From the Wikipedia page [1] In the United States of America, state library agencies established in each state have long been a catalyst for a great deal of the motivation for public library cooperation. This has been since the founding of the movement, starting in 1890 when Massachusetts created a state Board of Library Commissioners charged to help communities establish and improve public libraries.(Introduction to Public Librarianship |author= McCook, Kathleen de la Peña |year=2011, pp. 38-39. |isbn=978-1-55570-697-5|unused_data=New York, Neal-Schuman) Over the years, state library agencies played a major role in encouraging larger units of service to provide library resources. The Library Services Act (1956) and the Library Services and Construction Act (1964) were keystones in the goal