The Management and Preservation of Local Public Records: Report of the State and Local Records Committee

In 1976 the State and Local Records Committee, Society of American Archivists, conducted a survey of the archival agencies of all fifty states to determine the nature and extent of their role in managing and preserving the records of local governments. A questionnaire brought responses from forty-nine states. Thirty-nine of them reported a local records program currently in operation. Slightly more than half of them are using microfilm as an integral part of the program. Many states have scheduled, or are in the process of scheduling, county and municipal records for retention and disposal. Most states report insufficient funding to provide for the proper operation of a comprehensive local records program. Adequate funding will only become available when state archival agencies campaign actively to convince state legislatures that the money is indeed needed, and the local records programs are worthwhile.