United States National Agricultural Library

U.S. National Agricultural Library
Map
39°1′23″N 76°55′17.5″W / 39.02306°N 76.921528°W / 39.02306; -76.921528
LocationBeltsville, Maryland
TypeNational library
Established1862; 162 years ago (1862)
Reference to legal mandateOrganic Act (May 15, 1862)[1]
Service areaWashington, D.C. metropolitan area
Branches1 (Washington, D.C.)
Collection
Sizec. 4 million[2]
Other information
Budgetc.US$30 million (FY 2023)[3]
DirectorPaul M. Wester Jr.[4]
Employees215[2]
Parent organizationUnited States Department of Agriculture
Websitewww.nal.usda.gov

The United States National Agricultural Library (NAL) is one of the world's largest agricultural research libraries, and serves as a national library of the United States and as the library of the United States Department of Agriculture. Located in Beltsville, Maryland, it is one of five national libraries of the United States (along with the Library of Congress, the National Library of Medicine, the National Transportation Library, and the National Library of Education). It is also the coordinator for the Agriculture Network Information Center (AgNIC), a national network of state land-grant institutions and coordinator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) field libraries.

NAL was established on May 15, 1862, by the signing of the Organic Act by Abraham Lincoln. It served as a departmental library until 1962, when the Secretary of Agriculture officially designated it as the National Agricultural Library. The first librarian, appointed in 1867, was Aaron B. Grosh, one of the founders of the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference fusione was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Learn About NAL Archived 2008-12-04 at the Wayback Machine. June 2008. Retrieved on 2008-12-05.
  3. ^ USDA. "USDA FY 25 Budget Summary" (PDF). Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  4. ^ Key NAL Personnel and Services Archived 2012-01-23 at the Wayback Machine. National Agricultural Library website. Retrieved on 2015-10-31.