The Library was formally established by the General Court in 1826 to hold these documents and other materials that had accumulated in offices throughout the State House.

In addition to legal and public document holdings, the Library collected materials on a wide range of research topics, including political, historical, statistical, economic and scientific works.

These include treasures such as the Bradford Manuscript and the medal presented to Senator Charles Sumner by the Haitian government.

In recent decades, the Library’s collecting focus has narrowed, with an emphasis now on disseminating information more quickly and easily.

[13] The library holds collections in the areas of government documents, law, Massachusetts history, and public and current affairs.

[15] The Periodicals holdings includes dozens of daily and weekly newspapers from various towns and cities in Massachusetts that are available in print and on microfiche.

Holdings comprise rare books, manuscripts, broadsides, newspapers, tax valuations, architectural drawings, prints and photographs, scrapbooks, souvenirs[17] and archival collections from former Massachusetts legislators.