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STATE ARCHIVES AND LIBRARY BUILDING:
A NEW HOME FOR THE TEXAS STATE LIBRARY
by William K. Peace, Acting Director and Librarian
December, 1960, marked the
beginning of the planning stages
for the move of the Texas State
Library into its magnificent new
home, the State Archives and
Library Building, located just east
of the Capitol grounds.
After years of shifting State
Library materials from one end
of the Capitol Building to the
other, and later from North and
South Austin locations, at last a
permanent home has been found
in what we believe to be the most
beautiful yet functional building
in the City of Austin.
Of course much thought had
been given the move even prior to
actual construction two years ago,
but with the delay in the comple-
tion date more time for study and
actual planning of the move was
made possible. A 100-page, de-
tailed, written plan for moving
the collection of the Archives Di-
vision, containing some of the
most valuable documents in Texas
history, was completed in June
and the actual transfer began on
July 18th. Every item, from the
Texas Declaration of Independ-
ence to the bottle containing sam-
ples of river water from each of
the rivers in Texas, was account-
ed for and labeled, with each item
destined for a specific place in the
new building. The Archives Divi-
sion was closed to the public for
one month, reopening for public
use on the 21st of August.
The other divisions of the State
Library which were scheduled to
be housed in the new building be-
gan moving on August 1st, and
by October 1st 90% of the mate-
rials of these divisions occupied
the new building. The other 100%
yet to be moved consists primarily
of two collections: the newspaper
collection containing approximate-
ly 6,500 volumes of Texas news-
papers, published since 1900 to
the present time, and the United
States Government depository col-
lection. The move of these mate-
rials cannot be completed until
additional shelving can be in-
stalled in the sixth and seventh
stack floors. It is hoped that this
shelving can be installed within
45 days so that the move will be
finally completed.
A proposed list of needed furni-
ture items for the building was
submitted to the State Building
Commission on September 12th
and it is anticipated that the de-
livery of this new equipment will
be available as early as 90 days
from this date. The present fur-
niture, much of which is now in
excellent condition, will be utilized
to the fullest extent for economy
and efficiency in operating the
State Library.
We, the employees of the Texas
State Library, are proud to be the
occupants of this stately, granite
structure, and that at last we
have a safe and permanent home
for not only past archival mate-
rial relating to Texas history, but
also ample room for the future
archives of Texas. It is also rec-
ognized that in our new quarters
we will have sufficent room to
carry out the other functions of
the Texas State Library as set
forth in the laws pertaining to
library service in the State of
Texas.
Texas Libraries
92
