SECRETARY'S REPORT 187 



be refused, because they would have encroached too much on the time 

 needed to do the regular cataloging of incoming foreign publications. 

 It is apparent that the full time of a language specialist, whether at- 

 tached to the library staff or to some other office of the Institution, 

 might easily be occupied in making translations. 



In the reference and circulation section, the record of 9,537 publi- 

 cations borrowed for use outside the library represented only a small 

 part of the actual use of books and periodicals. To this figure might 

 well be added the 8,493 publications that were sent to the sectional 

 libraries for intramural circulation and filing, as indicative of the 

 uncounted use of the library's collections that is made in all the 

 bureaus, divisions, and sections throughout the Institution. 



Interlibrary loans of 1,110 volumes were made to 116 Government 

 and other libraries throughout the country. The largest borrowers 

 were the Department of Agriculture, the Geological Survey, and the 

 Indian Claims section of the Department of Justice. This library, in 

 turn, borrowed 607 publications from libraries other than the Library 

 of Congress, chiefly from the Department of Agriculture, the Geologi- 

 cal Survey, and the National Library of Medicine. 



Except as interlibrary loans, the library does not lend books to 

 individuals outside the Institution, but it is freely open for reference 

 to any responsible person. Among the 7,000 readers counted in the 

 reference room during the year, there were occasional visitors from 

 many different countries of all the continents, some of whom made 

 more or less extensive use of the collections. 



Some 13,000 reference questions of all degrees of difficulty, many 

 of them requiring extensive bibliographical research, were answered 

 in response to inquirers who came to the library in person or who 

 wrote or telephoned for the information wanted. 



A special summer task force, engaged in mid-June to help clear 

 the west stacks for other use, has already made good headway in 

 preparing duplicates, special collections, and other stored material 

 for transfer elsewhere or for other suitable disposal. It is hoped 

 that the project may be completed by September 1. 



Following the death of Mrs. Hope Simmons, chief of the acquisi- 

 tions section, just at the close of the preceding fiscal year, Mrs. L. 

 Frances Jones was made acting chief of the section. Mrs. Elisabeth H. 

 Gazin has continued to be chief of the reference and circulation sec- 

 tion, and the catalog section has been headed by Miss Kuth Blanchard. 



