Janet Fisher
Division Director

The Law and Research Library Division is the core of the State Library which was established in 1864 as the Territorial Library of Arizona. Now, as then, the Division supports the work of the Arizona Legislature as well as the Executive and Judicial branches of government in Arizona. According to 23 HC 1864 (Howell Code. Prescott, AZ:   Office of the Arizona Miner, 1865, Law:   KFA2430.5 H68 1865.) p. 170:

Pageant of Arizona Progress Spanish Explorers mural panel by Jay Datus Law and Research Library, Room 300

Sec. 14.   There shall be and hereby is established a Territorial library, to be located at the capital of the Territory, and the members of both houses of the Legislature, and the executive and judicial officers of the Territory shall, at all times, have free access thereto, under such regulations as shall be made by the secretary of the Territory, who is hereby the Territorial librarian.

Richard Cunningham McCormick, the first Secretary of the Territory of Arizona, was the first Territorial Librarian and he also served as Governor of the Territory from 1866 to 1869.

The staff of the Law and Research Library provide access to several collections.   The Library's Law Collection is the primary legal resource for the Legislature, courts and Arizona state agencies with historical collections of Arizona's legislative bills, journals, session laws, statutes, codes, judicial rules and opinions of Arizona's attorneys general.   A major strength of this Library is the gathering of statutes and decisions from all states of the United States.

The Library houses Arizona's regional Federal Depository Collection designated to receive all of the publications distributed by the U.S. Government Printing Office through the Federal Depository Library Program.

The Library is Arizona's coordinating library for the Government Information in the 21st Century program which offers training sessions for librarians, library staff and library students about how to answer reference questions using government resources.   The Program is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.   Additional support is provided by the University of Colorado at Boulder, the New Mexico State Library; the Wyoming State Library and Utah State University.

The Library participated in the start up of Government Information Online (GIO), a free national virtual reference and information service staffed by federal depository librarians from around the United States specializing in government resources and information.  If you have a question, you may contact the Law and Research Library directly, or use the GIO service.

The Library is also a depository for Arizona state agency publications and it houses collections of maps, genealogy resources, current Arizona newspapers, periodicals and professional resources related to libraries, archives, museums and records management.  Various guides and compilations can also be found on this site including Documents Leading to Statehood.

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Updated:  04/22/2008