C82 ANNUAL. REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Acfoimrf!, and Pnbliontions. Tho Wo.itlior r.iircau lias a library, but Is not 

 n branch of the main Library. Tho department librarian has no supervision 

 over the ompl(»yees of the branch libraries, but Is charjred with the purchasti of 

 flll books for tho use of the department for tho District of Columbia. 



I'dsnnncl. — There are 89 clorlvs engaged Ln this work whose apRregate salary 

 amomits to $45,400. In the P.uioau of I'.if)lof;ical Survey one clerk f^lves one- 

 third of lis time to the work at an estimated sjilary of $4(K). In the depart- 

 ment Library there are 17 clerks employed at an aggregate salary of $18,540. 



Suiiihcr of volumes. — There arc apiu-oximately 135,898 bound volumes in the 

 main Library and the various braucli lil)rarics of the department, and their 

 value is estimated at $404,550-, also G5.410 unbound volumes, having an esti- 

 ninted value of $27,755, making a total of 201,308 volumes, at au estimated 

 value of $432,.305. 



Character of volumes. — The books in the main Library are all scientific and 

 technical in character, relating to agriculture in the broadest sense of the 

 term and all cognate subjects. The branch libraries are composed of scientific 

 and teclinical publications relating more or less directly to the scientific sub- 

 jects in which the bureaus are particularly interested. 



There are no books of fiction in any of the libraries of the department. 



RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE. 



The following recommendations are made: 



(1) That all surplus and duplicate books not required for frequent use in 

 the bureau branch libraries be turned over to the main Library of the depart- 

 ment, and that only small working libraries be maintained in the various 

 branches, with the exception of the Weather Bureau and the Forest Service. 

 The s'ze of a particular branch library and the number of books to be carried 

 theroin should be left to the chief of that bureau and the librarian of the 

 department, in order that the work of the bureaus may not be crippled by 

 undue restriction of the branch libraries. 



(2) That the librarian of the department be consulted in regard to all 

 library appointments in the department, and that there be centralization of 

 administration whereby all the branch libraries and the force engaged strictly 

 in library work of the department will be brought under the jurisdiction and 

 supervision of the librarian of the department, with the exception of the 

 Weather Bureau and the Forest Service. This, however, does not contemplate 

 a transfer of the library force of each bureau to the rolls of the main Library. 



If the plan for centralization of administration be adopted, the librarian of 

 the department will be able to get a more comprehensive view and make a 

 fairer estimate of the needs of the bureaus and will be in a better position to 

 judge of the necessity of maintaining large or small collections of books in the 

 bureaus. If all the library work of the department were under one administra- 

 tion, it would also be possible to detail assistants from the main Library to the 

 bureau libraries and from the bureau libraries to the main Library, which would 

 result in greater familiarity on the part of such librarians with the resources 

 of the Library and a better understanding of the work and needs of the depart- 

 ment as a whole. At pi-csent a bureau library is too apt to emphasize its 

 own needs and minimize the needs of other bureaus, while the main Library, 

 on the other hand, is not brought into as close touch with the work of the 

 bureaus as the bureau libraries are, and therefore does not always fully know 

 their needs. This tendency on the part of the bureau libraries and the main 

 Library toward a one-sided view can only be corrected through a better 

 knowledge on the part of each of the needs of the other, and ij; is believed that 

 this can only be remedied through centralization of administration. As the 

 Weather Bureau and the Forest Service are at some distance from the main 

 department, it is believed that these two libraries should be conducted as inde- 

 pendent libraries so far as any supervision over the personnel or library work 

 by the librarian of the department is concerned. 



(3) That an inventory be taken of the books in each library at least once 

 in every three years. 



(4) That the librarian of the department formulate rules and regulations 

 for collecting the value of books when lost. 



(5) That the librarian of the department formulate rules and regulations 

 for a uniform system of cataloguing and charging books throughout the 

 department. 



