APPENDIX 9 



REPORT ON THE LIBRARY 



Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report on the activi- 

 ties of the Smithsonian library for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1933: 



THE LIBRARY 



The library, or library system, of the Smithsonian Institution com- 

 prises considerably more than 800,000 volumes, pamplilets, and charts. 

 These are chiefly in the Smithsonian deposit in the Library of Congress 

 and the libraries of the United States National Museum and the 

 Bureau of American Ethnology. The others are in the Smithsonian 

 office library, Langley aeronautical library, radiation and organisms 

 library, the libraries of the Astrophysical Observatory, Freer Gallery 

 of Art, National Gallery of Art, National Zoological Park, and the 

 various sectional libraries of the National Museum. While the col- 

 lections have to do with nearly all subjects, they concern themselves 

 largely wdth the natural sciences and technology. 



EXCHANGE OF PUBLICATIONS 



The exchange work of the library showed a falling off from the pre- 

 vious year, due to the world-wide economic depression and the con- 

 sequent curtailment of funds of learned institutions and societies for 

 research and publication. Only 22,821 packages of publications— 

 21,103 by mail and 1,718 by the International Exchange Service — 

 were received, as against 24,651 in 1932. A corresponding decrease 

 was apparent in the number of items in the packages. For instance, 

 there were 4,592 dissertations, while the year before there were 5,340. 

 The library obtained 3,664 volumes and parts in response to special 

 requests from the various Smithsonian libraries — fewer by 469 than 

 in 1932. The new exchanges were 198, while the year before they 

 were 280. There was a very noticeable decrease in the want cards 

 for which favorable responses were received, the number from the 

 Smithsonian deposit and the Langley aeronautical library being 

 scarcely more than one half those for which publications were obtained 

 in 1932. Unusually important sendings came from the Academic des 

 Sciences, Bellcs-Lettres et Arts, Clermont-Ferrand; the Botanical 

 Society of South Africa, Cape Town; the Uansk Ornithologisk Central, 

 Viborg; the Landesmuseumsverein fiir Vorarlberg, Bregenz; the 



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