338 AGRICULTURAL APPR()PRL\TIOX BILL, 1924, 



Mr. Anderson. We will he voiv ^rlad to have it. 



Miss Baknett. The lilnaiv of the Ueprtitiiieiit ol' Aijiiculture is a 

 scientific and technical lihrarv. It comprises approximately 105,000 

 volumes and receives currently 3.000 periodicals. The subjects 

 which it covers are the subjects under investigation hy the depart- 

 ment. The question is sometimes asked, Why is it necessary for the 

 Department of Agriculture to have a library '. Why can it nt>t get 

 all the books it needs from tlie Library of Congress i With all its 

 great resources it is impossible for the Library of Congress to care for 

 all the special needs of the various departments. Its resources must 

 be supplemented by the libraries close to the work of the departments 

 and bureaus. A very large part of the l)()oks contained in tlie library 

 of the Department of Agriculture are not available in the Library of 

 Congress nor in any other library in the country. This is especially 

 true of foreign agricultural books, for the Library of Congress tloes 

 not attempt to cover in any adequate way the fields in which the 

 department is especially interested, namely, agriculture and the related 

 sciences. But even books on these subjects, if contained in the 

 Library of Congress, are not duplicated in the library of the depart- 

 ment unless they are fi-ef|uently needed or are of special interest. It 

 must be borne in mind, moreover, that the Library of Congress serves 

 a very large clientele and that it would be decidedly unwise to delay 

 the work of the department because of the inability to obtain promptly 

 the use of books which are essential in its investigations. However, 

 the resources of the Library of Congi'ess and of other Governnieni 

 libraries are always taken into account, and it is the policy of the 

 lil)rarv of the department to avoid unnecessary duplication. 



All the civilized countries of the world have made great progress in 

 agricultural research and instruction during recent years. It be- 

 comes more and more important for the investigators of the Federal 

 Department of Agriculture and State institutions to keep track of 

 this progress. This necessitates a constantly increasing expemliture 

 for books and periodicals in which the results of such work are given. 



NEED OF .\l)E(jrATK I.IIJR.\KY K.\III.ITIES. 



The im[)ortance of ade(|uate library facilities to a research institu- 

 tion such as the Department of Agriculture can not be too strongly 

 emphasized. If tlie library is weak or inedicient becaus(> of inade- 

 (luate resources or by reason of an insufbcient or poorly trained staff. 

 tne work of the department is bound to sutler. All efl'ective research 

 must be based on what has ahead v been iU)ne in the same lieKl, 

 unless a great deal of wasted effort, loss of time, and duplication are 

 to result. Testimony bearing upon the importance of ade(|uate 

 library facilities in research work is given in a paragraph of a recent 

 icjxiit (»f the Denartment of Agriculture of the I'nion of South 

 Africa deploring tlie lack of proper librarv facilities in that depart- 

 nu'iit. it says that "in many ca.ses members of the staff of the de- 

 partment who have to investigate particular inijiortant problems 

 find their work doubled by lack of data already publislieil in coiinec- 

 li(»M with siiuilar important problems in other countries. In many 

 cases they luiNc to spend si.\ months of salarieil time and considerable 

 expeiimental funds on an investigation which could have b(»en done in 

 three months and at half the cost if a W(>ll-e«|uipped library had been 

 within reach. 



