The development of the Idaho State Library: Chronicles and narratives, 1901 to 2004 (Helen Miller, Charles Bolles).

摘要

The Idaho State Library has provided services to the citizens of Idaho since 1901. There was no cohesive or comprehensive history of the development of the Idaho State Library. The experiences of the two living State Librarians had not been written, recorded, or compiled. The Idaho State Library may be viewed as a single, bounded case among a group of fifty state libraries within the United States. The researcher used a qualitative design to examine this single case.; Within the pages of this study, the researcher assembled the pieces of the puzzle to provide a history of the development of the Idaho State Library from 1901 to 2004. The compilations and organization of financial and legislative data, the identification of all State Librarians and their terms of office, and the complete list of State Library Commission and State Library Board members provided the foundation. The chronicles, reconstructed from documents and records, provided a presentation of the people, events and activities to frame the stories of the State Library. Whenever possible, information presented in the chronicles was corroborated through multiple sources to strengthen the probability of historical accuracy. The narratives, excerpted from the interviews with Helen Miller and Charles Bones, provided the rich description and unique perspectives of the two State Librarians who directed the agency between 1962 and 2005. Future research and the collection of additional stories will provide greater depth and breadth to this history of the State Library.