342 AXXUAL REPORTS OF DEPAETMEXT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



ment and later are turned over to the Librar}^ to dispose of. While 

 the vrork of sorting and listing them consumes a large amount of 

 time, in fact the major part of the time of one assistant when the 

 work is kept up to date, it has, nevertheless, been the policy of the 

 Library to encourage the offices of the Department to send to the 

 Lil>rary all the publications which they receive, as otherwise the 

 Library is likely to miss man}' publications which are needed in its 

 files. In order, however, to reduce unnecessary duplications and the 

 consequent unnecessary work and cost of handling them, the Li- 

 brary is continually working toward that ideal state when all publi- 

 cations, both foreign and domestic, which are regularly received by 

 the Department will be addressed to the Library with the exception 

 of the limited number which, for special reasons, it is an advantage 

 to have sent direct to the offices which use them. 



MAILING LISTS AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF DEPARTMENT PUBLICATIONS. 



There were 1,594 orders issued on the Division of Publications for 

 the mailing of Department publications Avhich were requested by 

 foreign institutions and officials and by societies and private indi- 

 viduals from whom jDublications are received in exchange. The work 

 in connection with the distribution of Department publications to 

 foreign countries and to libraries in the L^nited States, including the 

 care of various mailing lists, has been described in detail in pre- 

 vious reports. This work is appropriately assigned to the Library 

 because of its close connection with the work of obtaining exchanges. 



BINDING DIVISION. 



Miss Ida B. Swaut, Chief. 



During the 3'ear only 2,011 volvunes were sent to the Government 

 Printing Office for binding and 1,612 volumes laced into temporary 

 binders. The number of pamphlets stapled into temporary binders 

 V, as 743, about half as many as in the previous year. 



Like other divisions of the Library, the binding division has suf- 

 fered severel}^ from the loss of trained assistants. At the close of the 

 last fiscal year the former chief of the binder}^ division, who had 

 been in charge of the work for ten j^ears, resigned and it was neces- 

 sary for her successor, who had had no experience in bindiug, to take 

 up the work after only two weeks' instruction under the direction of 

 the former chief. The work was further handicapped by the fact 

 that the two assistants who had been in this work for several years 

 had resigned a few months previously, leaA ing the whole division 

 inexperienced in the work. During a part of the year it was also 

 necessary to have the chief of the clivision and her assistants attend 

 to other duties. It was therefore especially creditable that in spite of 

 lliese difliculties there was an increase of 345 in the number of books 

 sent to the bindery as compared with the previous year. The num- 

 i;or of books bound was, however, less than half the number that 

 needed to be bound. In addition to the difficulties in connection with 

 the preparation of the books for the bindery, the Library's needs as 

 to binding suffered by reason of the fact that its allotment for bind- 

 ing was greatly curtailed. 



