428 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



From the financial statement on page 17 it will be seen that 

 in the past four years the library a])]>ro])riation has ]>een stand- 

 ing still, or ratluu- it may be more triitlifiilly said that it has 

 been going ba-kward, for it is eonscaAatively estinlat(^d that this 

 is true of eA'ery library approi)riation whi-h has not in'-reased by 

 60 per cent in the past two or three years, due to the continued 

 and rapid in'rease in the pri 'e of books and periodicals and all 

 materiids and equipment. If the libraiy book fund needs a GO 

 per cent increase in order even to be ef|ual to its former ]iurchasing 

 power, there is need of an even greater increase in its fund tor salaries 

 to meet present living conditions. During and sin'^'e the war the 

 library has lost a large number of its train(Hl and (^xperien'^-ed workers 

 bo'-'ause of its low salaries. Siu'-e the stdaries have not j'et ])een 

 increased it has been impossible to fill adequately the gaps, and the 

 close of the fis^'al year found the library with a staff even more 

 depleted and inexperien^'ed than during the war period. If it is 

 in future to give the service that is expected from the library 

 of such an institution as the nati(mal Department of Agri- 

 culture, it must be adequately supported both as regards salaries 

 and book funds, and it must also sliare the complete cooperation of 

 those whom it serves in the building up of its collections. The library 

 is a part of the working equipment of the department just as much 

 as the laboratory and herbarium, and it is to the interest of depart- 

 ment workers and all users of the library to see that this equipment 

 is complete and accessible. Only with their cooperation can the 

 library be adequately developed and satisfactorily administered. 

 This cooperation is earnestly requested. 



REFERENCE AND CIRCULATION DIVISION. 



Miss Emma 1». Hawks, Assistant Librarian, in genera] charge. 

 Miss Gertrude E. Upton, Loan Desk Assistant. 



The reference work of the year was handica])ped by the fa't that 

 it has not yet been possible to fill the position of Reference Lil^rarian, 

 whi'-h became vacant in March, 1919. The reference work was 

 therefore carried by the Assistant Librarian along with other duties, 

 M'ith the assistance of the Chiefs of the Catalogue and Periodi'-al 

 Divisions. As in pre^'ious years, and perhaps to an even greater 

 extent, use has been made of the library by workers from other 

 departments and institutions, and by individuals })oth from Wash- 

 ington and from outside, who come to use the collections for reference 

 purposes and for the verifyin ^ of references. Telephone inquiries from 

 persons both inside and outside the department are also frecjuc^nt 

 More and more the library is being called upon not simply for definite 

 books, but also for information. 



Since complete circulation statistics are not kept in all of the 

 branch libraries and sin''e no record of the reference use is kept in any 

 of the libraries, the following statistics of circulation represent only 

 approximately the use of tlie library. 



