Skip to agency navigation
Skip to main content

Official website

of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    The .gov means it's official.

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 
    About

    History of the State Library

    The State Library traces its origins to 1745 when Benjamin Franklin, clerk of the Assembly of what was then the province of Pennsylvania, was authorized to “send to England for the best Edition of the Statutes at large, for the Use of the House, and also for some large Maps (one of North America) to be hung up in the Assembly Room.” 1  From this modest purchase of items for the use of the unicameral provincial Assembly, the State Library evolved into its current form. The first step in this evolution resulted in the formal creation of the State Library in February 1816 by an act of the legislature. This consolidated the Senate, House and other library collections into single library, the maintenance and supervision of which fell to an officially designated State Librarian and a library committee. In 1858, the library was designated as a Federal Depository Library for the U.S. Government Printing Office 2  3

    Up through the 1870s the mission of the State Library was focused entirely on serving the needs of the legislature and state government. A public-oriented mission emerged with the appointment of a series of three distinguished scholar-historians as State Librarians who expanded collections and services. Dr. Charles Ehrenfeld (1878-1882) and Dr. William Egle (1887-1898) began collecting contemporary newspapers and early Pennsylvania imprints, introduced the modern card catalog, and expanded historical and genealogical collections. Thomas Lynch Montgomery (1903-1921) adopted the Dewey Decimal system of classification and continued to expand the historical and genealogical collections positioning the library as one of the largest research libraries in Pennsylvania. In 1903, Montgomery established the Division of Public Records (now the State Archives) and after 1905 served as curator of the State Museum. These entities merged to form the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 1945. In 1923, the State Library became part of the Department of Public Instruction (after 1971, the Department of Education) and moved into the new Education Building in 1931. The library's place within the Department of Education has changed as the agency has undergone reorganizations, leading to the naming of the State Librarian as Deputy Secretary and State Librarian, Office of Commonwealth Libraries (OCL), in 1990. OCL has two bureaus: the Bureau of Library Development and the Bureau of State Library. 4  5

    In 1919 Library Extension, the forerunner of the current Bureau of Library Development, was a new division brought into the library to continue the work of the predecessor Free Library Commission established in 1899. The Commission was charged with giving advice to existing libraries, or any community proposing to establish a library, as to establishment, administration, cataloging, and other matters connected with library work. The Commission was instrumental in the founding of more than 300 public libraries and traveling book collections in Pennsylvania. The Extension Division received a boost with the enactment of the 1931 County Library Aid Law that made funding available to libraries requiring assistance. 6

    Federal and state library legislation breathed new life into statewide library programs in the 1950s and 1960s. The passage of the federal Library Services Act in 1956 made funds available for the first time to aid state libraries in extending public service to rural areas. The State Library commissioned a study by Lowell Martin that pointed the way to a state system of local libraries, district library centers, and regional library resource centers. The Library Code, first enacted by the General Assembly in 1961, during the tenure of State Librarian Ralph Blasingame, provided state support to supplement and stimulate local support of public libraries. The vigor of the State Library's staff, led by Ernest Doerschuk, Jr., State Librarian 1964 -1978, and strengthened with federal dollars and the new state aid appropriations, brought Pennsylvania again to a period of national library leadership. Amendments to the federal legislation (now called the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and The Library Code have periodically broadened the State Library's responsibility. The Code was revised again in 2012 and is now known as the Public Library Code.

    Beginning in the mid-1960s, the General Assembly has made annual appropriations to the State Library to support the service of the Regional Libraries for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, operated by the Free Library of Philadelphia and The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, to serve Pennsylvanians with visual or other disabilities who cannot read conventional printed materials. Using additional grants for demonstration projects, staff worked with state correctional institutions and hospitals to establish strong resident library programs.

    During the last three decades of the 20th century, the State Library made significant use of federal dollars to hasten the use of automation to support improved service to Pennsylvania's library users. LSTA funding provided for the adoption of online, shared cataloging through OCLC by the district library centers and several academic libraries; the use of microcomputers to improve management and administration of libraries; the widespread use of telefax equipment for reference, interlibrary loan, and improved communication; and, more recently, access to Internet services through libraries and the digitization of historic collections.

    Under the leadership of State Librarian Elliot Shelkrot, a comprehensive plan in 1983 provided the impetus to bring school libraries into the statewide resource-sharing program, and to start a statewide library card program for public libraries. Under the Access Pennsylvania banner, a blend of federal, state, and school district funds has supported the development and expansion of a statewide database of library catalogs, electronic resources, and digital objects from Pennsylvania libraries, accessible on the Internet through libraries across the Commonwealth. The Access Pennsylvania / Power Library statewide database (http://www.powerlibrary.org/catalog/) program quickly became a model for the nation and brought new recognition to the State Library of Pennsylvania. All public libraries receiving state aid now participate in the statewide library card system. Resource sharing has also been encouraged by the development of a liberal state interlibrary loan code.

    Today, the Bureau of State Library continues to serve the public and state government by providing access to 4.5 million items consisting of collections of general and law materials, Pennsylvania newspapers, Federal and Pennsylvania state government documents, genealogical, and rare materials. The Bureau of Library Development administers and distributes the state public library subsidy and promulgates regulations and service standards for local public libraries, district library centers, and public library systems. Since 1990, the Keystone Grant program for library infrastructure, administered by the Bureau of Library Development has provided grants to public libraries for facilities and technology improvements.

    For an historical list of the State Librarians who have served the Office of Commonwealth Libraries since 1745, see the Roster of Pennsylvania State Librarians

    This history was adopted from a 1970 PLA Bulletin article by Robert Bray Wingate, former Head, Rare Books and Special Collections State Library of Pennsylvania, with additions covering 1970 through 1995 by David R. Hoffman, former Director of Bureau of State Library and Acting State Librarian, 1987 to 1988. Additions covering 1995 through 2014 added by Alice Lubrecht, former Director Bureau of State Library and Acting State Librarian, 2012.

    Notes

    1. Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the Province of Pennsylvania (5 December 1745).
    2. Barbara E. Deibler, “A valuable collection of neat books well chosen”: The Pennsylvania Assembly Library. ([Harrisburg, PA]: The Society for Political Enquiries, Capitol Preservation Committee, 1994).
    3. Robert Bray Wingate, “The Pennsylvania State Library: Two hundred twenty-five years of service,” PLA Bulletin 25, no. 6 (December 1970).
    4. Robert Pratt Bliss, A history of the Pennsylvania State Library (Harrisburg, PA: Printed for the Pennsylvania Library Association by the Telegraph Press, 1937).
    5. Bernadette A. Lear, “A State Library Transformed: Pennsylvania, 1878-1921,” Information & Culture: A Journal of History 48, no. 1 (2013).
    6. Gertrude MacKinney, “A Century of Library Development of the Pennsylvania State Library,” Pennsylvania Library Notes 14 (1934).

    Sources

    Bliss, Robert Pratt. A history of the Pennsylvania State Library. Harrisburg, PA: Printed for the Pennsylvania Library Association by the Telegraph Press, 1937.

    Deibler Barbara E. “A valuable collection of neat books well chosen”: The Pennsylvania Assembly Library. [Harrisburg, PA]: The Society for Political Enquiries, Capitol Preservation Committee, 1994.

    Lear, Bernadette A. “A State Library Transformed: Pennsylvania, 1878-1921” Information & Culture: A Journal of History, 48, no. 1 (2013): 26-49.

    MacKinney, Gertrude. “A Century of Library Development of the Pennsylvania State Library” Pennsylvania Library Notes, 14 (1934): 407-411.

    The State Library: Its divisions and services, Bulletin 520. Harrisburg: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Public Instruction, 1954.

    Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the Province of Pennsylvania (5 December 1745).

    Wingate, Robert Bray. “The Pennsylvania State Library: Two hundred twenty-five years of service” PLA Bulletin, 25, no. 6 (December 1970): 340-344.