200 ANlSrUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1960 



kept up to date. The uncataloged material located in the divisional 

 libraries throughout the Institution hampers effective library service. 



The program of discarding obsolete, ephemeral, and duplicate mate- 

 rials continued, with the withdrawal of 11,758 items. 



In all, 9,200 volumes of valuable research materials were rebound. 

 In addition, 2,206 items were bound or repaired by the library bindery 

 assistant. New procedures were put into effect which resulted in a 

 speedier and a more efficient handling of the materials to be bound. 

 Other means of preservation, such as microfilming and laminating, 

 will be considered for materials too fragile for commercial binding. 



The reference staff answered a total of 30,050 reference and biblio- 

 graphic questions in response to requests by letter, telephone, or visi- 

 tors to the library. Visitors numbering 11,565 used the reference 

 and research facilities in the reading rooms. These included, in addi- 

 tion to the Smithsonian staff, local and out-of-town visitors and 

 scientists from other countries. The expanded programs of the 

 Smithsonian have made increased demands on the library staff and its 

 collections. Publications circulated totaled 24,253 ; 4,792 of these were 

 borrowed from other libararies, chiefly the Library of CJongress ; 863 

 volumes were loaned to other libraries. 



The branch library which serves the Museum of History and Tech- 

 nology completed a full year of operation. The staff answered 10,670 

 reference questions, circulated 8,505 publications, and provided service 

 to 3,081 persons who came to the library. The program of binding 

 and rebinding, labeling of books, acquiring of necessary source and 

 reference materials continued in a satisfactory manner. The inven- 

 tory of the collections progressed slowly because of inadequate catalog 

 records. 



There has been an increase in the use of the branch libraries of 

 the Division of Insects and the Bureau of American Ethnology, in- 

 cluding use by visiting scholars and other libraries. The stack areas 

 for the Division of Eadiation and Organisms and the National Col- 

 lection of Fine Arts were cleaned and unwanted materials discarded. 



New forms used this year and new procedures resulted in greater 

 efficiency in the library service. The most significant improvement 

 was the multiple charge card which has streamlined operations at the 

 circulation desk. A complete review of the old charge file was made, 

 resulting in a more accurate charge-card record. Other means for 

 improvement are being studied, and a continuous review of exchange 

 correspondence files is eliminating unnecessary routines. 



The housing of tlie library is one of the most serious problems. 

 Present facilities for shelving books in the main library are 

 inadequate. 



Members of the staff continued their membership in the Special 

 Libraries Association and the American Library Association, several 



