The Washington Geology Library was created in 1935 in the enabling legislation for the Division of Mines and Mining, one of the Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources' predecessor agencies. The Division's library mandate, as stated in the Revised Code of Washington (43.30.610, formerly 43.30.138 and 43.21.070), is to "...collect and assemble a library pertaining to mining, milling and metallurgy of books, reports, drawings, tracings and maps and other information relating to the mineral industry and the arts and sciences of mining and metallurgy" and to "...preserve and maintain such collections and library open to the public for reference and examination..." Thus, the Division is required to have a collection on these subjects, open to the public, for reference use only. The library serves employees of all branches and agencies of government (federal, state, and local), geotechnical consultants, geology professors and students, and the public. The library is currently housed in the Room 173 of the Natural Resources Building in Olympia.
Besides collecting all items on the geology of Washington State, the Library maintains an online, searchable catalog — the BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WASHINGTON GEOLOGY.
The Washington Geology Library is the largest collection of material on Washington Geology in the world. Our collection includes:
Library