Europe, including manuscripts dating to the 13th and 14th centuries. It serves as both a State and Federal Depository Library, providing free and open access to government information, and hosts a U.S. Patent and Trademark Resource Center. The Library is also home to the Bernard E. Witkin State Law Library and the Braille and Talking Book Library, and it directs state and federal funds supporting local public libraries and statewide library programs and services.

Collections and services

The Library is organized into a number of sections and bureaus serving state employees, the library community, and the public. The California History Room holds photographs, maps, manuscripts, diaries, newspapers, periodicals, sheet music, postcards, microforms, posters, pamphlets, and programs documenting California's past. The Government Publications Section is California's regional depository for the Federal Depository Library Program and a full depository for California state publications, and it houses a Patent and Trademark Resource Center. The Bernard E. Witkin State Law Library holds an extensive collection of primary and secondary legal sources focused on California law, including California legislation dating back to 1867. The Braille and Talking Book Library provides free braille and audio books, magazines, and playback equipment, in cooperation with the Library of Congress's National Library Service, to eligible Northern California residents with print disabilities. The Sutro Library, housed at San Francisco State University, holds the personal library donated by mining magnate and former San Francisco mayor Adolph Sutro, including more than 90,000 rare volumes and 100,000 pamphlets, broadsides, photographs, and maps, along with one of the largest genealogy collections on the West Coast. The Library Development Services Bureau administers state and federal grant funds to libraries, universities, and other organizations, and the California Research Bureau provides nonpartisan policy research to the Governor's Office and the Legislature. The Digital Concierge Program, a digitization and digital-preservation center for state government collections, and California Revealed, a statewide digitization and preservation initiative for partner heritage organizations, are also administered by the Library.

History

The California State Library originated nearly a year before California's admission to the Union, when the state Senate appointed a "Committee on State Library" in late 1850 to organize reference materials for the new Legislature. Within weeks, Governor Peter Burnett signed a bill establishing the position of State Librarian, with the Secretary of State serving in that role ex officio until 1861. On March 8, 1861, the Legislature created a five-member State Library Board of Trustees — composed of the Governor, the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, and three legislatively elected members — empowered to appoint a State Librarian to a four-year term. In 1899, James L. Gillis was appointed State Librarian and went on to found California's county library system, which today serves all 58 counties, and to build support for construction of the Library and Courts Building in downtown Sacramento. In 1913, mining magnate and former San Francisco mayor Adolph Sutro's private library of some 125,000 volumes was donated to the state; the resulting Sutro Library opened to the public in 1917 and is now housed at San Francisco State University. In 1927, the Library was placed directly under the Governor, and the State Librarian became a gubernatorial appointment, as it remains today. Greg Lucas, appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2014, is the 25th person to hold the office of State Librarian.

Funding and governance

The California State Library is a department of California state government; the State Librarian is appointed by the Governor. According to the nonpartisan California Legislative Analyst's Office, the Library's ongoing funding for 2025–26 comes primarily from the state General Fund (about 67 percent) and federal funds (about 28 percent), with the remainder from special funds and reimbursements; the Governor's 2025–26 budget included $37 million in ongoing state operations funding for the Library and $30 million in ongoing local assistance funding passed through to California's public libraries. The Library's own stated mission commits it to providing credible information services, building partnerships with California libraries through funding and program support, and preserving and providing access to California's history.

Leadership

Greg Lucas has served as California's State Librarian since his appointment by Governor Jerry Brown on March 25, 2014; he previously spent nearly 20 years as a political journalist, including as Capitol bureau chief for the San Francisco Chronicle. Rebecca Wendt has served as Deputy State Librarian since September 16, 2019, overseeing the Library's State Library Services and Library Development Services bureaus; she joined the Library in 2016 after previously serving as Deputy State Archivist at the California State Archives. Other senior staff include Natalie Cole, Bureau Chief of Library Development Services; Jessica "Jessie" Knox-Jensen, Bureau Chief of State Library Services; Michael Martinez, Chief Information Officer; Elizabeth Vierra, Bureau Chief of Administrative Services; and Tom Negrete, Director of the California Research Bureau.

Location and contact info

Stanley Mosk Library & Courts Building

Address

914 Capitol Mall
Sacramento, CA 95814

Hours

Monday–Friday, 9:30am–4:00pm

Houses

Information Services Section, Government Publications Section, Witkin State Law Library