212 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1958 
cleared from this area. Some of this material was kept for the In- 
stitution’s use, the rest disposed of to various sources including the 
U.S. Book Exchange, the Library of Congress, and other Govern- 
ment agencies. The Watts de Peyster collection of about 5,000 
volumes, including a valuable collection of Napoleona, was deposited 
with the library of Franklin and Marshall College at Lancaster, Pa. 
The Bureau of American Ethnology library, after the discarding 
of some 6,750 items plus about 5,000 reprints, was shifted into this 
west-stack area. The east stacks and office library were both weeded 
for duplicates and no-longer-needed material, and the entire collec- 
tions from both areas were moved to other locations. The Astro- 
physical Observatory library, which had been in the Smithsonian 
Building, was shifted to the Arts and Industries Building. This 
east-stack area, which housed some 60,000 volumes, was entirely 
cleared of the library’s collections and has been made available for 
other uses. 
The library housed on the second floor of the Arts and Industries 
Building has been undergoing a cleanup program since last summer. 
Here again duplicates and no-longer-needed publications have been 
pulled and discarded. A special crew hired for this project washed 
all shelves with soap and water, and all books are being cleaned with 
a vacuum cleaner. Altogether, 158,182 books, pamphlets, and period- 
icals (bound and unbound) were disposed of as a part of this project. 
The working collections in these two library-stack areas are now 
easily accessible, and shelving space has been made available for cur- 
rent accessions. Plans are in progress for the development of library 
facilities for the Museum of History and Technology. 
A similar project of weeding and discarding in the library at the 
National Zoological Park was undertaken to provide space for its 
working collection of books. In all, 750 volumes and pamphlets have 
been disposed of, and progress is being made on cataloging this col- 
lection. 
Most important of the changes on the library’s staff during the 
year was the retirement of Mrs. Leila F. Clark as librarian on August 
31, 1957, after more than 29 years’ service. Serving first as assistant 
librarian in charge of the National Museum library, she was ap- 
pointed Smithsonian librarian on February 2, 1942. During her ad- 
ministration the library contributed its efforts to the war activities, 
providing reference and research materials to the Institution’s staff 
as well as to other Government agencies. The consolidation of the 
National Museum library with the Smithsonian library on November 
2, 1951, resulted in better and more economical library service to the 
whole Institution. 
