SECRETARY'S REPORT 65 



publications, as well as for the exchange of governmental documents. 

 The State Department requested the Smithsonian Institution to assume 

 the responsibility of establishing in the United States a bureau of 

 exchange to carry out the purposes of the Brussels Convention. The 

 Board of Eegents of the Smithsonian Institution agreed to accept this 

 responsibility, and the Smithsonian Institution has continued to carry 

 out these functions up to the present time. 



The AYork of the International Exchange Service serves as a means 

 of developing and executing, in part, the broad and comprehensive 

 objective of the Smithsonian Institution, "the diffusion of knowledge." 

 Over the years the operations of the Service have affected most bene- 

 ficially the libraries of all learned institutions in the United States 

 and have helped to promote the rapid growth of science through f acili- 

 tatmg the international exchange of ideas. Libraries throughout the 

 world have been enriched by the publications received through the 

 Service from many institutions in the United States and, in turn, the 

 libraries of the United States have benefited from the publications 

 received from the institutions in foreign countries. 



The Service operates in this manner : Libraries, scientific societies, 

 educational institutions, and individuals in the United States who wish 

 to transmit their publications through the Service to foreign countries, 

 on exchange or as gifts, advise the International Exchange Service 

 of the names and addresses of the foreign organizations to which 

 they wish to transmit their publications, and the general character and 

 approximate weight of the publications they wish to send. If the 

 publications are accepted for transmission, packing and shipping in- 

 structions are furnished the sender. The transportation charges to 

 the Smithsonian Institution must be prepaid, but there is no charge 

 to the sender for the cost of transportation from the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution to the intended addressees. Publications transmitted through 

 the Service must be packaged and addressed by the senders. 



Shipments of addressed packages of publications are received by the 

 International Exchange Service from foreign exchange bureaus for 

 distribution in the United States. These packages are forwarded to 

 the domestic addressees whose names and addresses appear on the 

 packages. Addressed packages of publications weighing 111,609 

 pounds were received during the past year from foreign sources for 

 distribution in the United States. 



Publications weighing 796,622 pounds were received by the Inter- 

 national Exchange Service during the year from approximately 250 

 domestic sources for transmission to intended recipients in over 100 

 foreigii countries. 



Packages of publications are mailed directly to the addressees in the 

 countries that do not have exchange bureaus. During the past fiscal 



