University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Business and Social Sciences Reference Dept.

In 1933, stimulated by the depository acts of the early 1930s, the University Library formed a public documents department. In 1935, the Social Sciences Reading Room was created and made a responsibility of the Documents Department. Later the Business Administration and Economics Library was established. In 1957-1958, these entities were brought together as the Business Administration and Social Sciences Division, of which the Documents Department became a section. During the 1975-1976 academic year, the Division name was changed to Business Administration and Social Sciences Reference Department. Effective 1 January 1993, the Business Administration and Social Sciences Reference Department and the Humanities Reference Department merged to form a single department, named the Reference Department.

Stimulated by the depository acts of the federal and state governments in the early 1930s, the University Library created a Documents Department in September 1933 with Olin V. Cook as head. Using student workers paid with National Youth Administration (NYA) funds, Cook began organizing the Library's document holdings. In September 1935, the Social Sciences Reading Room was made a responsibility of the Documents Department, and the following year the newly formed General College Library was also placed under its supervision. During the 1937-1938 academic year, the Department's responsibilities were defined to include state documents, federal documents, and microphotography. In January 1939, a new federal depository act greatly increased the volume of documents received by the Library.

During the years 1942-1945, wartime conditions led to the consolidation of the Library's Documents and Circulation departments, and limited staff meant that little time could be devoted to the documents collection. In June 1946, however, the Documents Department again became a separate entity, and the Library became a depository for United Nations publications and for selected British documents. An increasingly severe shortage of space was alleviated in January 1952 with the occupation of expanded quarters in the Current Affairs Reading Room.

On 1 June 1958, the Library's collections were organized under a divisional plan. Documents became a section of the Business Administration/Social Sciences Division and during the following academic year was staffed by part-time workers. In September 1959 supervision of the section was vested in a full-time professional librarian, and in August 1963, the quality of the documents collection was recognized by the designation of the University Library as the Regional Federal Depository for North Carolina. During the 1975-1976 academic year the Division's name was changed to Business and Social Sciences Reference Department.

Effective 1 January 1993, the Business Administration and Social Sciences Reference Department and the Humanities Reference Department merged to form a single department, named the Reference Department.