THE WHEATON LIBRARY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

1950-1989

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Following the establishment of the Montgomery County Public Library system in 1950, local advisory committees to the Library Board were adopted for each community in which a library existed. The Wheaton Library Advisory Committee (WLAC) was appointed in August 1951. Within several years it became clear to the WLAC that the rented quarters occupied by the Wheaton Library were insufficient to meet the needs of the rapidly growing community which it served. The WLAC therefore channeled much of its energy into mobilizing community support for a new library building and preparing recommendations on the most appropriate location for it. In 1957 the County Council appropriated $90,000 to purchase sites and prepare plans for three new library buildings to serve Wheaton, Gaithersburg, and the Massachusetts Avenue area. The site for the Wheaton Library was acquired in 1960. When staff finally moved into the new quarters on Georgia Avenue in 1962, they checked out a record-breaking number of books on their first day of operation.

Within several years it became apparent that there was insufficient space in the new library to handle user demands, and the WLAC continued to propose funding for renovations and expansions in the years that followed. In 1984 the Library closed for a $3 million renovation and reopened in 1985 with its space doubled. Upon reopening, the Library was designated the County's science and technology specialty library. In 1989 the Wheaton Regional Library also became the County's Health Information Center, providing County residents with a collection of up-to-date information on a variety of health-related topics.

For additional information see the records of the Library Board.

PROCESSING PROCEDURES

General processing procedures consisted of discarding duplicates, unnecessary binders, and routine transmittals. Oversized documents and photographs were removed from the original location in their assigned series and placed in separate containers. Separation sheets were inserted in the original location within the folder to indicate the new location of any records placed elsewhere.

Preservation copying of newspaper clippings was performed whenever feasible. Records in folders were arranged, unless otherwise indicated, in forward chronological order, with undated records appearing at the end of the folder.

PROVENANCE

The records were transferred to the Archives from the Wheaton Library Advisory Committee in 1998.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The records of the Wheaton Library Advisory Committee comprise 0.66 cubic feet of correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, surveys, reports, and newspaper clippings from 1950 to 1989. The collection documents the WLAC's efforts to promote the needs of the Wheaton Library from its inception until the late 1980s, and includes correspondence between the WLAC and the Library Board, members of the local community, and staff in the Department of Public Libraries. Particularly well documented are the appropriation of funding, and selection of a site for, the Wheaton Regional Library in the 1950s, and the renovation and expansion of the Library in the 1980s.

The collection is arranged alphabetically by subject.

Box 1

Bills and By-Laws, 1950, 1976, 1978, n.d

Book Sales, 1981-1983

Community Support Correspondence, 1986, 1987-1988

Correspondence and Memoranda, 1957-1965, n.d.

Correspondence and Memoranda, 1970-1982

Correspondence and Memoranda, 1983

Correspondence and Memoranda, 1984, n.d.

Box 2

Correspondence and Memoranda, 1985-1987

Correspondence and Memoranda, 1988-1989, 1992, n.d.

Financial Year 82 Budget: Alternative Revenue Sources, 1980-1982

Fund Raising Drive, 1962

Minutes, 1958-1989

Newspaper Clippings, 1957-1986

Public Services Plan for Public Libraries, FY 83-88, and Related Documents, 1982

Staff Survey, 1981

Wheaton Library Renovation, 1980-1982

Wheaton Regional Library Advisory Committee News, September 1986-February 1988