Wyoming State Library

What Wyoming State Library does

Wyoming State Library (WSL), founded in 1871 and headquartered in Cheyenne, Wyoming, is a state government agency operating under the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information. It serves as the state's library development authority, coordinating library services across a network of 23 public main libraries, 54+ branch libraries, 297 school libraries, and academic and special libraries connected through the WYLD (Wyoming Libraries Database) network. The WSL is led by State Librarian Abby Beaver with 11-50 employees.

The agency's core technology infrastructure centers on the GoWYLD portal, providing free access to nearly 140 databases, the WYLDcat shared catalog system, and the WSL Digital Collection Suite comprising six historical collections including 4+ million archived newspaper pages, plus databases of Wyoming places, publications, legislation, inventors, and trademarks. The Plains to Peaks Collective, operated jointly with Colorado State Library as a Digital Public Library of America Service Hub, extends discovery across 60+ organizations and 1.2+ million items. Veridian software underpins the digital collections platform.

The WSL operates as a publicly funded institution with no fees charged to Wyoming residents or libraries. Revenue derives from state appropriations, federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding administered by IMLS under a 2023-2027 Five-Year Plan, and competitive grants including the Carol McMurry Library Endowment and external foundation grants. Its distribution model is indirect: services flow through the statewide library network, supplemented by direct consumer access through GoWYLD and self-serve digital collection portals. Recent program expansions include the Public Access Telehealth Spaces (PATHS) initiative in five counties and the Wyoming Library to Business (WL2B) program across 32+ libraries.

Name

Wyoming State Library

Legal name

Wyoming State Library

Website

https://library.wyo.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

1871

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Wyoming State Library is a state government agency coordinating statewide library development through the WYLD network, delivering free access to 140+ databases, six historical digital collections, and programs including telehealth spaces and small business resources to Wyoming residents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Library Services

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192), Administration of Education Programs (923110)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Libraries & Information Services (BPAIACAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Library Operations & Community Branch Management (EDAEAGAC), Digital Library & Electronic Resources Operations (e-Resources, Repositories, Licensing) (EDAEAGAF), Library User Services & Information Support (Reference, Research Help, Instruction Support) (EDAEAGAL), Library Collections & Cataloging Services (Acquisitions, Metadata, Circulation) (EDAEAGAE)

Keywords

• Public library services
• State library development
• Digital research databases
• Library resource sharing
• Historical digital collections

Headquarters

HQ city

Cheyenne

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. LSTA Federal Funding: The Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, provides federal funds to the Wyoming State Library to support library services and projects across the state. The WSL operates under a 2023-2027 LSTA Five-Year Plan.
2. Carol McMurry Library Endowment Grants: The Carol McMurry Library Endowment, established in 2000 within the Wyoming Community Foundation, provides competitive grants to Wyoming library staff, volunteers, and publicly accessible libraries in three areas: Education & Training, Library Resources, and Library Foundation Development. Library grants range up to multiple thousands of dollars; individual grants up to $2,000 per calendar year.
3. External Grants: The WSL and affiliated libraries receive grant funding from external sources including the Snapdragon Book Foundation for school library materials and other foundation grants to support specific library initiatives and services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Wyoming State Library is a state government library agency that promotes statewide library development and provides free library services to Wyoming residents. It operates the WYLD (Wyoming Libraries Database) network connecting libraries across the state, delivers the GoWYLD portal providing access to nearly 140 databases, and maintains the WSL Digital Collection Suite of six historical databases covering Wyoming newspapers, places, publications, legislation, inventors, and trademarks.

Product overview

Wyoming State Library operates as a state government library system providing a unified platform of digital resources and services to Wyoming residents. The core offerings include the GoWYLD Portal (accessing nearly 140 databases for research, e-learning, and lifelong learning) supported by the WSL Digital Collection Suite of six historical databases covering Wyoming newspapers, places, publications, legislation, inventors, and trademarks. The WYLDcat catalog enables resource discovery across the statewide network. Additional services include Wyoming Library to Business (providing free business equipment and counseling through libraries), Public Access Telehealth Spaces (PATHS) in partnership with University of Wyoming for remote healthcare, and WSL Webinars for professional development. The Plains to Peaks Collective extends access across Colorado and Wyoming through a shared discovery platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GoWYLD: Digital resource portal providing access to databases, e-books, audiobooks, and research materials for Wyoming residents
• WYLD
• Wyoming Library to Business (WL2B)
• Public Access Telehealth Spaces (PATHS)
• PATHS
• Wyoming Library to Business
• Wyoming Newspapers
• Wyoming Places
• Wyoming Publications
• Wyoming Legislation
• Wyoming Inventors
• Wyoming Trademarks
• Plains to Peaks Collective
• Outrider

Products and services

• GoWYLD Portal Wyoming's primary digital resource platform providing free access to nearly 140 databases, e-books, audiobooks, magazines, newspapers, e-learning tools, and subject guides for residents.
• WSL Digital Collection Suite Six comprehensive database collections documenting Wyoming's history: Wyoming Newspapers (4M+ archived pages), Wyoming Places, Wyoming Publications, Wyoming Legislation, Wyoming Inventors, and Wyoming Trademarks.
• Wyoming Library to Business (WL2B) Free business-focused resource connecting Wyoming entrepreneurs with equipment (photo/video, podcasting), business counselors, and online resources through participating libraries.
• Public Access Telehealth Spaces (PATHS) Partnership with University of Wyoming providing private, secure telehealth booths in libraries for remote healthcare consultations, currently in pilot phase across Wyoming.
• WYLDcat Online catalog for searching and locating materials across Wyoming libraries within the WYLD network.
• Plains to Peaks Collective Joint Colorado-Wyoming discovery platform providing free public access to 1.2M+ photographs, manuscripts, books, audio recordings, artifacts, and videos from 60+ cultural heritage institutions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Free database access for all Wyoming residents valued at millions in commercial licensing costs
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and key.

• Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Plains to Peaks Collective serves as the Colorado-Wyoming Service Hub of the DPLA, bringing together descriptive information about collection materials from participating libraries, archives, and museums. The PPC launched in DPLA in 2018 with seven partner institutions sharing 46,000 items and has since grown to 60+ organizations with 1.2+ million items. The new plains2peaks.org portal provides free public access to historic collections across both states.
• Colorado State LibrarymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership between Colorado State Library and Wyoming State Library to operate the Plains to Peaks Collective, a regional digital heritage collaboration providing free public access to photographs, manuscripts, books, audio recordings, artifacts, and videos from cultural heritage institutions across Colorado and Wyoming.
• Veridian SoftwarecoreTechnology or IntegrationVeridian developed the new Plains to Peaks Collective discovery platform (plains2peaks.org), building on their expertise creating the Colorado and Wyoming Historic Newspapers collections. The platform provides powerful search functionality, collection highlights, topic browsing, user accounts for saving searches, and robust security against data scraping and AI bot activity using CloudFlare protection.
• University of Wyoming, College of EducationkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the PATHS (Public Access Telehealth Spaces) initiative, providing support through the Counselor Education Program. The initiative also receives support from the University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences and the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities (WIND).
• University of Wyoming, College of Health ScienceskeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the PATHS initiative providing healthcare integration expertise and supporting the telehealth network coordination. Works with the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities (WIND) on the initiative.
• Wyoming Institute for Disabilities (WIND)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerWIND is a partner in the PATHS initiative, contributing to healthcare access and disability services expertise. The WIND Resource and Information Center is now closed to public access but materials may still be borrowed on a case-by-case basis for specific projects.
• Wyoming Community FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdministers the Carol McMurry Library Endowment, established in 2000 within the Wyoming Community Foundation to provide support to Wyoming library staff, volunteers, and publicly accessible Wyoming libraries in three areas: Education & Training, Library Resources, and Library Foundation Development. Grant applications processed through the Wyoming Community Foundation portal.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Colorado State Library: Operates as Colorado's state library agency, partnered with Wyoming State Library on the Plains to Peaks Collective. Both agencies are sister state-library agencies providing statewide library development, shared catalog infrastructure, and digital collections under their respective state governments.
• New Mexico State Library: New Mexico's state library agency, providing statewide library coordination, LSTA administration, and digital resources to a rural Southwestern state with similar demographic and geographic challenges to Wyoming.
• Montana State Library: Montana's state library agency, providing statewide library coordination, federal LSTA administration, digital collections, and database licensing for a small, rural Western state - a near-identical operating profile to Wyoming State Library.
• Nebraska Library Commission: Nebraska's state library agency, providing similar statewide library development, LSTA funding administration, and digital resource services to a comparably rural Midwestern/Western state.
• Idaho Commission for Libraries: Idaho's state library agency, delivering library development, LSTA-funded programs, school library support, and digital resources to another small, rural Western state with comparable population scale.
• South Dakota State Library: South Dakota's state library agency, providing statewide library development, LSTA administration, and digital resources to a small, rural Plains state with population and geographic profile very similar to Wyoming.

Others

• OCLC: Global library cooperative providing shared catalog infrastructure (WorldCat), interlibrary loan, and library management systems. WSL's WYLDcat and interstate resource-sharing workflows depend on OCLC-style infrastructure in the broader library ecosystem.

Emerging players

• Internet Archive: Nonprofit digital library archiving web pages, books, audio, video, and software. Operates as an alternative digital-preservation model overlapping with WSL's Newspaper and Digital Collection Suite mission, with broader scope and a more activist publishing posture.

Broad incumbents

• Library of Congress: National library operating at federal scale, providing shared catalog infrastructure, digital collections, and legislative/government information services - overlapping with WSL's government-information and digital-collection functions, but at national rather than state scope.
• Digital Public Library of America (DPLA): National digital library aggregating collections from thousands of libraries, archives, and museums. WSL's Plains to Peaks Collective operates as one of DPLA's service hubs, making DPLA both an upstream platform and a strategic partner.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/wyolibraries
• YouTubeyoutube.com/wyomingstatelibrary
• Facebookfacebook.com/wyominglibraries
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wyoming-state-library

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wyoming State Library