LIBRARY, 405 



LIBRARY APPROPRIATION. 



The appropriation for the past fiscal year was not onh' not increased 

 over the previous year but was decreased to the amount of S3, 020. 

 This was the severest blow which the library has suffered in many 

 years. Seven positions were dropped from the statutor}^ roll and 

 no provision made for them through an increase in the fund for 

 general expenses. In the emergency it was necessary to ask the help 

 of the bureaus in carrying temporarily the salaries of the assistants 

 which were not provided for on the library roll. The bureaus which 

 were able to do so came to the library's assistance, for they recognized 

 the librar3^'s need as their own. Their help is gratefully acknowl- 

 edged. Without it the service of the library would have been 

 seriously impaired. 



As the greatest institution for agricultural work in the world the 

 department can not afford not to have at its disposal the best library 

 resources in the country in its special fields. Our appropriation has 

 been sufficient to enable us to get the most necessary and the more 

 obvious books and periodicals in the various subjects investigated 

 by the department, but it has not been sufficient to specialize to the 

 degree desirable and that is possible in some other scientific libraries 

 More money is needed for the purchase of rare, out-of-print books, 

 for the purchase of special collections when opportunities are offered, 

 for source material in agricultural history and for the completion of 

 files of scientific journals and proceedings. In this connection it 

 must be borne in mind also that opportunities for obtaining sets of 

 valued books and journals are diminishing each year and that the 

 competition for them is keener now than in the past, due to the 

 increased number of special libraries which are acquiring such mate- 

 rial. The need, therefore, is urgent for a most substantial increase 

 in the library appropriation in order to make good the arrears in 

 the purchase of books during the past few years and to keep pace 

 with the rapidly increasing volume of scientific literature and with 

 the growth of the department. 



On account of the difficulty of obtaining sufficient funds for the 

 library by special appropriation for library purposes, it is believed 

 that it vv'ould be advisable for an effort to be made to include in the 

 department appropriation bill a clause which would make it possible 

 for the bureaus to transfer to the library a certain per cent of their 

 appropriations for general expenses. It should not, of course, be 

 obligatory for any bureau to make such a transfer of funds, but it 

 would be desirable to make it possible for it to do so if it were so 

 inclined. This would make it easier for the library to meet emer- 

 gencies arising (1) from the need of a bureau for expensive reference 

 books for its particular use and (2) from the need of a bureau for 

 an unusual number of books, due to some new line of work which it 

 had undertaken. 



LIBRARY BUILDING. 



Additional space is one of the greatest needs of the library. The 



book shelves are badly crowded and more space is also needed for 



workrooms for the library staff and for the better accommodation 



of the readers. Furthermore, to make it possible to carr}^ out the 



^ general policy of centralizing the collections in so far as feasible, the 



