Henry Read McIlwaine, one of the founding members of the Virginia Library Association, became Librarian of the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1907.
Henry Read McIlwaine became the third Virginia State Librarian in 1907, a position he held until his death in Richmond on March 16, 1934.
In 1885, McIlwaine graduated from Hampden-Sydney College in Farmville, VA. After earning a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1893, he returned to Hampden–Sydney to serve as professor of English and history.
McIlwaine, as a librarian at Hampden-Sydney College, was invited to and attended the organizational meeting of the State Library of Virginia (now the Library of Virginia) in Richmond on 6 December 1905. Edward S. Evans drafted the constitution for the proposed Virginia Library Association, which began
We, citizens of Virginia believing that Library facilities are necessary for the culture and education of the people and that libraries are as important as any branch of the great system of public education; do hereby organize ourselves for the promotion of a close intercourse among librarians and all interested in library work in Virginia and to further library interests in general.
Henry Read McIlwaine, one of the founding members of the Virginia Library Association, became Librarian of the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1907.
McIlwaine was a prolific editor of historical volumes relating to the early governance of the Commonwealth including:
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