Legislative Reference Library
The Legislative Reference Library is in the Texas State Capitol building. I did not realize it was there until we were looking down from the 4th floor and we all spotted something that looked like a library. We had no choice but to go check it out. I had no idea (most likely because I never gave it any thought) that something like this existed. I met Nancy Watson, a librarian in the Legislative Reference Library, and she filled me in on the highlights of this library. She said that primarily they are there for legislators - they will call (she said they rarely come in, but sometimes they will) and give them topics they need researched. The librarians will do the research and send the information to them. Many of the librarians on staff there will go sit in the sessions and record what is discussed and voted. Nancy then took me over to the clipping table. A big part of this library is the clipping service. It started in the early 1900s. Articles out of newspapers that were relevant to any legislation topic would be clipped and taped to a sheet of paper. These papers were all transferred into a database in the 70s and have all been recently digitized. Now, people come in around 4:30 in the morning and scour the newspapers for any information. They are xeroxed and then categorized and put out for research by the time the doors open. On the table there is an area for the current day's clippings. On the rest of the table are the recent clippings - from the day or week prior. I was astounded by this. I asked what kind of background most of the librarians who work there had. She told me that many came from law libraries, but that isn't a requirement to work there. I looked around to take note of what else the library held. A lot of the library was devoted to research areas with tables for independent reading and research. There were only about six computers. There were many, many shelves that held legal codes, court cases, court records, regulations - and not only for the state of Texas but for other states, too. I was so glad to have found this library because as I mentioned before, I never even thought about this type of library let alone the many facets it serves.
An example of how they used to clip articles for research
How they do it today
This table holds are the current clippings
Shelves of information for legislative research
The Legislative Reference Library is in the Texas State Capitol building. I did not realize it was there until we were looking down from the 4th floor and we all spotted something that looked like a library. We had no choice but to go check it out. I had no idea (most likely because I never gave it any thought) that something like this existed. I met Nancy Watson, a librarian in the Legislative Reference Library, and she filled me in on the highlights of this library. She said that primarily they are there for legislators - they will call (she said they rarely come in, but sometimes they will) and give them topics they need researched. The librarians will do the research and send the information to them. Many of the librarians on staff there will go sit in the sessions and record what is discussed and voted. Nancy then took me over to the clipping table. A big part of this library is the clipping service. It started in the early 1900s. Articles out of newspapers that were relevant to any legislation topic would be clipped and taped to a sheet of paper. These papers were all transferred into a database in the 70s and have all been recently digitized. Now, people come in around 4:30 in the morning and scour the newspapers for any information. They are xeroxed and then categorized and put out for research by the time the doors open. On the table there is an area for the current day's clippings. On the rest of the table are the recent clippings - from the day or week prior. I was astounded by this. I asked what kind of background most of the librarians who work there had. She told me that many came from law libraries, but that isn't a requirement to work there. I looked around to take note of what else the library held. A lot of the library was devoted to research areas with tables for independent reading and research. There were only about six computers. There were many, many shelves that held legal codes, court cases, court records, regulations - and not only for the state of Texas but for other states, too. I was so glad to have found this library because as I mentioned before, I never even thought about this type of library let alone the many facets it serves.
An example of how they used to clip articles for research
How they do it today
This table holds are the current clippings
Shelves of information for legislative research
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