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California Library Hall of Fame

Irene Stone

Irene Stone was the head of the Administrative Legislative Reference Department in the California State Library, beginning in the early 70’s to the mid 80’s, until it merged with and transformed into the State Information and Reference Center, which she also headed until her retirement in 1990. 

During this time there was a proliferation of new libraries being established in State departments and agencies. The agencies saw a need for specialized collections for their staff, so they funded development of specialized subject libraries within their agencies. Most of these agency libraries, like the Air Resources Board library and the Toxic Substances Control Board library were staffed by a single librarian, with only a handful of larger agencies, like CALTRANS having more than one librarian and a limited number of library staff.

Since the State Library acts as a resource for libraries throughout the State, Irene Stone saw the proliferation of agency/department libraries as an opportunity to enhance the services and collections it provided to California libraries. To that end, she established a network of state agency librarians that met regularly so that the state agency/department librarians could share their resources and specialized knowledge with one another and libraries throughout the state. Prior to her establishment of the State Agency Librarian’s Group, librarians in State agencies were isolated, and nothing was known about their collections. Mrs. Stone changed that.

In addition to coordinating the establishment of the Agency Librarians group, she was responsible for publishing the California State Agencies Library directory, which was used throughout the state and the nationally recognized how to manual for establishing a small, specialized library.

It was also under Irene Stone’s leadership that Management Trends, a monthly publication which alerted State employees, the Legislature and others throughout the state of the current trends in management. It was distributed statewide and nationally as a part of the state depository program, and to any library or organization with an interest in its contents. The California Research Bureau’s Studies in the News was modeled after Management Trends.

When the Assembly Office of Research (AOR) library decided to no longer operate their library, Irene Stone oversaw the transition of the AOR library into the State Library's collection, and the establishment of the California State Library Capitol Branch, within the State Capitol. It's goal- to deliver direct library services to the Legislature, the Governor's Office, and their staffs. She oversaw the materials of the AOR library transferred to the State Library and oversaw the training of staff in legislative reference. She was in charge of the Capitol Branch until her retirement in 1990.

It was also during that period that she became active in the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), an exclusive nonpartisan public official’s association comprised of sitting state legislators from all 50 states, territories, and commonwealths of the United States and their staff. Its purpose is to advance the effectiveness, independence and integrity of legislatures and to foster interstate cooperation and facilitate the exchange of information among legislatures. Realizing the then unheralded role legislative librarians play in providing information to state legislators, Irene Stone lobbied for the National Conference of State Legislatures to recognize the role of librarians in the legislative process. She successfully got NCSL to agree on the important role librarians play in the legislative process, and she co-founded the Legislative Research Librarians unit within the National Conference of State Legislatures. And she was later elected to serve as the archivist.