“The library has developed a tradition of excellence as an integral part of MSHA’s mission – improving the health and safety of our nation’s miners,” said library director Yvonne Farley, who has been with the library since 2002.

The library actually began as two entities, with a Denver, Colorado branch opening just two years after Beckley opened its doors in 1976. The Denver location was closed in 1996, however, and all of its holdings were brought back and combined under one roof in West Virginia.

As libraries increasingly reach out beyond the walls of physical buildings electronically via digital tools, computer databases and the Internet, the MSHA library staff has stayed in stride with technology’s progress by making much of what’s offered available online.

In fact, Farley said, the library is currently undergoing a transfer of many of its resources to be available via the World Wide Web.

“We have recently completed the migration of an index of 24,000 accident/fatal investigation records to a web-friendly application. Now users can search more easily online to locate fatality information that goes back to 1840,” she noted.

Records are not the only historical artifacts on file; the library has a database historical mining photographs, more than 1000 of which originated with the Bureau of Mines. New images are uploaded frequently in subjects such as underground, community, mine rescue, and historical scenes, and can be searched by keyword in the library’s digital collections.

Anyone using the library’s resources should not hesitate to ask for the assistance of the library staff when needed, she said. All possess varying amounts of knowledge on some of the more complex and specialized information found there.

“The faculty here at the Academy acts as subject specialists when there are requests for highly specialized information. The long-term experience working in the library has given staff members a knowledge of specialized information sources related to mining health and safety.”

Current usage rules at the MSHA library allow agency staff and Academy students to check materials out for as much as 28 days. Interlibrary loan or onsite researching are two options for those individuals from other federal agencies, researchers, or those from local and state government departments.

For those not falling into either category, interlibrary loan is the only option unless special permission is granted by MSHA library staff for use. The agency has provided reading rooms for onsite use of books, journals and other resources as well as copying.