Since 1830, the Society has been Indiana's Storyteller, connecting people to the past by collecting, preserving, interpreting, and disseminating the state's history. A private, nonprofit membership organization, the IHS maintains the nation's premier research library and archives on the history of Indiana and the Old Northwest. IHS also provides support and assistance to local museums and historical groups, publishes books and periodicals; sponsors teacher workshops; and provides youth, adult and family programming, including Indiana's participation in the National History Day Competition series. It also appoints and trains 92 county historians. The Indiana Historical Society opened a new 165,000-square-foot (15,300 m2) headquarters in downtown Indianapolis in July 1999, built on the site