﻿APPENDIX 
  9 
  

   KEPOKT 
  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, 
  1943 
  : 
  

  

  Intensification 
  of 
  the 
  war 
  effort, 
  so 
  evident 
  throughout 
  the 
  whole 
  

   Institution, 
  has 
  been 
  both 
  reflected 
  in, 
  and 
  shared 
  by, 
  the 
  library 
  dur- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  difficult 
  year 
  just 
  past. 
  

  

  The 
  library 
  has 
  been 
  confronted 
  by 
  two 
  major 
  responsibilities 
  that 
  

   have 
  motivated 
  its 
  work 
  : 
  How 
  best 
  to 
  adjust 
  policies 
  and 
  adapt 
  pro- 
  

   cedures 
  to 
  wartime 
  changes 
  and 
  demands, 
  and 
  how 
  to 
  maintain, 
  as 
  far 
  

   as 
  possible, 
  the 
  basic 
  continuity 
  of 
  the 
  collections. 
  

  

  Urgent 
  as 
  is 
  the 
  first 
  of 
  these, 
  experience 
  during 
  and 
  following 
  the 
  

   First 
  World 
  War 
  has 
  shown 
  that 
  the 
  second 
  cannot 
  be 
  neglected 
  with- 
  

   out 
  serious 
  weakening 
  of 
  the 
  library's 
  service 
  to 
  the 
  Institution. 
  In') 
  

   wartime, 
  normal 
  growth 
  is 
  inevitably 
  diminished, 
  and 
  a 
  certain 
  amount 
  

   of 
  change 
  of 
  emphasis 
  in 
  acquiring 
  material 
  is 
  necessary 
  and 
  even 
  de- 
  

   sirable, 
  but 
  the 
  responsibility 
  that 
  the 
  library 
  has 
  for 
  implementing 
  

   the 
  deep-rooted 
  and 
  continuing 
  work 
  of 
  a 
  scientific 
  institution 
  cannot 
  

   be 
  overlooked 
  even 
  in 
  an 
  emergency 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  heroic 
  proportions. 
  

  

  WAR 
  WORK 
  

  

  Never 
  before 
  in 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  library 
  have 
  its 
  collections 
  and 
  its 
  

   staff 
  been 
  called 
  upon 
  to 
  give 
  aid 
  in 
  so 
  many 
  different 
  kinds 
  of 
  re- 
  

   search, 
  virtually 
  all 
  of 
  which 
  were 
  concerned 
  in 
  some 
  way 
  with 
  the 
  

   war 
  effort. 
  Regular 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  library 
  by 
  the 
  scientific 
  staff 
  of 
  the 
  

   Institution 
  has 
  been 
  almost 
  entirely 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  the 
  war, 
  and 
  

   more 
  than 
  35 
  of 
  the 
  war 
  agencies 
  have 
  made 
  many 
  direct 
  inquiries, 
  

   have 
  borrowed 
  more 
  than 
  500 
  books, 
  and 
  have 
  sent 
  research 
  workers,, 
  

   some 
  of 
  them 
  for 
  extended 
  periods 
  of 
  time, 
  to 
  use 
  the 
  collections. 
  

   Indirectly 
  too, 
  through 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  library 
  by 
  the 
  staff 
  of 
  the 
  Ethno- 
  

   geographic 
  Board, 
  still 
  other 
  of 
  the 
  war 
  agencies 
  have 
  been 
  repre- 
  

   sented. 
  Eich 
  in 
  certain 
  kinds 
  of 
  geographical 
  and 
  related 
  material, 
  

   and 
  in 
  ethnological 
  works, 
  the 
  branch 
  libraries 
  of 
  the 
  National 
  Museum 
  

   and 
  the 
  Bureau 
  of 
  American 
  Ethnology 
  especially, 
  have 
  been 
  con- 
  

   stantly 
  visited 
  and 
  called 
  upon 
  by 
  war 
  workers. 
  

  

  It 
  has 
  been 
  most 
  gratifying 
  to 
  find 
  that 
  the 
  Institution 
  has 
  not 
  in- 
  

   frequently 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  supply 
  data 
  of 
  urgent 
  importance 
  that 
  could 
  

   not 
  be 
  found 
  elsewhere. 
  

  

  77 
  

  

  