SECRETARY’S REPORT pall 
of serials and monographs that have been received regularly in ex- 
change since their first date of publication. To the National Library 
of Medicine were sent 2,378 publications, and to other Government 
libraries 714 items. 
The catalog section cataloged and classified 4,082 books and pam- 
phlets, entered 24,933 periodicals, and filed 45,485 cards. In spite of 
being short staffed and having an increased acquisitions program, the 
efforts of the catalogers to organize and plan their work have kept the 
bulk of the material moving. Efficient library service depends on a, 
good catalog, and good cataloging practice is a basic requirement. 
The large number of uncataloged publications throughout the Institu- 
tion remains a major problem. The scientific and technical nature of 
these publications, many of which are in foreign languages, requires 
scholarly treatment in processing. 
The binding program continued to show vast improvements in the 
preservation and conservation of our valuable research materials. 
Through a waiver from the Government Printing Office, 8,800 volumes 
were bound or re-bound by a commercial binder under contract. A 
skilled bindery assistant repaired or hand-bound 1,851 volumes of 
materials not suitable to send toa binder. A special project is under- 
way to put call-number labels on all the library materials. This will 
facilitate the shelving and locating of books and periodicals by the 
staff and users as well. 
The program of continuous weeding and discarding of unused and 
duplicate materials is still in effect. A total of 8,901 books, pam- 
phlets, and periodicals was discarded. 
The library is frequently called upon to translate correspondence 
and miscellaneous items into English. Members of the catalog section 
translated 214 items and provided reference assistance or translations 
of obscure words and phrases. The class in scientific Russian, taught 
by David Ray, is still in progress. 
Demands on the staff of the reference and circulation section con- 
tinued to be heavy. It is difficult to measure the various services the 
library gives in making its resources available to those who wish to 
make use of them. During the year 12,360 loans were made, plus 
9,374 volumes sent to the sectional libraries for semipermanent file. 
Since no estimate can be made of how many times books and periodi- 
cals circulate within a section, the exact number of times library ma- 
terials are consulted cannot be determined. 
There were 1,158 volumes lent to Government, college, and univer- 
sity libraries; and 3,853 volumes were borrowed from other libraries, 
chiefly the Library of Congress. 
