Library War Service

Last updated
Library War Service poster by Charles Buckles Falls 1917 CampLibrary byCBFalls ALA LC.png
Library War Service poster by Charles Buckles Falls

The Library War Service was established by the American Library Association in 1917 to provide library services to American soldiers training in camps and serving overseas in World War I. [1] ALA President Walter Lewis Brown initiated a partnership between the American Library Association and the Library of Congress. Between 1917 and 1920, the ALA raised $5 million from public donations, erected 36 camp libraries, distributed 7 to 10 million books and magazines, and provided library collections to more than 500 locations, including military hospitals. [1] The Library War Service also provided books in Braille to soldiers that were blinded in battle. [2] Library War Service librarians wore uniforms, similar to those worn by other volunteer groups like the American Red Cross, and the Library War Service provides some of the earliest examples of women participating in uniformed war service overseas. [3] Millions of public libraries in the United States also participated in Library War Service activities, serving as collection points for books as well as places to organize and promote the War Service campaign. [2] The efforts of the Library War Service eventually led to the creation of many modern library services, including the creation of library departments in the Army, Navy, Veterans' Association and Merchant Marine, as well as the establishment of the American Library in Paris, which remains the largest English-language lending library on the European continent today. [2]

Contents

Establishment

War Service Library bookplate by C. B. Falls War Service Library bookplate.jpg
War Service Library bookplate by C. B. Falls

In 1917, as America entered World War I, the American Library Association (ALA) established the Committee on Mobilization and War Service Plans. Shortly after its formation, the ALA's committee was invited by the Department of War's Commission on Training Camp Activities to provide library services to soldiers. [1] Joining the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), the Salvation Army, the Jewish Welfare Board, the Knights of Columbus and the War Camp Community Service, the American Library Association became one of the "Seven Sisters" providing social, health and welfare services to soldiers in camps under the auspices of the Commission on Training Camp Activities. [4] Though the ALA had only 3,300 members and an annual budget of $25,000, [2] the Library War Service eventually raised over five million dollars and collected over ten million books for distribution. [5] At the height of the Library War Service, even this large collection was unable to meet all of the military's needs. [5]

Camp libraries

The camp library at Camp Sheridan. World War I camp libraries all had a similar design, varying only in length. Most libraries were equipped with a motor vehicle (pictured) to transport books. A typical WWI camp library.png
The camp library at Camp Sheridan. World War I camp libraries all had a similar design, varying only in length. Most libraries were equipped with a motor vehicle (pictured) to transport books.

With the help of a $320,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation, the Library War Service established 36 camp libraries at military bases and training camps. [1] The Carnegie Corporation and the Library War Service also funded 1,100 library workers to staff camp libraries and military hospitals. [6] The 36 camp libraries were simple wooden buildings, similar to World War I canteens. The libraries were designed by architect Edward L. Tilton, and provided space for 10,000 volumes and around 200 readers, in buildings that were only between 90 and 120 feet long. [7] Most camp libraries were also provisioned with a small car for the transportation of books. National campaigns provided books to the training camps, hospitals, Red Cross Houses, and small military encampments at home and abroad. [8]

The libraries were a place for soldiers to gather, relax and enjoy a touch of home and civilization. [7] Libraries at Camp Upton and Camp Sherman received special permission to install fireplaces to encourage this environment. [7] However, Library War Service books were not just used for entertainment and diversion. They also contained information required for effective military operations and they helped prepare soldiers socially and intellectually for life after the war. [9] In 1918, a librarian at Camp Meade wrote the following to a reporter about his troops' need for books:

We are having repeated calls for technical handbooks and textbooks. We want all kinds of engineering handbooks, mechanics handbooks, books on engineering and books on all branches of the service. They cannot be too technical for the men. You will be interested to know how quickly the newly purchased books are snapped up. Of the six copies of Thompson's Electricity, four are out now and were out within a week of when they were ready. [7]

At the height of the war, nearly every YMCA, Knights of Columbus, Young Men's Hebrew Association and base hospital at a barracks was used as distribution point for War Service books, and nearly every book was in constant use. [7] Books and periodicals were minimally cataloged and camp librarians were either volunteers or were paid a small annual salary of around $1,200. [7] With the Army and Navy being made up of "about every nationality on Earth", camp libraries contained books in dozens of languages including Spanish, French, Italian, Yiddish, Chinese, and Russian. [10]

The Library War Service continued their work overseas, as well. On August 29, 1918, the American Library in Paris or Paris Library opened with the aim of collecting a large volume of technical handbooks and textbooks to distribute to the American Expeditionary Force and other books to distribute to the English-speaking residents of France. Over the next year, the library acquired approximately 15,000 volumes, circulating around 4,500 volumes each month. Most of the volumes related to American history, economics, sociology, and technology. Around the same time, Burton Stevenson, the American Library Association representative to Europe, established a books-by-mail program. Librarians could send books through the army postal service to units and troops. This service was extremely popular with the AEF. In the six months between January and July 1919, the Library War Service-run Paris Library’s mailing department circulated over 30,000 books just to individual soldiers (ninety percent of whom requested the library’s nonfiction volumes) and four times that amount in bulk mail orders to whole units. Sometimes requests for books went over 2,000 a day. [11]

The YMCA also distributed nearly as many books to soldiers as did the Library War Service, but the Library War Service collections were considered more diversified and did hold as many duplicate copies as did the YMCA collection. In addition, many YMCA books were sold to troops whereas all Library War Service books were free. [11]

Uniforms

Dr. M. Llewellyn Raney, librarian from Johns Hopkins University, in his Library War Service uniform M. Llewellyn Raney in Library War Service uniform.jpg
Dr. M. Llewellyn Raney, librarian from Johns Hopkins University, in his Library War Service uniform

Like other volunteers during the war, especially the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, Library War Service librarians wore uniforms while performing their duties. [3] There were separate uniforms for camp librarians and hospital librarians, as well as separate uniforms for men and women. [3] Camp librarians wore a forest green uniform, similar to a military uniform, with ALA pins and patches that marked the wearer as a War Service librarian. [3] Female librarians working in hospital libraries had a unique uniform of naturally colored pongee. The uniform consisted of a belted dress with a white collar, either a brown ribbon or Windsor-style tie, and a straw hat with a brown band. The hospital librarians could choose this uniform or a uniform similar to the camp uniforms, but in the naturally colored pongee. [12]

Most women who wore uniforms during World War I were members of civilian relief services like the Library War Service. [13] While men could have their uniforms locally tailored, women librarians' uniforms were custom-made by Best & Company of New York City, reflecting the challenges of providing military uniforms for women in the early 20th century. [3]

Legacy

The work of the Library War Service continued after the end of the war, hitting its peak in April 1919. [14] After the war, the U.S. military assimilated most wartime library services, and ALA-managed libraries were transformed into military-managed libraries. [9] Following the example set by the Library War Service, formal, professional library departments were created in the U.S. Army and Navy. [2] Library service in military hospitals also continued, first under U.S. Public Health Service, then under the sponsorship of the Veteran's Bureau, and today under the Veterans' Administration (VA). [5] Over 300 naval bases were supplied with books by the Library War Service, but after the war, no government agency wanted to be responsible for continuing library service to merchant ships. In 1920, Alice Sturtevant Howard created the American Merchant Marine Library Association, with the help of the Library War Service, to benefit the Merchant Marine and the U.S. Coast Guard. [6] [11] The Library War Service donated 65,000 volumes and $5,000 to the organization after its creation.

All surplus books that the military did not need, as the Library War Service's first priority was the military, went to state library commissions. Over 300,000 books were sent to state library agencies in proportion to how many servicemen came from each state, and from there, the books went to libraries in need and other public service organizations. [11]

The Library War Service also has a lasting civilian legacy. The American Library Association established the American Library in Paris to provide English books to American soldiers serving in France. The library continues to operate today as the largest English-language lending library in continental Europe. [2] Many library services, such as the distribution of Braille books through the mail, were first implemented by the Library War Service during World War I. [6] The American Library Association allocated funds to purchase volumes written in Braille. Donations paid for the costs of embossing Braille onto metal plates, then the ALA paid for printing, binding, and distributing these materials. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Putnam</span> American librarian and 8th Librarian of Congress

George Herbert Putnam was an American librarian. He was the eighth Librarian of Congress from 1899 to 1939. He implemented his vision of a universal collection with strengths in many languages, especially from Europe and Latin America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public library</span> Organized collection of books and information resources made accessible for the public

A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Librarian</span> Profession

A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users.

The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members as of 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Eastman</span> American librarian

Linda Anne Eastman was an American librarian. She was selected by the American Library Association (ALA) as one of the 100 most important librarians of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bookmobile</span> Vehicle with an onboard library

A bookmobile, or mobile library, is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookmobiles expand the reach of traditional libraries by transporting books to potential readers, providing library services to people in otherwise underserved locations and/or circumstances. Bookmobile services and materials, may be customized for the locations and populations served.

The National Library for the Blind (NLB) was a public library in the United Kingdom, founded 1882, which aimed to ensure that people with sight problems have the same access to library services as sighted people. NLB was taken over by the Royal National Institute of Blind People on 1 January 2007 and incorporated into the RNIB National Library Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armed Services Editions</span> Books distributed in the U.S. military in World War II

Armed Services Editions (ASEs) were small paperback books of fiction and nonfiction that were distributed in the American military during World War II. From 1943 to 1947, some 122 million copies of more than 1,300 ASE titles were distributed to servicemembers, with whom they were enormously popular. The ASEs were edited and printed by the Council on Books in Wartime (CBW), an American non-profit organization, in order to provide entertainment to soldiers serving overseas, while also educating them about political, historical, and military issues. The slogan of the CBW was: "Books are weapons in the war of ideas."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special library</span> Library providing resources on a particular topic or discipline

A special library is a library that provides specialized information resources on a particular subject, serves a specialized and limited clientele, and delivers specialized services to that clientele. Special libraries include corporate libraries, government libraries, law libraries, medical libraries, museum libraries, news libraries. Special libraries also exist within academic institutions. These libraries are included as special libraries because they are often funded separately from the rest of the university and they serve a targeted group of users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forrest Spaulding</span> American librarian

Forrest Brisbin Spaulding was an American librarian. He was named in the American Libraries article, "100 of the most important leaders we had in the 20th century" for his contribution to intellectual freedom in writing the Library Bill of Rights. He was a humanitarian who is remembered not only for his contributions to librarianship, but also for the positive influence he had on the communities in which he lived and worked. In a commentary on the play The Not So Quiet Librarian, by Cynthia Mercati, Humanities Iowa writes that "Spaulding's words and his life touched everyone who loved not just books but freedom of expression." While Forrest Spaulding is remembered for his contributions to librarianship, he began his career as a reporter. The State Library of Iowa biography mentions that while he spent some time as director of Peru's libraries and museums in 1920, "he was also a correspondent for the Associated Press. He is noted as saying that his 'efforts to report the news from that country gave him a bitter object lesson in censorship.'"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Library of Congress</span> US Congress research library

The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., that serves as the library of the U.S. Congress and the de facto national library of the United States. Founded in 1800, the library is the United States's oldest federal cultural institution. The Library is housed in three elaborate buildings on Capitol Hill. It also maintains a conservation center in Culpeper, Virginia. The library's functions are overseen by the Librarian of Congress, and its buildings are maintained by the Architect of the Capitol. The Library of Congress is one of the two largest libraries in the world, along with the British Library. Its collections contain approximately 173 million items, and it has more than 3,000 employees. Its "collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 470 languages."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sadie Peterson Delaney</span> American librarian

Sadie Peterson Delaney was the chief librarian of the Veterans Administration Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama, for 34 years. She is well known as a pioneer for her work with bibliotherapy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Theodore Hagberg Wright</span>

Sir Charles Theodore Hagberg Wright, LL.D. was the Secretary and Librarian of the London Library from 1893 until his death. He managed expansion of the library and compiled a comprehensive catalogue of its collection. The Times called him "the guiding genius" of the library, the driving force behind the four decades of its growth. The Library itself hails Wright as "the real architect of the London Library as it is today".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Howard Brett</span>

William Howard Brett was head librarian for the Cleveland Public Library from 1884 to 1918. American Libraries described him as one of the "100 most important leaders (librarians) had in the 20th century" His efforts to provide lifelong learning was the basis for the Cleveland Public Library to be recognized as the "People's University."

Library history is a subdiscipline within library science and library and information science focusing on the history of libraries and their role in societies and cultures. Some see the field as a subset of information history. Library history is an academic discipline and should not be confused with its object of study : the discipline is much younger than the libraries it studies. Library history begins in ancient societies through contemporary issues facing libraries today. Topics include recording mediums, cataloguing systems, scholars, scribes, library supporters and librarians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American women in World War I</span>

World War I marked the first war in which American women were allowed to enlist in the armed forces. While thousands of women did join branches of the army in an official capacity, receiving veterans status and benefits after the war's close, the majority of female involvement was done through voluntary organizations of the war effort or through becoming a nurse for the military. Additionally, women made an impact on the war indirectly by filling the workforce, becoming employed in the jobs left behind by male soldiers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul North Rice</span>

Paul North Rice was an American librarian who served as Chief of the Reference Department of the New York Public Library, Executive Secretary of the Association of Research Libraries and President of the American Library Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Althea Warren</span> Director of the Los Angeles Public Library, president of the American Library Association

Althea Hester Warren was the director of the Los Angeles (California) Public Library from 1933 to 1947 and president of the American Library Association in 1943-1944. She was inducted into the California Library Association's Library Hall of Fame in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effie Lee Morris</span> American librarian

Effie Lee Morris was an African American children’s librarian, educator, and activist, best known for her pioneering public library services for minorities and the visually-impaired. Morris developed Cleveland Public Library's first Negro History Week and was New York Public Library's first children's specialist for visually-impaired patrons. She was the first coordinator of children's services at San Francisco Public Library, where she was also the first African American to hold an administrative position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennie Scott Scheuber</span>

Jennie Scott Scheuber (1860–1944) was an American librarian who pioneered the public library movement in Texas. A prominent Fort Worth, Texas, civic leader, she was instrumental in the formation of the Fort Worth public library system and the first art museum in Fort Worth.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "American Library Association, Library War Service". World Digital Library. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kiter, Tammy (28 August 2013). "Turning the pages of patriotism with the American Library Association". The New York Historical Society Museum & Library. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Rayman, Denise (14 April 2014). "Librarians in uniform". American Library Association Archives. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  4. ↑ Dowling, Timothy C. (2006). Personal Perspectives: World War I. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 208. ISBN   1-85109-565-9. Central to the relief services provided to American and Allied troops during World War I were the 'Seven Sisters'
  5. 1 2 3 Jordan, Angela (10 October 2012). "A book for every man". American Library Association Archives. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 "American Library Association War Service". Social Networks and Archival Context Project. University of Virginia. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Koch, Theodore (1918). War Service of the American Library Association (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Judd & Detwiler. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  8. ↑ Quinn, Mary Ellen (2014). Historical Dictionary of Librarianship. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield. p. 163. ISBN   978-0-8108-7807-5.
  9. 1 2 Rayman, Denise (17 January 2014). ""Give the Next Man a Chance!" The Circulating Books of World War I". American Library Association Archives. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  10. ↑ Soldiers, sailors and books. University of Michigan: American Library Association. 1918. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Young, Arthur P. (1981). Books for Sammies: The Library War Association and World War I. Beta Phi Mu. ISBN   978-0910230155.
  12. ↑ "Librarians In Uniform – American Library Association Archives – U of I Library". www.library.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  13. ↑ Hacker, Bart (8 September 2011). "Women in uniform, World War I edition". National Museum of American History. Smithsonian. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  14. ↑ Bertram, Cara. (November 14, 2013). "After the Eleventh Hour." American Library Association Archives.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.