A LIBRARY IN THE MAKING: Pioneer History of the Territorial and State Library of Iowa,October 1912

The discovery of early manuscript reports of Territorial and State Librarians, buried in the mass of old official papers transferred from the several departments of State to the new Department of Archives in the Historical Building, has suggested the propriety of completing as far as possible, the historical record of Iowa's State Library, "from the earliest period to the present time." After a thorough research through the papers on file in the Archives Department, the published Journals and departmental reports in the State Library and documents and private papers loaned me by Mr. Newton R. Parvin, librarian of the Iowa Masonic Library, Cedar Rapids. I am now able to present the following historical sketch, Supplemented by the hitherto unpublished papers referred to this filling a gap in the history of a State institution which from very small beginnings has grown to large proportions and has made for itself a firm place in the respect and esteem of every citizen of Iowa.