![[logo]](http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/logos/lva.jpg)
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia© 2011 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.
Processed by: Craig S. Moore
There are no restrictions.
There are no restrictions.
Library of Virginia. Correspondence of the Library Board, 1903-1970. Accession 45410, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Acquisition information unknown.
The Library Board of the Virginia State Library was established on 1 July 1903 under the new State Constitution. Early board members were chosen by the State Board of Public Instruction. Armistead C. Gordon served as the first chairman of the State Library Board which consisted of five members with the State Librarian as ex officio Secretary of the Board. The Board now consists of fifteen members appointed by the Governor for a term of five years.
The correspondence of the Virginia State Library Board is arranged alphabetically by board member, then chronologically. The correspondence mainly consists of both incoming & outgoing letters to/from members of the board to the State Librarian. State librarians included in the correspondence are John P. Kennedy, Henry R. McIlwaine, Wilmer L. Hall, and Randolph W. Church. The correspondence primarily relates to appointments, meetings, legislation, conservation, library publications, and expenses. In addition to correspondence, there are minutes, budgets, agenda, reports, bills, resolutions, articles, obituaries, and news clippings.
This collection is arranged into the following series:
Series I: Correspondence of the Library Board, 1903-1970Noteworthy topics discussed in the correspondence include the following: the election of new state librarians & the assistant state librarians; the bill for the erection of a new fire-proof State Library Building (1936); the Works Progress Administration State-Wide Library Project (1939); Virginia Cavalcade ; the Virginia State Library mural unveiling; the World War II History Commission; an inscription tablet for Dr. Henry R. McIlwaine (1946 July 30); the War Memorial Commission; Wilmer L. Hall's application to succeed Dr. Henry R. McIlwaine as state librarian (1934 Apr. 14); traveling libraries; salaries; John C. Wren's muster & payrolls of Virginia Civil War soldiers (1906); the loan of the Monroe portrait to the University of Virginia (1905); the Virginia Building at the St. Louis Exposition (1904); the Jamestown Exposition Company (1908); bids for additional book stacks; Edward V. Valentine's request to view bound newspapers outside the library (1911 June 27); metal cases & boxes for the Manuscript Room (1912); preservation of the Bill of Rights (1913); restoration of manuscripts by William J. Barrow; library night service (1906); and a bill to allow the sale of Houdon Statue molds by the Gorham Art Company (1914 Jan. 24).
Arranged alphabetically by board member, then chronologically.