International Coalition of Library Consortia

Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners
MBLC
Website: http://www.mass.gov/mblc

Brief description

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners is the agency of state government with the statutory authority and responsibility to organize, develop, coordinate and improve library services throughout the Commonwealth. The Board also strives to provide every resident of the Commonwealth with full and equal access to library information resources regardless of geographic location, social or economic status, age, level of physical or intellectual ability, or cultural background.

One of the most important and visible of these services is the provision of various commercial data resources available through the MBLC website and a public portal, mass.gov/libraries. The websites provides all Massachusetts residents with Internet access to library catalogs, commercial information databases, a directory of information on special collections in Massachusetts libraries, federal, state and local government information, and other selected Internet resources. Database access is one of several statewide resource sharing and library technology programs.

Legal structure

Government-supported

Primary functions

• Electronic content licensing
• Preservation
• Training
• Union lists/shared online catalogs
• Other: LSTA; construction;trustees