340 AGRICULTURAL APPROPRL\TION BILL, 1924. 



cent. On the other hand, the cost of books, periodicals, supplies, and 

 equipment during this period has increased from 30 to 200 per cent. 

 To give only one or two examples, the Rand. McXally & Co. atlases 

 have increased in price in the past seven years from SIO to S3.>a copy, 

 and the Official Railway Guide, for which some 30 subscriptions are 

 needed in the various offices of the department, has increased from 

 SO to.? 18 each. 



Mr. Ani)ER.son. Is that paid out of the library appropriation? 



Miss Barnett. That is paid out of the library appropriation. 



Mr. Anderson. Whv sliould it be paid out of that appropriation? 



Miss Barnett. Well, you see, under a law passed by Congress in 

 1898 it is illegal to use any part of any appropriation for the purpose 

 of purchasing books and periodicals which does not specifically men- 

 tion books and periodicals. The library appropriation, with one 

 exception, is the only appropriation for the department which can be 

 used for the purchase of books and periodicals. 



For the reasons that have been explained, the increase of $7,000 in 

 the book fund in the past seven years is more apparent than real. It 

 is in fact insufficient to cover the loss in the purchasing power of the 

 dollar. Furthermore, due to the present system of business operation 

 in the department the library is now called upon to pay from its 

 appropriation for services which were formerly rendered the library 

 by other offices of the department without charge. It must now pay 

 for expressage, for its trucking service, for its multigraphing and 

 mimeograph work and for itsshopwork, all of which work was formerly 

 paid for from other appropriations of the department. These ex- 

 penses have still further decreased the amount available for books. 



NEED FOR ADDITIOXAL ASSISTANCE. 



While the estimates for this year include no changes in the statu- 

 tory salaries, it is necessary to say a word in regard to them, as they 

 furnish additional reason for the increase in the book fund. In the 

 appropriation for 1917 there were 33 positions on the library statu- 

 tory roil. In the appropriation for 1923 there are only 28. Seven of 

 these positions were cut off in the appropriation for 1922. and no 

 provision for tliem was made by an increase in the fund for general 

 expenses. In fact, this fund was decreased by .SCOO. In the appro- 

 priation for 1923 two additional places were restored to the statutory 

 roll, making 28 in all, as compared with the 33 in 1917. As the worn 

 of the library has much increased in the past seven years, it was quite 

 impossible for it to carry on the work required of it with a decreased 

 force. 



It was also imf)(»ssil)le to provide for all tiic positions which were 

 (h'opjx'd from the statutory roll l)y carrying them on the fuiiii for 

 the general ex[)enses of the library, without reducing the book fund 

 to such an extent as to hamper scrit)usly the work of the dej^artnu'nt . 

 In the emergency it was necessary for the library to ask tlie help of 

 the bureaus in carrying tlu' salaries that were not j)rovi(letl for on 

 the statutory roll. 'I'lieir help has also been necessary this year. 

 It will be seen, therefore, that the ?7, ()()() increase in the |)ast seven 

 yeai-s has been entirely ina(l(>(|Uate to cover provision for the five 

 positions dropj)ed from the statutory roll, for the increase in the cost 

 of books, periodicals and supplies, for additional shelving that is 



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