The Historical Context for the Alabama Virtual Library has been posted from the Records Disposition Authority (RDA) approved by the State Records Commission on April 22, 2026. The RDA establishes disposition requirements by designating records as either temporary records which may be destroyed after a specified retention period, or permanent records, which must be preserved in perpetuity. The complete RDAs for close to 175 agencies can be found on the Alabama Department of Archives and History website.
The history of resource sharing among Alabama libraries predates the Alabama Virtual Library. A 1983 report that surveyed the conditions of Alabama’s academic libraries found significant deficiencies in the libraries’ respective abilities to provide the resources needed to support graduate education and research. To compete with academic institutions in states richer than Alabama, the report recommended that the state’s academic libraries form stronger partnerships and share more resources.[1] This report inspired the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) and representatives of nineteen Alabama academic libraries to form the Network of Alabama Academic Libraries (NAAL) in 1984. The NAAL worked to establish a resource-sharing framework among Alabama’s academic libraries to reduce resource duplication and ensure more effective utilization of the state’s relatively limited financial resources.[2]
Over the next decade, the rapid development of computer and Internet technology made electronic interconnectedness easier to achieve than ever before.[3] This interconnectedness made it easier for library patrons to access materials. Librarians began to experiment with inter-library electronic resource sharing. In 1993, the University of South Alabama library tested the possible library access applications of the EO 440 Personal Communicator. Library patrons could use the EO 440 to access library materials from up to sixty miles away. The library’s coordinator of online and CD-ROM search services, Dale Foster, believed that technology would soon advance to such an extent that Alabamians could access any state library’s materials from anywhere within the geographic boundaries of Alabama.[4]
Foster’s belief proved prophetic. By 1995, the academic libraries of Alabama A&M University, Alabama State University, Auburn University, Jacksonville State University, the University of Alabama, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of North Alabama, and the University of South Alabama had used Ameritech Library Systems’ Northwestern Online Total Integrated System (NOTIS) software to automate and integrate their library materials. Students could now access information about the holdings of these libraries’ materials from any Internet-connected computer.[5] Meanwhile, the NAAL had begun creating the framework for a virtual library connecting all public, school, and academic libraries in the state. A grant from the United States Department of Education and the support of the Alabama Supercomputer Authority—who allowed NAAL the use of its telecommunications network—allowed NAAL to prepare the digital infrastructure required by the Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) several years before the AVL’s legislative inauguration.[6]
By 1997, the virtual library movement had progressed to such an extent that many public and school libraries offered access to primitive Internet-based library services. With help from the Alabama Supercomputer Authority, many library systems, connected to the Internet for the first time in the mid-1990s.[7] Library patrons could use the systems’ new Internet capabilities to access a variety of resources, including electronic reference collections, databases, and indexes, that would later be offered by the AVL.[8] Internet access in libraries became so ubiquitous that many systems offered workshops on virtual libraries to teach patrons about this novel technology; the Alabama State Department of Education even promoted an Alabama Educational Technology Conference in Birmingham to teach as many Alabama educators as possible about the new Internet-bases library capabilities.[9]
NAAL’s virtual library framework also started to receive governmental support in the mid-1990s. NAAL envisioned a virtual library that would electronically link all of Alabama’s school, public, and university libraries and allow library users to access all materials from anywhere in the state. To participate, member libraries would subscribe to shared electronic databases that included such resources as encyclopedias, dictionaries, periodical indexes, and electronic journals.[10] NAAL promoted this initiative by touting its ability to equalize educational opportunities in Alabama, especially in poorer rural areas.[11] This potential benefit won the virtual library many supporters, including ACHE, which voted in October 1997 to support the establishment of an Alabama Virtual Library and request its funding by the Alabama Legislature.[12]
Public support for the measure grew over the next two years. In 1998, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates donated $2.7 million to the state through the Gates Library Foundation to purchase computers and software to provide Internet access in public libraries.[13] Further support came from within the state. Librarians and other AVL supporters deemed March 23, 1999, “Library Legislation Day,” in which hundreds of librarians gathered at the Alabama State House to support a proposed $3 million appropriation for the AVL.[14] This action and other displays of support prompted the Alabama House of Representatives to pass this appropriation as a line-item in the budget of the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) in April 1999.[15] Governor Don Siegelman signed the AVL into existence in June, and Alabamians were first able to use the AVL in August.[16] The state devoted additional funding to training teachers and students in the use of the AVL.[17]
The new AVL included an Executive Council to manage and govern the agency. The Executive Council consists of representatives of five other state agencies: the Alabama Public Library Service, the Alabama State Department of Education, the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, the Alabama Community College System, and the Alabama Supercomputer Authority. Directors of these agencies select three representatives each from their respective agencies to serve three-year terms on the Executive Council.[18]
The AVL received acclaim. West Virginia Governor Bob Wise hailed the AVL as an example for his state’s virtual library to emulate and planned to highlight the AVL at the 2003 meeting of the Southern Governors’ Association. At that meeting, the Association’s executive director praised Alabama’s virtual library as “one of the best in the country and the best in the South.”[19]
The AVL added new programs and capabilities to its repertoire as it matured. Although the AVL was primarily intended for use by students in libraries, by April 2000, Alabamians could access the AVL from any Internet-connected home computer in the state.[20] Agency representatives expanded access to the AVL in May 2000 when they enabled users to register for individual accounts; Alabama residents with registered accounts could access the AVL from any computer or access point, regardless of its location.[21] As the 2000s progressed, AVL users gained the abilities to access digital newspaper and magazine archives, look up business profiles, scour medical encyclopedias, and diagnose car troubles using an online automobile repair reference.[22] The AVL also gradually augmented its pre-existing programs: by 2008, AVL users could access more than eighty databases supplied by major vendors such as EBSCO and Gale.[23]
The AVL’s string of successes hit a snag around the turn of the decade. The Great Recession of 2007-2009 hit Alabama hard and did not spare the AVL. State budget cuts forced AVL representatives to reduce the number of databases available through the AVL system.[24] Further reductions came in 2012, when the Alabama Legislature passed strict budget cuts.[25]
Despite these setbacks, the AVL pushed on. Generally, the next decade was kind to the agency. The Legislature formalized the AVL Executive Council’s role in 2009 upon the passage of the Alabama Virtual Library Act.[26] The agency’s pecuniary fortunes improved in 2015 when the Legislature approved an additional appropriation of nearly $1 million to the AVL.[27] Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic may have increased public awareness of the AVL. Because patrons could not visit libraries in the early stages of the pandemic, many librarians touted the AVL as an alternative for Alabamians looking for their reading fix.[28]
The 2020s have forced the AVL to navigate a myriad of challenges.[29] Despite these obstacles, the AVL continues to provide Alabamians access to electronic resources such as literature databases, tax preparation software, career guidance services, and language learning platforms.
[1] “Overview,” Network of Alabama Academic Libraries, https://www.naal.edu/overview/.
[2] Sue O. Medina, “The Evolution of Cooperative Collection Development in Alabama Academic Libraries,” College and Research Libraries 53 no. 1 (1992): 7-19. https://crl/acrl.org/index.php/crl/article/viewFile/14686/16132.
[3] Martin Campbell-Kelly and Daniel D. Garcia-Swartz (2013), “The History of the Internet: The Missing Narratives,” Journal of Information Technology 28 no. 1 (2013): 18-33. https://doi.org/10.1057/jit.2013.4.
[4] “You can read via hand computer,” Mobile Register, December 4, 1993.
[5] NOTIS was an integrated library system created at Northwestern University. Its first module went into production in 1970.
[6] “An Alabama Virtual Library,” Montgomery Advertiser, May 17, 1995.
[7] Robyn Harris, “City schools linked to supercomputer,” Selma Times-Journal, September 12, 1997.
[8] Carmen Wann, “City and county schools to participate in tech conference,” Daily Sentinel (Scottsboro, AL), June 20, 1997.
[9] “Alabama Educational Technology Conference,” Birmingham News, June 18, 1997.
[10] James D. Ross, “ACHE backs move to link libraries, Montgomery Advertiser, October 4, 1997.
[11] “Stretching Dollars – Use Technology to Benefit Students,” Montgomery Advertiser, October 7, 1997.
[12] James D. Ross, “Off-campus sites won’t help colleges’ funding,” Montgomery Advertiser, October 16, 1997.
[13] Robin DeMonia, “Educators scrambling for online state library,” Birmingham News, April 20, 1999; “Microsoft founder in city today,” Montgomery Advertiser, February 24, 1998.
[14] “Our Town,” Montgomery Advertiser, March 16, 1999.
[15] DeMonia, “Educators scrambling for online state library.”
[16] Mike Cason, “Virtual Library to reach homes,” Montgomery Advertiser, February 28, 2000.
[17] Don Siegelman, “‘We are going to keep moving forward’,” Birmingham News, February 2, 2000.
[18] Code of Alabama 1975 § 16-21-33.
[19] Phillip Rawls, “West Virginia Governor to tout model,” Montgomery Advertiser, August 14, 2003.
[20] Cason, “Virtual Library to reach homes.”
[21] “Virtual library card available Monday,” Huntsville Times, April 30, 2000.
[22] Coy O’Neal, “Alabama Virtual Library available for surfing,” Selma Times-Journal, February 13, 2008.
[23] Sue O. Medina, “The Alabama Vision,” Against the Grain 20 no.1 (2008): 28-30.
[24] Tiffany Ray, “One for the books,” Birmingham News, November 16, 2009.
[25] Mary Wallace Moore, “Virtual library cuts excessive,” Huntsville Times, May 7, 2012.
[26] Alabama Act 2009-575.
[27] Brian Lyman, “$5.9B education budget approved by committee,” Montgomery Advertiser, May 20, 2015.
[28] Becky Nichols, “Behind closed doors, library still serving,” Selma Times-Journal, March 18, 2020.
[29] “In other action Thursday,” Huntsville Times, November 17, 2023.
Sources of Information
- Representatives of the Alabama Virtual Library
- Alabama Act 2009-575
- Code of Alabama 1975 § 16-21-30 through § 16-21-35
- Alabama Virtual Library website (https://www.avl.lib.al.us/).
- “Alabama Educational Technology Conference.” Birmingham News. June 18, 1997.
- American Library Association. “Library Bill of Rights.” January 29, 2019. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill.
- “An Alabama Virtual Library.” Montgomery Advertiser. May 17, 1995.
- Campbell-Kelly, Martin and Daniel D. Garcia-Swartz. “The History of the Internet: The Missing Narratives.” Journal of Information Technology 28 no. 1 (2013): 18-33. https://doi.org/10.1057/jit.2013.4.
- Cason, Mike. “Virtual Library to reach homes.” Montgomery Advertiser. February 28, 2000.
- DeMonia, Robin. “Educators scrambling for online state library.” Birmingham News. April 20, 1999.
- Harris, Robyn. “City schools linked to supercomputer.” Selma Times-Journal. September 12, 1997.
- “In other action Thursday.” Huntsville Times. November 17, 2023.
- Lyman, Brian. “$5.9B education budget approved by committee.” Montgomery Advertiser. May 20, 2015.
- Medina, Sue. “The Alabama Vision.” Against the Grain 20 no. 1 (2008): 28-30.
- Medina, Sue. “The Evolution of Cooperative Collection Development in Alabama Academic Libraries.” College and Research Libraries 53 no. 1 (1992): 7-19. https://crl/acrl.org/index.php/crl/article/viewFile/14686/16132.
- “Microsoft founder in city today.” Montgomery Advertiser. February 24, 1998.
- Moore, Mary Wallace. “Virtual library cuts excessive.” Huntsville Times. May 7, 2012.
- Nichols, Becky. “Behind closed doors, library still serving.” Selma Times-Journal. March 18, 2020.
- O’Neal, Coy. “Alabama Virtual Library available for surfing.” Selma Times-Journal. February 13, 2008.
- “Our Town.” Montgomery Advertiser. March 16, 1999.
- “Overview.” Network of Alabama Academic Libraries. https://www/naal.edu/overview/.
- Rawls, Phillip. “West Virginia Governor to tout model.” Montgomery Advertiser. August 14, 2003.
- Ray, Tiffany. “One for the books.” Birmingham News. November 16, 2009.
- Ross, James D. “ACHE backs move to link libraries.” Montgomery Advertiser. October 4, 1997.
- Ross, James D. “Off-campus sites won’t help colleges’ funding.” Montgomery Advertiser. October 16, 1997.
- Siegelman, Don. “We are going to keep moving forward.” Birmingham News. February 2, 2000.
- “Stretching Dollars – Use Technology to Benefit Students.” Montgomery Advertiser. October 7, 1997.
- “Virtual library card available Monday.” Huntsville Times. April 30, 2000.
- Wann, Carmen. “City and county schools to participate in tech conference.” Daily Sentinel (Scottsboro, AL). June 20, 1997.
- “You can read via hand computer.” Mobile Register. December 4, 1993.
For the Record 