In 1890, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to form an agency dedicated to the development of public library service.
The Free Public Library Commission was specifically authorized to "provide towns maintaining free public libraries one hundred dollars-worth of books selected and purchased by the Commissioners." Librarians and trustees were invited to ask the Board of Library Commissioners for advice regarding the selection of books, the cataloguing of books, and any other matters pertaining to the maintenance or administration of the library.
We honor all who have served the Commonwealth and its libraries as members of the Board, generously giving their time and talents to the pursuit of excellence in library service for the people of Massachusetts.
| Commissioner | Years of Service | |
|---|---|---|
| Samuel Swett Green | 1890 | 1909 |
| Henry Nourse | 1890 | 1903 |
| Elizabeth P. Sohier | 1890 | 1926 |
| Anna E. Ticknor | 1890 | 1896 |
| C.B. Tillinghast | 1890 | 1909 |
| Anna Amory Weld | 1896 | 1900 |
| Mabel Simpkins Agassiz | 1900 | 1910 |
| Deloraine P. Corey | 1903 | 1910 |
| Charles Belden | 1909 | 1931 |
| Hiller Wellman | 1909 | 1939 |
| Anna M. Bancroft | 1910 | 1936 |
| Frank H. Howes | 1910 | 1920 |
| Edward H. Redstone | 1920 | 1936 |
| Mrs. Axel A. Packard | 1928 | 1932 |
| John A. Butler | 1931 | 1946 |
| Mrs. Augustus L. Thorndike | 1932 | 1936 |
| Dennis A. Dooley | 1936 | 1939 |
| Mrs. Golda R. Walters | 1936 | 1941 |
| William T. O'Rourke | 1936 | 1941 |
| Stacy B. Southworth | 1939 | 1956 |
| Mrs. Edward P. Furber | 1939 | 1949 |
| Mildred H. McAfee Horton | 1941 | 1949 |
| Richard J. Sullivan | 1942 | 1969 |
| Hugh F. Blunt | 1946 | 1953 |
| John D. Kelley | 1949 | 1964 |
| John J. Mahoney | 1949 | 1956 |
| Charles D. Driscoll | 1953 | 1955 |
| Channing L. Bete | 1955 | 1963 |
| John A. Humphry | 1956 | 1964 |
| Mrs. George R. Wallace | 1956 | 1963 |
| John N. Fulham, Jr. | 1963 | 1965 |
| George D. Blackwood | 1963 | 1966 |
| Mrs. Lawrence K. Miller | 1964 | 1974 |
| Mrs. H. Shippen Goodhue | 1964 | 1974 |
| James F. Francis | 1965 | 1973 |
| Forrest W. Seymour | 1966 | 1971 |
| Walter W. Curley | 1969 | 1970 |
| Bennett C. Wilson | 1970 | 1978 |
| James W. Ryan | 1971 | 1972 |
| Lamont L. Thompson | 1973 | 1976 |
| M. Virginia Biggy | 1973 | 1977 |
| Mrs. William Van Voris | 1974 | 1976 |
| Garth Hite | 1974 | 1976 |
| Solomon Rosenbaum | 1976 | 1981 |
| Rev. John R. Aherne | 1976 | 1983 |
| Mrs. Veniette O'Connor | 1976 | 1978 |
| Irene E. Podger | 1978 | 1984 |
| Robert C. Hayden | 1978 | 1982 |
| Joan Rosner | 1978 | 1989 |
| James Ryder | 1978 | 1983 |
| Samuel Sass | 1978 | 1988 |
| Adelaide Gulliver | 1978 | 1978 |
| Alan R. Stanzler | 1978 | 1980 |
| Margaret F. Mullin | 1978 | 1984 |
| Martha G. Edmondson | 1981 | 1989 |
| Richard J. McCarthy | 1981 | 1985 |
| Donald Cronin | 1983 | 1984 |
| William O'Neil | 1984 | 1989 |
| Timothy Mantalos | 1984 | 1989 |
| Kevin Moloney | 1984 | 1993 |
| Solomon Rosenbaum | 1984 | 1987 |
| Ann Murphy | 1985 | 1993 |
| Dorothy Dunn | 1985 | 1990 |
| William Johnson | 1988 | 1992 |
| B. Donald Cook | 1989 | 1993 |
| Carol B. Dane | 1989 | 1993 |
| Mary Long | 1989 | 1995 |
| Robert D. Stueart | 1989 | 1994 |
| S. Andrew Efstathiou | 1990 | 1998 |
| Marilyn Chunglo | 1991 | 1993 |
| Elizabeth Eddison | 1991 | 1991 |
| Robert D. Hall, Jr | 1992 | 2001 |
| Walter L. Cameron, Jr. | 1993 | 2004 |
| Jurgen Thomas | 1993 | 1998 |
| Michael J. Keating | 1993 | 1999 |
| Irene Probstein | 1993 | 1998 |
| John Arnold | 1994 | 2006 |
| Elia Marnik | 1994 | 2006 |
| Edward Bertorelli | 1995 | 2007 |
| Joseph Hopkins | 1998 | 2007 |
| Robert F. Mooney | 1998 | 2005 |
| John Henderson | 1999 | 2003 |
| Deborah Hill Bornheimer | 1999 | 2005 |
| Dr. Em Claire Knowles | 2001 | 2011 |
| Michelle Mann | 2004 | 2005 |
| Emily Salaun | 2005 | 2008 |
| George T. Comeau | 2004 | 2012 |
| Katherine K. Dibble | 2005 | 2013 |
| Richard Dunbar | 2005 | 2009 |
| Vicki L. Kaufman | 2006 | 2011 |
| Irving Zangwill | 2006 | 2010 |
| Francis R. (Frank) Murphy | 2007 | 2018 |
| Carol B. Caro | 2008 | 2018 |
| Mary Rose Quinn | 2007 | 2014 |
| Gregory J. Shesko | 2009 | 2019 |
| Alice Welch | 2010 | 2019 |
| Mary Ann Cluggish | 2011 | 2024 |
| Mary Kronholm | 2011 | 2021 |
| N. Janeen Resnick | 2012 | 2022 |
| George T. Comeau | 2013 | 2018 |
| Roland A. Ochsenbein | 2015 | 2020 |
| Deborah Abraham | 2018 | 2023 |
| Leslie Ball | 2018 | 2023 |
| Gina Perille | 2018 | 2021 |
| Phillip Madell | 2019 | 2020 |
| Stacy DeBole | 2019 | 2024 |
| Vicky Biancolo | 2020 | |
| Debby Conrad | 2020 | |
| George T. Comeau | 2021 | |
| Karen Traub | 2021 | |
| Jessica V. Vilas Novas | 2022 | |
| Joyce Linehan | 2023 | |
| Barbara Barros | 2023 | 2024 |
| Kate Chang | 2024 | |
| Timothy Cherubini | 2024 | |