Ignas Jonynas’ documents were given to the Manuscript Department of the Central Library of the Academy of Sciences of the Lithuanian SSR in 1959. According to Erika Kuliešienė, the historian V. Merkys, a student of Jonynas, persuaded his relatives to give the collection to the library. This was the beginning of the collection.
In 1960, Petkevičiūtė-Labanauskienė, a researcher in the Manuscript Department, sorted and described the Jonynas collection. It was only partly accessible; only scholars from the Academy could use documents in the collection.