The State Library of Massachusetts (est.1826) in Boston, Massachusetts, "supports the research and information needs of government, libraries, and people through ... services and access to a comprehensive repository of state documents and other historical items."[1] It "opened in 1826 and has been in its present location in the State House since the 1890s."[2] The State Library falls under the administration of the governor.[3] In fiscal year 2011, the state budgeted $786,237 for the library.[4]
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"In 1811 the Legislature of Massachusetts made provision for the annual exchange of statutes with the several States of the Union, and in 1826 it provided that the books and maps which had accumulated in the various departments in the State House should be collected and arranged in the Land Office under the care of the Land Agent. This act marks the formal establishment of the State Library of Massachusetts."[5] In other words, "the State Library was established in 1826 to collect, deposit, and house the Commonwealth’s collections of maps, statute books, and government documents in a single central location."[1]
"Alexander H. Everett, of Boston, introduced into the Senate of 1833 an Order, instructing the committee on the library to consider the expediency of purchasing for the library, a copy of the Birds of America, by John James Audubon, of Louisiana. The measure encountered a strong opposition, and after an earnest and eloquent debate for several days, a Resolve was passed, March 22, 1833, authorizing the committee, if they deemed it expedient, to purchase the work at an expense not exceeding eight hundred dollars. Subsequent expenditures were authorized for its preservation, March 23, 1835, and, including binding and repairs, its cost to the State has exceeded one thousand dollars." The library continues to own the Audubon book.[6] As for other acquisitions, in the 1840s some foreign materials were acquired through M.A. Vattemare.
By 1848, the library owned some 5,700 volumes.[7] "In 1849 the custody of the Library was transferred from the Land Agent to the Secretary of the State Board of Education."[5] Heads of the library in the 19th century included Samuel C. Jackson (ca.1858)[8] and John W. Dickinson. "In 1893 the office of State Librarian was created, and Caleb B. Tillinghast ... who had served as acting librarian since 1879, became the first encumbent."[5]
"In 1960, the library was named the George Fingold Library under Chapter 380, Acts of 1960. George Fingold was the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1953 to 1958. Fingold received the nomination for Governor in 1958, and died of a heart attack on August 31, 1958."[9]
In 2011, the library's trustees are Therese Murray, Designee: Senator James B. Eldridge; Robert A. DeLeo, Designee: Representative Kate Hogan; William Francis Galvin, Designee: Michael Maresco; (each "by virtue of state office held"); and Sharen Leonard, Matthew O'Connor, and Joffrey Smith[10] (each "appointed by the governor").[11]
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Many library collections are available digitally through the library's website.[12] Digital items most often downloaded include the Massachusetts Acts and Resolves (1692 to present),[13] annual reports of various state agencies, and Special Collections materials, such as the IMLS funded project Mapping Massachusetts: The History of Transportation Systems in the Commonwealth.[14] The State Library makes its collections available digitally by both scanning print documents and capturing born-digital state documents, which are then archived in the library's digital repository.[15]
The library holds collections in the areas of government documents, law, Massachusetts history, and public and current affairs. "As the legally designated depository for Massachusetts state publications, the State Library has the most complete collection of Massachusetts government documents in existence, with holdings dating from the seventeenth century." [16] The library has a wealth of primary and secondary legal resources for conducting legislative histories and drafting contemporary legislation.[17] The Periodicals department hosts a collection of newspapers, journals and magazines, which includes dozens of daily and weekly newspapers from various towns and cities in Massachusetts.[18]
The Special Collections department houses the library’s oldest and rarest materials, as well as the copy of record for Massachusetts legislative records. Holdings comprise rare books, manuscripts, broadsides, newspapers, tax valuations, architectural drawings, prints and photographs, scrapbooks, souvenirs and archival collections from former Massachusetts legislators. The collection is particularly strong in nineteenth and twentieth-century city directories, maps, and atlases for towns across Massachusetts. Collections date to the early 1600s and include several important pieces of American history.[19]
The library curates several exhibits each year that showcase interesting and important library collections as they relate to Massachusetts' people and places. Past library exhibits have included:
Select images from these exhibits can be viewed on the library's Flickr page.[21]