30 FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Building. There are, of course, always improvements to be made
in a building such as the Hall of Records, but with the completion
of the sixth and last deck of stacks and the furnishing of a work
room above the research room, both accomplished this year, there
are no improvements urgent enough to justify a request for in-
creased funds for the Hall. We expect during the year to make
some changes in the lighting, which is in some rooms more beauti-
ful than useful. The third floor room known as the "Extension
Room" should also at some time in the future be furnished and con-
verted into a library room, and a basement room known as the "Un-
assigned Room" and now containing only a few cases of Indian
relics belonging to the Maryland Historical Society should be fur-
nished and put to some use.

Equipment Nor shall we need to add very much to our equipment in
the coming year. The money remaining to us from the General
Bond Issue of 1939 should be sufficient to provide us with a lami-
nator. if we decide to purchase one, a mimeograph or multigraph
machine and additional steel shelves for the stacks.

Staff The amount of indexing, cataloguing, listing and the like which
can be done at the Hall of Records is of course in direct ratio to
the number and quality of its employees. For the moment we are
doing a tremendous amount of this work without enlarging our
regular staff because of the use we are making of WPA and NY A
workers. If these should fail us now we shall be reduced to the
piddling amount of this kind of work which was done before last
year. Otherwise there is no need to enlarge the staff and no re-
quest has been made to the Legislature for increases in number.
Some increases in salary have been asked to equalize salaries paid
at the Hall with those paid in other State Offices.

Accessions Before this year the records of only two Counties, Anne
Arundel and Baltimore, had been transferred to the Hall of Rec-
ords. In the last year the records of Prince George's County were
transferred and at this writing the transfer of those of Frederick
County has been authorized. In the course of the year it is hoped
that at least two other Counties will agree to such transfers. This
rate of transfer is satisfactory when it is considered that the Hall
of Records is a very new institution and a certain amount of time