Legislative Reference Bureau Library
The Library serves the Legislature and the legislative service agencies by providing essential information resources and information services which support the legislative process.
Reference and Research Support
Our research librarians provide reference and research assistance in the Library, by telephone, or email. Questions cover a wide range of subjects, but typically involve state policy issues, complex legislative history, or federal laws and regulations. A workstation linked to the Internet, our online catalog, CARD, and to other libraries and databases is located in the reference area. Library staff will assist patrons in using them for research.
Research Librarians use electronic information services and databases to obtain state and federal bills, statutes and rules, as well as current articles and reports specific to a legislator’s research needs. Library staff combines over forty years’ experience in online database searching.
The Print Collection
Legislative studies and executive agency reports from Hawaii and across the country comprise a major part of the Library’s print collection. These publications provide background on laws and programs of interest to policy makers. The collection also includes Hawaii statutes, journals, session laws, court cases and county codes; federal statutes and U.S. Supreme Court cases. A comprehensive reference section and over 100 periodicals and newspapers provide information on topics from law and public policy to business and current affairs. Pursuant to §93-16, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the library receives a print copy of required and requested reports from government agencies. The Library’s online catalog contains thousands of bibliographic records and is continuously adding electronic documents.
Borrowing Policy
The Library is maintained primarily for use by the Legislature and the legislative service agencies (§23G-3(6), Hawaii Revised Statutes). Material in this collection must be available to the members and staff of the Legislature at all times. Therefore, borrowing privileges may be restricted at the discretion of the Head Librarian. All borrowed material is subject to recall prior to the due date.
Clipping File
Because the local papers are important sources of both current and historical information, a newspaper clipping file that dates back fifty years is maintained by the library. A copy of the index to the clipping file is available online as a PDF.
Publications
Directory of State, County and Federal Officials
Contains the names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and email addresses of government officials. Also published on the Library’s web site, the Directory links to agencies and officials with pages on the Internet. This publication is updated annually.
Guide to Government in Hawaii
Discusses state and county departments and their organization and the agencies of the federal government with offices in Hawaii. It cites the statutory authority for each state office and includes organization charts and an index. The Guide was last published in 2020.
iClips
A clipping service of news on the Internet. iClips provides links to articles of interest for legislative research selected from local and national online news. Updated daily Monday – Friday.
X
The Library publishes on X (formerly known as Twitter), @LRBlibrary, to highlight the recent works of interest to our Hawaii legislative community. Links to full-text documents, web sites, and news stories.
LRB Website
The Library maintains the Bureau’s website, designed to assist legislative research by providing links to other important documents and information. The site also electronically distributes LRB studies and reports.