Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Documents from the County Manager's Library, Collection # RG 32, Arlington Public Library, Center for Local History

Acquisition Information

Nearly all the materials in Record Group 32 came from an in-county transfer in 1981 from the County Manager's Office to Arlington Public Library. Some scattered documents from 1982 to 1990, and 2004 were received later and added to the collection.

Historical Information

The County Manager's Library was formally established from these informal holdings through a student's thesis for a Library Science Master's Degree: A Proposed Plan for the Organization and Administration of a Reference Library for the County-Manager Government of Arlington County by Marcel Raymond Gerin, The Catholic University of America, December 1959.

Mr. Gerin set up the library for the County and processed all the materials in a cataloging system (See Subgroup 19 ). After the library was disbanded in 1981, the materials were sent to the Arlington County Public Library and the Center for Local History. The materials saved for this record group were mostly County-generated. Other items expected to be available elsewhere were excluded.

Scope and Content

Record Group 32 contains materials gathered by various Arlington County managers and housed in their quasi-professional library existing from 1932, the year when the county manager form of government was adopted, until 1981. The collection consists largely of county-generated reports and other documents which the managers may have referred to over the years as they administered county business.

This collection is not a comprehensive grouping of materials from any particular time period. Rather it is simply whatever the managers might have gathered during their time in office and placed on their shelves. The materials date from 1889 to 1994, with the bulk dating from 1930 to 1981. The collection measures about 60 linear feet.

In this collection, there are almost complete County Board meeting minutes and agendas from 1932-1952 (excluding 1950) and the spring of 1957, and county budgets and audits for those years. There is also extensive documentation on the county's infrastructure, including road construction, traffic studies, sewage and water systems, and planning and development. Subgroup 7, County Manager Personal Files , has handwritten notes by various County Managers on a variety of subjects, arranged chronologically. That subgroup also contains County Attorney opinions from the 1930s and 1940s. Subgroup 20, Advisory Groups , has material from various groups throughout Arlington who provided advice and information on a wide variety of topics related to county government.

Arrangement

Record Group 32 is arranged by subject or county agency into subgroups under which listings are largely chronological. Most photographs were removed from their original locations in the collection and moved to a special box, Box 93. A list of these photographs is in the appendix, with a list of each photograph's original location. The appendix also lists the collection's bound materials, which are mainly annual reports and budgets. The only photographs that remain in their original folders are those found in the Police Traffic Safety Reports in Subgroup 5, Series 3 . These photographs remain to show their placement within these larger reports.

Related Material

Researchers interested in issues revolving around the development of National Airport should consult Record Group 13, Samuel Milner National Airport Research Papers , Record Group 37, Metropolitan Washington Airports , and RG 189, Anderson National Airport Collection . Researchers interested in Arlington planning and construction should consult RG 43, Interstate 66 , RG 199, Papers of Carrie Johnson , and RG 130, Arlington County Planning Commission Records . Those reviewing public health in Arlington should look at RG 21, Records of the Arlington County Department of Health and RG 169, Records of the School Nurse Program . For more information on Arlington Fire Department, see RG 170, Personal Papers of James Fought . More formal county government publications are found in RG 58, Arlington County Government Publications .

Digital scans of many of the photographs in RG 32 can be found here .

Index Terms

Subjects:

• Arlington (Va.)
• Arlington Co., Va. County Manager
• Arlington County (Va.)
• Arlington County (Va.) -- Politics and government.
• Arlington County (Va.). Department of Environmental Affairs
• Arlington County (Va.). Department of Public Works
• Arlington County (Va.). Planning Division
• Arlington County (Va.). Police Department
• Civil defense
• Fire departments -- Administration

Adjunct Descriptive Data