154 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1955 



of State, Army, and Navy at Fort McNair, who are preparing for 

 overseas duty, also attended these programs. 



The staff of the Education Office delivered 14 lectures in the audi- 

 torium on Sunday afternoons, and 30 were given by guest speakers. 

 During March and April, Dr. Etienne Gilson, Director of Studies at 

 the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies at Toronto, delivered 

 the Fourth Annual Series of the six A. W. Mellon Lectures in the 

 Fine Arts on the theme, "Art and Reality." 



During the past year 150 persons borrowed 4,697 slides from the 

 lending collection. The 16 centers throughout the country that dis- 

 tribute the National Gallery of Art film, report that approximately 

 42,564 viewers saw the film in 260 bookings. 



Members of the Education Office prepared and gave 32 broadcasts to 

 accompany the Sunday night concerts over Station WGMS. The 

 Curator of Education prepared and produced a half-hour television 

 program entitled "Rembrandt and the Art of the Dutch Homeland" 

 as part of the project of the Citizens Committee on Educational 

 Television. 



The printed Calendar of Events announcing all Gallery activities 

 and publications is distributed monthly to a mailing list of 5,316 

 names. 



LIBRARY 



The most important acquisitions to the Library during the fiscal 

 year 1955 were 1,940 books, pamphlets, periodicals, subscriptions, and 

 photographs purchased from private funds made available for this 

 purpose. Gifts included 639 books, pamphlets, and periodicals, while 

 717 books, pamphlets, and bulletins were received on exchange from 

 other institutions. There were more than 540 visits and phone calls 

 to the Library by persons other than Gallery staff during this fiscal 

 year. 



The Libraiy is the depository for photographs of the works of art 

 in the collections of the National Gallery of Art. A stock of repro- 

 ductions is maintained for use in research by the curatorial and other 

 departments of the Gallery; for the dissemination of knowledge to 

 qualified sources ; for exchange with other institutions ; and for sale 

 at the request of interested individuals. 



INDEX OF AMERICAN DESIGN 



In March 1955 the Gallery began to take part in the orientation 

 program for United States Information Agency personnel about to 

 be sent overseas. The Index was included in this program, and once 

 a month the group listened to an illustrated lecture given by the Cura- 

 tor in charge of the Index. The Index material was also studied 

 during the year by 638 persons who were interested in the material 



