By acts of the New York State Legislature in 1944, Cornell was authorized to establish the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations. The Temporary Board of Trustees mandated that the School should render three types of service, one being the provision of information "... both in response to specific inquiries from interested individuals and groups and through publications which it may initiate itself." The Board further declared, "It will be essential to develop at the earliest possible moment a comprehensive library, both of standard works and periodicals and of documentary materials."