Judicial Units, Boards, and Commissions

The State and federal government documents
holdings is a vast area of valuable information.
The Library has been a select U.S. Government
depository for federal agency and congressional
publications for many years and as a result has
collected and indexed thousands of reference pub-
lications in the area of social sciences, economics,
law enforcement, legislative histories, and numer-
ous other disciplines. The Maryland government
documents collection is probably the most com-
plete retrospective holdings of State agency docu-
ments available. In addition, all local govern-
ments must file copies of their codes with the
State Law Library.

A third distinct subject collection and a heavi-
ly-used resource is the local history and genealo-
gy collection. This resource, which has been ac-
tively developed over the years, complements
much of the original source records researchers
have access to in the Maryland Hall of Records
and Maryland Historical Society. Included among
the holdings are the Maryland census schedules
from 1776 through 1900 with name indexes; a
complete and invaluable original file of the earlier
issues of the Maryland Gazette (1745-1838); a

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complete run of the Baltimore Sun (1837-date);
and numerous county histories, family genealo-
gies, and research guides.

Additional items of interest are the Library's
holdings of rare books, early Maryland maps and
documents, including the subscription edition of
James Audubon's four-volume elephant folio,
Birds of America. Also on display in the Library
are the classic lithograph prints of each of the of-
ficial state birds for thirty-five states and the
American Bald Eagle, commissioned by the Na-
ture Society and painted by Richard Sloane. The
State Law Library was designated as the official
depository for these prints by the governor in
1970.

Finally, the Library serves as the distributing
agency for the Maryland Reports and the Mary-
land Appellate Reports (Code Courts Article, sec.
13-504). The Library also distributes the Annotat-
ed Code of Maryland under the direction of the
Board of Public Works. The Library publishes a
bimonthly list entitled Recent Acquisitions, as well
as miscellaneous bibliographies and a descriptive
brochure on the Library.