Site Index About the library Legislative Reference Library of Texas

Legislative Reference Library of Texas
your partner in legislative research

Legislative clips Legislative clips archive Texas media links Current articles Texshare databases New books New & Noteworthy
Legislative Archive System Bill-chapter cross reference Index to Sections Affected Conference committee reports Constitutional amendments Vetoes State budget Redistricting information Signed copies of bills Statutory revision Texas law timeline Water law timeline Statute publication dates Legislative intent guide
Texas Legislators: Past & Present Governors of Texas Lieutenant Governors of Texas Speakers of the House Senate Presidents Pro Tempore Senate & House seniority Member statistics Chief Elected Officials
Sessions and years Bill statistics Member statistics Bill effective dates Legislative deadlines Session summaries Special sessions
Today's meetings Meetings by date Standing committees Committees by session Committee search Legislative reports Committee minutes
Library catalog House & Senate Journals House & Senate Rules Parliamentary Resources General and Special Laws of Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act
Frequently Asked Questions Contacting your legislator Texas bill status State agency hotlines & citizen   assistance Texas legislative agencies &   process Other libraries Public policy resources

About the Library

Contact us
The Legislative Reference Library Board
Library collection
Library staff
Tours and workshops
LRL Web policies

LRL Home - About the library - Library collectionprinter friendly versionreturn to screen view

Library collection

History

The Legislative Reference Library was created by Acts 1969, 61st Leg., p. 154, Ch. 55 (Senate Bill 263) and placed under the direct supervision of the Texas Legislature. Before 1969, the Library existed as the Legislative Reference Division of the Texas State Library, one of its earliest divisions, created in 1909 for the use and information of the members of the Legislature. In the early 1960s, the division's holdings consisted of 20,000 bound volumes, mostly law books, statutes of all 50 states, and reference books. Included in the holdings was a card file indexing all bills introduced in the Texas Legislature since the early 1920s and a newspaper clipping file with over 90,000 clippings.

Collection

Today, the library's collection has grown to approximately 49,400 titles and 134,772 volumes. The oldest Texas print title is the Senate Journal from the 3rd Legislature, 1st Called Session, dated 1850. The core collection includes:

  • Texas resources (statutes, session laws dating back to the Republic of Texas, Texas House and Senate Journals back to the 1890s)
  • Original bill files from the 63rd Legislature to the present
  • Statutes for all 50 states
  • Selected federal sources
  • Books covering a wide range of topics
  • Reference books
  • Texas agency documents
  • More than 500 subscriptions to magazines, law reviews, and newsletters

The print collection is enhanced by electronic sources, including both commercial and in-house databases, many of which are available on the library's website:

Use of the collection

While many of these resources can be accessed outside the Capitol Complex, some research tools are accessible only in the Library. Researchers who visit the State Capitol can use the library's public computers to access:

  • The Legislative Clipping Service and Clippings Archive, which expand the Texas State Library's original newspaper clipping file, covers the period 1900 to the present, and includes links to bills and reports referenced in the clippings.
  • The DTPA collection provides resources dating from 1973 through 2001 to assist researchers in compiling legislative intent and history for the Deceptive Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act, including legislative drafts, transcripts of hearings, correspondence, news clippings, talking points, and other commentary.

The Legislative Reference Library is open to the public for study and research purposes; however, circulation privileges are generally limited to legislators, their staff, and employees of other legislative agencies.