REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN. 293 



AFFILIATED AC TIVITIES. 



In addition to the regular library work performed by the main 

 library and the bureau, division, and office libraries, mention should 

 also be made of other activities not ordinarily considered as a part 

 of library work. 



As has been noted in previous reports, the library has general 

 supervision of the foreign mailing lists of the various bureaus, divi- 

 sions, and offices, and has charge of the miscellaneous distribution 

 of the publications of the department sent as exchanges to foreign 

 countries. The obvious reason for having this work done in the 

 library is its importance as an exchange section of the accessions 

 division, which is thereby able to know what publications of the 

 department are being sent to foreign countries and what publica- 

 tions may be legitimately expected in exchange. The library main- 

 tains a consolidated list, arranged geographically, of all the addresses 

 appearing on the various bureau and office foreign mailing lists. 

 This list comprises at the present time 3,195 addresses. The care 

 of the mailing lists, the ordering of the department publications sent 

 as exchanges, and the correspondence involved in the work require 

 a very considerable amount of the library's time. Some of the 

 bureau libraries also are called upon to do work in connection with 

 the distribution of their bureau publications, namely, the libraries of 

 the Bureau of Plant Industry and the Bureau of Entomology. As 

 the domestic mailing lists of the Bureau of Plant Industry are exten- 

 sive, the care of the lists is an important part of the work of the 

 library of that bureau. During the past year improvements were 

 made in the routine of the distribution of publications and the 

 handling of the mailing lists, resulting in a more consistent, economi- 

 cal, and effective distribution of the bureau publications. 



An important feature of the work of the library of the Office of 

 Markets and Rural Organization, aside from the regular library 

 work, is the editing of the publications of the office. 



Another activity of the main library which should be mentioned is 

 the translating. Last year 248 letters and 4 articles were translated. 

 Translations are furnished from the following languages: German, 

 French, Spanish, and Italian. 



All of the bureau, division, and office libraries are called upon to do 

 more or less other miscellaneous work not strictly library work. This 

 is often an advantage, as the librarians are thereby enabled to come 

 in closer contact with the work of the bureaus. Their familiarity 

 with indexing and bibliographical tools and their training in classifi- 

 cation not infrequently fit them' also for the compilation of data of 

 various kinds and the systematic arrangement of printed and other 

 material. 



LIBRARY STAFF. 



The number of employees carried on the roll of the main library 

 at the close of the year was 33, the same as the previous year; the 

 number employed by the bureau, division, and office libraries was 

 37, an increase of 4 over the previous year. The total number, 70, 

 employed in the main library and the bureau, division, and office 

 libraries, includes 53 librarians, library assistants, and stenographers, 

 15 messengers, and 2 charwomen. The only change in the personnel 



