Minitex is a state-funded library organization located at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Our mission is to strengthen libraries, cultural institutions, and the communities they serve. We connect libraries and individuals with information, ideas, and experiences to enrich lives and strengthen communities.
We believe in the growing importance of libraries, and we are dedicated to supporting the library community in Minnesota. We also support libraries in South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and beyond.
Interlibrary Loan & Resource Sharing
Minitex services extend library collections by helping all kinds of libraries across the state share materials through services like MNLINK and the Minitex Delivery System.
MNLINK and Minitex Resource Sharing bring the rich resources of Minnesota libraries to users regardless of their location. Minitex services enable libraries to reach beyond their budget limitations and local collections to bring the world of information to their users.
Databases for All Minnesotans
eLibrary Minnesota (ELM) provides libraries with a core collection of online databases.
Students and residents across Minnesota use ELM via their libraries or the ELM portal to find online journals, newspapers, magazines, and multimedia to meet their information needs.
Cooperative Purchasing
Minitex saves libraries money by negotiating consortial prices for electronic information resources and library products.
Libraries save thousands of dollars by signing up for authoritative electronic resources and purchasing needed library products through Minitex.
Support for Digital Collections
Minitex helps libraries and other cultural heritage organizations make valuable physical collections available online.
Minitex and the Minnesota Digital Library provide training, best practices, and consultation to libraries and other organizations to digitize their collections and make them available to web-searchers worldwide.
Training & Education
Minitex supports the Minnesota library workforce by offering professional development opportunities on a variety of topics.
Library staff learn about databases, cataloging practices, digitization efforts, online reference, and current library issues via Minitex webinars, in-person workshops, and conferences.
Online Reference for All Minnesotans
AskMN assists information seekers online when they need help with research.
AskMN provides research help to Minnesotans by connecting them to librarians online 24/7 for immediate help, regardless of their location.
Minitex is funded by the Minnesota Legislature through the Minnesota Office of Higher Education to serve Minnesota academic and state government libraries. Minitex is a joint program of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and the University of Minnesota Libraries. Minnesota State Library Services (the Minnesota state library agency), a unit of the Minnesota Department of Education, provides additional funding to support services for Minnesota libraries and library users.