Massachusetts Political Almanac: A State Library Go-To Source

We last wrote about the Massachusetts Political Almanac in 2014 and while this is still a “treasured reference book in the State Library,” a lot has changed about it over the past 10 years. Mainly, it is not in print anymore and instead is available online through the State House News Service. The last physical issue was printed in 2017. Despite these volumes no longer being in print, our librarians use the print volumes all the time to answer reference questions.

The Massachusetts Political Almanac is a great resource to consult if you need information about members of the Massachusetts Legislature (also known as the Massachusetts General Court). Volumes of the Political Almanac contain biographical information about legislators, a photograph, committee assignments, office locations, staffing lists, information about the legislator’s district, election results, and more. Since this is such a valuable resource, the State Library owns two sets: one in our Reference collection (with easy access from the Information Desk) and another set in our general stacks. Our print collection starts in 1974 and goes to 2017, the last year this title was printed. While these volumes do not circulate, you can always use them in the library.

Governor Maura Healey’s record in the Massachusetts Political Almanac online

If you need information from the Political Almanac post-2017, come into the library and use one of our Public Access Computers (PACs). Once on a PAC, a librarian will log you into State House News Service’s online version of the Political Almanac.

Questions? Reach out to us by email or visit us Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm!


Jessica Shrey
Legal Research Reference Librarian