The Public Library and Recreation Center in Historic Nacogdoches
Through the sponsorship of the Friends of the Library Association and the support of the City of Nacogdoches, the Nacogdoches Public Library opened in 1974 in the Old Federal Building on the downtown square. The objective was to create a library program that would add to the cultural life of the community. In 1977 the library moved to its present location at 1112 North Street where it shares a spacious modern facility with the Nacogdoches Recreational Complex. The library follows the procedures that maintain accreditation in the Texas State Library Archives Commission, the American Library Association, the State Library Loan Protocol, and the National and International Library Lending Agreement Codes.
The library offers a wide variety of materials and services including interlibrary loans through its affiliations with the Stephen F. Austin State University Libraries, the HALS regional group, and the TEXSHARE library system. The library's collections include books, large print books, children's and young adult materials, paperbacks, books on tape, audio cassettes, videos, DVD's, magazines, newspapers, reference, local authors, and a wide collection of non-fiction. The Library also provides online computers, electronic catalogs, copy machines, display events, program meeting rooms, and a large specialized children's and young adults reading section.
Books and materials not available locally may be requested through HALS, the Houston Area Library System, which includes 65 public libraries in the East Texas region. HALS extends its range of acquisitions through the OCLC, the "Online Computer Library Center," which contains the holdings of public, academic, and specialized libraries across the nation. By acquiring a TexShare Card locally, the library patron may also obtain books and materials through the TexShare Consortium of libraries which currently includes the holdings of 102 public and private universities, 56 community colleges, 4 libraries of clinical medicine, and 535 public libraries across the State of Texas. 14,166 journals and 27,458 e-books are part of the current 47 databases within the TexShare consortium coordinated by the Texas State Library System.
The Nacogdoches Public Library continues its commitment to enhance the cultural life of the community by participating in cooperative initiatives with regional and statewide affiliations in an effort to improve library services to local patrons, promote the efficient sharing of library holdings, and offer a broader range of materials and services than could be provided by any single library.