In the infancy of the Academy, curators appointed a member to act as unpaid librarian who had very little authority to make plans and policies. In general the library was administered thru the members as a whole. A list of the various librarians with their tenure of office is included with the list of officers of the Academy prepared by Maurice E. Phillips. Soon after Edward J. Nolan became librarian in 1863, the position of librarian was established and he was included with other officers of the Academy. Later Nolan was recording secretary, librarian and editor and for years was the only salaried staff member of the Academy.