Benjamin Franklin's errand of December 5, 1745 grew into this building, the State Library of Pennsylvania, one of the Commonwealth's largest research libraries. Until 1971 it was known as the Pennsylvania State Library, and its roots reach all the way back to a very practical beginning: the library began as a social library for the senators and representatives of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Its collection started on December 5, 1745, after the General Assembly asked Benjamin Franklin to obtain a copy of Statutes at Large and reference maps.
Today the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, within the Pennsylvania Department of Education, holds materials in almost every area of human concern and provides information and materials from its collections and automated resources to state government, state institutions and the general public. It is charged with maintaining a definitive collection of publications of all agencies of the Commonwealth and serves as a Regional Depository for United States Government Publications. Its mission puts it plainly: "The State Library provides information for State Government and citizens while collecting and preserving our written heritage through materials published for, by and about Pennsylvania.
Every publication of every Commonwealth agency ends up on these shelves, alongside the United States Government Publications it holds as a Regional Depository.