APPENDIX 11 



Report on the Library 



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

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

 1953: 



More than 100 foreign countries, including dominions, colonies, 

 and protectorates, were represented among the 68,414 publications 

 that came to the Smithsonian library, many of them through the 

 International Exchange Service, during the past year. Of these pub- 

 lications, all except 734 books which were purchased, and the serial 

 parts of the 430 journals for which the library subscribed, came 

 either in exchange for Smithsonian publications or as gifts. The 

 acquisiiton by exchange or gift of so large a proportion of the im- 

 portant additions, mostly serials, to the library each year is made 

 possible by the cordial cooperation of issuing agencies all over the 

 world and by the generosity of many friends. The constant inflow 

 of these records of scientific and cultural advance is the lifeblood of 

 research, and the library is the pipeline through which this indispen- 

 sable material is channeled to all parts of the Institution. 



The postwar years have seen many changes among scientific and 

 other journals, but "births" continue to outnumber "deaths"; and 

 in spite of wars and other vicissitudes the continuity of a surprising 

 number of the series of publications issued by long-established insti- 

 tutions and learned societies has been unbroken. So eternal vigi- 

 lance is necessary not only to see that important new serials are ob- 

 tained but also that missing parts of old ones are procured as promptly 

 as possible. This is especially true of complicated irregularly issued 

 foreign serials, often published in very small editions which quickly go 

 out of print. To meet the larger number of these needs, 673 new 

 exchanges were arranged during the year, and 7,073 volumes and 

 parts were obtained by exchange to fill gaps in existing sets or to sup- 

 ply individual publications on special subjects. 



Of the many gifts presented to the library by generous friends, 

 the Eugene N. Costales philatelic library was one of the largest. 

 Together with the many rare nineteenth-century publications on 

 philately that Malcom MacGregor added to his previously reported 

 gifts, these were especially important additions to the library's fast- 

 growing collection of philatelic literature. 



Extensive as are the exchange relations of the Institution, there 

 are many books and periodicals in its subject fields that can be ob- 



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