general supervision over the Library and appoints the Director and
other employees; except the State Librarian, who is appointed by the
Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate to serve for the
term of the Governor.

The Library consists of a legal section of approximately seventy
thousand (70,000) volumes, and a reference section of approximately
fifty thousand (50,000) volumes. The reference section contains many
rare books, maps and documents, including the subscription edition
of the four elephant folio volumes of Audubon's Birds of America,
and the most complete file now in existence of the early issues (1745-
1838) of the Maryland Gazette, bound volumes and microfilm copies
of the Baltimore Sunpapers from 1837 to date, as well as other early
newspapers and periodicals. In addition, the Library possesses an
almost complete set of the United States Documents, serial number
series, dating back to the Continental Congress.

The Law Library, which contains all State, Federal and many
foreign court reports, session laws, codes, legal texts, compendiums,
legal periodicals and other legal reference material, is an essential
and integral part of the operation of the Court of Appeals of Mary-
land, and furnishes legal, reference and research material and facili-
ties to the Court, Judges, Lawyers, State Departments and officials,
and the general public. The Library is designated as a U.S. De-
pository Library. All State officials and agencies are required by law
to place one copy of all of their reports and other publications in
the Library. The Library is the distributing agency for the session
laws, journals, Maryland reports and the annotated code of Maryland.

Appropriations 1955 1956
General Fund

Operation of Library ................ $28,772 $28,214
Md. Reports & Code Supp....... 7,875 9,450

Total .................................... $36,647 $37,664
Staff: 4.

COMMISSIONER OF THE LAND OFFICE

Harry L. Harcum, Commissioner, 1959
Malcolm W. Waring, Administrative Assistant

Hall of Records, Annapolis Telephone: Colonial 3-3451

The Commissioner of the Land Office is appointed by the Governor,
with the consent of the Senate, to hold office during the term of the
Governor (Const. 1867, Art. VII, sec. 14). The Land Office keeps rec-
ords pertaining to boundaries of land, including records of all war-
rants, certificates and patents for land from the settlement of the
Province of Maryland in 1634, or abstracts of deeds from 1786 to the
June 1, 1949, and abstracts of mortgages and releases from 1900 to
June 1, 1949. Every clerk, after he records any deed, mortgage,
release of mortgage or lease of real estate must make or have made
a 35 mm. microfilm copy of every such record and transmit it to
the Commissioner of the Land Office at the end of each year. The
Commissioner hears and determines all disputes which may arise
concerning the validity of surveys. The Land Office is now engaged in
making, filing, and recording plats for current subdivisions of land;
copies of such plats are sent to the Supervisors of Assessment upon