"Start here, go anywhere" is the slogan adopted by the Jacksonville Public Library.
The materials available on the 4th floor of the Main Library Downtown offer an opportunity to visit places you might never have imagined.
Four major categories – the African-American Collection, the Florida Collection, the Delius Collection and the Genealogy Collection – are available in addition to the materials related to the Holocaust and resources for nonprofit groups.
The Lewis Ansbacher Map Collection comprises 244 historic and current maps of Florida. They are displayed in a reading room on the 4th floor.
Legal and government-related documents are available from as a far back as the 1860s, said Kathleen Krizek, special collections senior librarian.
She said since 1914, the Jacksonville Public Library has been a designated conservator of U.S. government documents and publications through the Federal Depository Library Program.
In addition to Congressional and presidential documents, many other works published by the Government Printing Office are available for research purposes.
"It was one of the first government transparency programs. The government wanted the citizenry to know what it was doing," Krizek said.
"Some of it you could say is pretty boring, but we also have treaties from the State Department, documents from the U.S. Geological Survey and publications from the Department of Agriculture, like how to cook a meal for 400 people. We have some beautiful military books published by the Department of Defense," she said.
The collection of family history records was started in the 1920s by a librarian who was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
It since has grown into one of the most extensive genealogical resources in the state and is affiliated with the collection maintained in Salt Lake City by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said Krizek.
Some of the materials in the collections must remain on the 4th floor, but many of the materials are in circulation, which means they can be borrowed, she said.
For more information about the Special Collections Department, visit jpl.coj.net or the 4th floor of the Main Library along Laura Street at Hemming Plaza.
(904) 356-2466
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