N.Y. Arts and Cultural Affairs Law § 57.09

§ 57.09. Duties of local historian. It shall be the duty of each local\nhistorian, appointed as provided in the last section, in cooperation\nwith the state historian, to collect and preserve material relating to\nthe history of the political subdivision for which he or she is\nappointed, and to file such material in fireproof safes or vaults in the\ncounty, city, town or village offices. Such historian shall examine into\nthe condition, classification and safety from fire of the public records\nof the public offices of such county, city, town or village, and shall\ncall to the attention of the local authorities and the state historian\nany material of local historic value which should be acquired for\npreservation. He or she shall make an annual report, in the month of\nJanuary, to the local appointing officer or officers and to the state\nhistorian of the work which has been accomplished during the preceding\nyear. He or she shall, upon retirement or removal from office, turn over\nto the local county, city, town or village authorities, or to his or her\nsuccessor in office, if one has been then appointed, all materials\ngathered during his or her incumbency and all correspondence relating\nthereto. It shall be the duty of the county historian to supervise the\nactivities of the local historians in towns and villages within the\ncounty in performing the historical work recommended by the state\nhistorian, and also to prepare and to present to the board of\nsupervisors a report of the important occurrences within the county for\neach calendar year. The state historian, at regular intervals, not less\nthan once a year, shall indicate to the local historians the general\nlines along which local history material is to be collected.\n