Appendix 6. 

 REPORT ON THE LIBRARY. 



Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report on the 

 activities of the library of the Smithsonian Institution during the 

 fiscal year ending June 30, 1917. 



The Smithsonian library was founded with the definite plan that 

 it should contain publications of the scientific institutions and 

 learned societies of the world, together with a collection of periodicals 

 and publications of a scientific nature. The most important function 

 contemplated was that of reference for research in the broadest 

 sense, and in this connection a complete collection of the catalogues 

 of the libraries of the world was also contemplated. This policy has 

 been continued with the result that the vast series of scientific publi- 

 cations in the Smithsonian library, now numbering a half million of 

 titles, has been brought together. 



As early as 1865 Secretary Henry realized that it would not be 

 possible to adequately care for the entire collection in the Smith- 

 sonian building, even if the entire building were devoted to the 

 purpose ; and a special act of Congress authorized the Library of 

 Congress to assume the care of the main library of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, the Institution to retain ownership of the publications 

 and to have the same use of the books as if they were in its own 

 building, and in addition to have the same privileges in the use of the 

 Library of Congress as Members of Congress. While the main 

 collection is in the Library of Congress, there are smaller collections 

 here in the Institution, i. e. the books for office reference, dictionaries, 

 encyclopaedias, etc., the Government branch libraries of the Astro- 

 physical Observatory, Bureau of American Ethnology, and the 

 United States National Museum. All of these are confined to special 

 publications relating to the subjects covered by the bureaus, and sup- 

 plement rather than duplicate books in other libraries. 



The library of the Smithsonian Institution is augmented in two 

 ways, i. e., by gift, and through the exchange of the Institution's 

 publications for those of similar institutions. 



