College and Research Libraries


By E T H E L C H R I S T O F F E R S 

The University Library and the W a r 

Miss Christoffersj reference librarian, 

University of Washington, read this paper 

at the meeting of the University Libraries 

Section of A.C.R.L., June 24, 1942. 

TH E U N I V E R S I T Y L I B R A R Y a n d t h e w a r — w h a t part can it play in the 
rapidly changing s c e n e ? — t h a t is a ques-

tion of deepest concern to us all. W e 

have been swept off our feet by the sudden 

impact of w a r . W h a t can w e do to con-

tribute? H o w be a part of the w a r e f f o r t ? 

H o w j u s t i f y our existence? W e have the 

urge to accomplish great things, to do 

more than w e have ever done before, 

something dramatic, unusual, spectacular. 

W e have talked much and w r i t t e n at 

length on morale, democracy, the library 

in national defense. M o s t of us have 

formed definite opinions as to w h a t our 

place should be. 

I t seems to me that our greatest con-

tribution to the w a r is to continue busi-

ness as usual. O n e of the qualities of the 

British that w e have admired most is their 

ability to go on w i t h their daily tasks 

maintaining as nearly normal a trend of 

life as is possible in the face of desperate 

obstacles. T h e university is the great edu-

cative body. T h e library is its hand-

maiden. W i t h o u t books the educative 

process is weakened. Books are our 

weapons as w e l l as our tools. W e have 

certain established routines w h i c h enable 

us to function in w a r or in peace. Books 

must be purchased, processed, and circu-

lated. Periodicals must be available f o r 

research. E v e r y effort must be made to 

keep our files intact on all fronts. W e 

must step up our service, step up our 

production, do a w a y w i t h needless dis-

cussion of methods, and strive for more 

and better business. W e must advertise 

our wares, display our acquisitions, back 

up our faculty and students by supplying 

their daily needs. 

Reports f r o m many libraries indicate a 

decrease in circulation since the beginning 

of the w a r . T h i s trend w a s to be ex-

pected. Students have been busy adjusting 

themselves to changes in living, to the 

idea of participating in active service. In-

creased opportunities for employment have 

shortened their leisure hours. F a c u l t y 

members have l e f t and courses been 

dropped or changed in emphasis. A public 

equipping itself for a n e w task has little 

time for reading. A l l this w i l l change. 

A s w e settle down to the long pull, as w e 

become more stabilized in our thinking, 

reading w i l l again return to its place in 

the school and the home. 

T o be ready f o r this change w e must 

keep up our supply of books—books 

f o r information, inspiration, recreation. 

R e a d i n g requests must be anticipated. 

W e must know our collections better, be 

able to substitute books just as good for 

those w e cannot supply. Needs change 

r a p i d l y — o n e month w e need books on 

L a t i n A m e r i c a , the next on G e r m a n y , 

Japan, A u s t r a l i a , C h i n a , Russia, or Si-

beria. T h e market is flooded w i t h books. 

W e are harried by high pressure adver-

18 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



tising. Some authors have a w o r t h w h i l e 

message, others no possible place on our 

shelves. T h e utmost care is needed to 

purchase the best, the most pertinent 

within the n a r r o w confines of our budget. 

Book reviews must be read t h o u g h t f u l l y , 

publishers' advertising campaigns consid-

ered, selections made c a r e f u l l y in order 

that a well-rounded collection adequate 

for the needs of the institution may be 

assembled. 

Program of Education 

N e i t h e r our allies nor our enemies must 

be neglected. W e are preparing for peace 

as w e l l as w a r and a peace which w e hope 

w i l l bring well-being to all peoples of the 

w o r l d . W e are developing the minds not 

merely of soldiers but of men and women 

w h o w i l l take an active part in building 

a postwar w o r l d . Education is a long-

range program. W e must prepare for a 

postwar society—one that w i l l provide a 

happier, busier, more satisfying life for all. 

T o talk of democracy and the A m e r i c a n 

w a y of life is of little value w i t h o u t an 

understanding of w h a t the terms m e a n — 

not to me alone, but to the " J o a d s , " the 

N e g r o , the Nisei. T o exercise wisdom in 

the selection of books which present these 

problems and to put them into the hands 

of our students as w e discuss w i t h them 

needs and problems are tasks of the great-

est importance. T h e s e tasks w i l l not be 

accomplished unless librarians can main-

tain an attitude of tolerance. If the w a r 

lasts a long time w e may have to fight 

for this right to be tolerant, but it w i l l be 

w o r t h the fight if w e can aid in making a 

better society. 

Decreased enrolments may enable us to 

do a better job of educating our students 

than w e have done in the past. Perhaps 

w e can learn to k n o w more students as 

individuals, inspire more w i t h a desire for 

reading, teach more of them how and w h y 

to use the library, and help them to form 

a library habit w h i c h w i l l continue 

throughout their lives. O u r failure to do 

this has been one of our greatest short-

comings. 

Needs of Faculty 

In our zeal to find our place in the lives 

of our students, w e must not neglect the 

needs of our faculty. M a n y have l e f t to 

aid the government in important posts, 

others are engaged in secret research on 

the home ground. Special needs or special 

requests for materials needed by these men 

at home must be met at once. T h e r e is 

no time to waste. Books that cannot be 

purchased must be borrowed. Each insti-

tution must serve every other institution. 

Cooperation is needed as never before. 

W e of the Pacific N o r t h w e s t are used to 

that idea. W e have cooperated in many 

library ventures. W e borrow and lend 

freely among ourselves and from our great 

southern neighbor, the University of C a l i -

fornia. W e are at present engaged in a 

survey of our library resources which w i l l 

make us even more familiar w i t h each 

other's collections. 

Some institutions may hesitate to lend 

to libraries in w a r areas. T h e y cannot be 

condemned for that. T h e y must protect 

their collections. If such be the case, films 

and photostats offer a substitute. W e may 

become so used to the idea of films that 

all our problems of interlibrary loans w i l l 

be solved. 

O u r policy of business as usual must not 

be confined to the boundaries of our 

campus. W e owe a debt to our govern-

ment, our state, our cities and towns, our 

A r m y , our N a v y , our civilian population, 

and the w o r l d at large. T o stretch our 

D EC EMBER, 1942 19 



facilities over all these areas is a difficult 

task. G o v e r n m e n t organizations usually 

seek us out. M a n y of their staff mem-

bers are college men used to library facili-

ties. T h e y may prefer to do their o w n 

research or may desire the services of a 

trained librarian to do research for them. 

In either case w e must be ready to serve, 

place f e w restrictions in their w a y , forget 

as far as possible strict library rules and 

regulations w h i c h cause useless friction 

and annoyance, remembering only the need 

to safeguard materials for f u t u r e use as 

w e l l as present. 

L i b r a r y services can be extended to 

every branch of our A r m y and N a v y by 

inviting our soldiers and sailors to use our 

libraries, making them welcome w h e n they 

visit us, and by lending them books indi-

vidually or through their service club li-

braries or chaplains. T h i s can be our 

contribution to morale-building among 

our defenders. 

T h e civilian population presents a more 

difficult problem to the university library 

except in its o w n immediate vicinity. In 

most communities the public library takes 

care of this problem. H o w e v e r , the 

faculty can do much to formulate right 

ideals by arranging and conducting forums 

and discussion clubs on defense w o r k , 

postwar planning, and other pertinent 

subjects. T h e library w i l l stand by to 

provide reading lists, books, pamphlets, 

and bibliographies as a means of further 

study. 

Adult Education 

P r o g r a m s for adult education should 

be fostered by the university. A d u l t edu-

cation offers an unlimited field for the 

education of civilians in tolerance and 

democratic principles. C o l l e g e students, 

if not thoroughly inoculated w i t h these 

ideas, have at least been exposed to them 

in numerous courses and have learned to 

think for themselves. T o o many adults 

depend entirely upon the newspaper, the 

radio, the next-door neighbor to formulate 

their opinions. W h a t a w o n d e r f u l op-

portunity for improvement is offered to a 

university w i t h vision backed by a library 

w i t h books to carry on the crusade. Per-

haps this is not business as usual. W e can 

make it a part of our plan. 

A n d finally, w e have an obligation to 

the w o r l d at large, to the libraries whose 

collections have been destroyed. O v e r 

t w e n t y million books have been destroyed 

by bombs and incendiaries in E n g l a n d 

alone. M o s t university libraries in C h i n a 

have been the target of Japanese planes. 

T h o u s a n d s of books have been burned, 

countless libraries looted. N o one knows 

the losses. A l r e a d y a member of our fac-

ulty is planning to d r a w from us to aid 

in restoring L o u v a i n . W e must save our 

w o r t h w h i l e books and periodicals to fill 

the " w a n t lists" of the unfortunate li-

braries of the w o r l d . 

In the Pacific N o r t h w e s t the university 

and state college libraries are playing their 

part in the w a r effort according to the 

needs of the area in which they are sit-

uated. T h e need for participating in 

actual w a r w o r k is less apparent in insti-

tutions in the interior. 

Kathleen Campbell, librarian of the 

U n i v e r s i t y of M o n t a n a , reports: 

W e are so far removed from national de-
fense activities here in Montana that we do 
not have very heavy demands made upon 
the library in the field of national defense. 
T h i s library is a w a r information center for 
the state and it receives a great deal of ma-
terial relating to national defense. Such 
material is used, of course, by the students 
in their regular courses. T h e library pre-
pares exhibits on some phase of national 

20 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



defense for the Student Union Building 
about every ten days and also has material 
on display in the reading room in the li-
brary. W e send out some material over 
the state to schools, clubs, and other groups 
for talks and discussions on the subject. 
T h e reference librarian has been called upon 
to answer questions relating to defense both 
from townspeople and from out-of-town 
citizens, as well as to prepare special bibli-
ographies. Professors from the university 
have given talks to various clubs and groups 
in this city and other towns in the state 
on national defense and have planned their 
discussions around this subject for the 
weekly radio broadcasts sponsored by the 
university. Students in the debate and 
speech classes have centered their talks and 
debates around some phase of national de-
fense and also have led group discussions 
pertaining to various phases of this subject. 

In Idaho and Oregon 

A g n e s C . Peterson, reference librarian 

of the University of Idaho, states that 

because of its location the University of 

Idaho L i b r a r y has not felt the impact of 

the w a r to as great an extent as many of 

the libraries of the N o r t h w e s t . T h e i r 

chief contribution is assistance to faculty 

in w a r research and aid to students w h o 

are shortening their college course to three 

years by attendance at a twelve-week sum-

mer course. T h e Idaho campus has been 

selected as a training school for naval radio 

operators. M e n enrolled in these courses 

w i l l be accorded f u l l library privileges. 

A t O r e g o n State College emphasis has 

been on research. L o r e n G . S t r a w n of 

the reference department reports aid to 

A r m y camps such as F o r t L e w i s and to 

national defense agencies. D a t a w a s col-

lected on air raid sirens for a municipal 

government and a complete bibliography 

on camouflage prepared for another gov-

ernment agency. M a p s are used by the 

A r m y engineers and much w o r k has been 

done on food and nutrition problems aris-

ing from the w a r . T w o interesting bib-

liographies w e r e prepared on rubber, one 

on synthetic rubber for a possible factory 

in Portland and the other on rubber and 

rubber plants, for a study of potentiali-

ties of the Pacific coast for rubber produc-

tion from its native flora. A n index of 

the executive orders governing the selective 

service both national and O r e g o n state 

was made for the local board and w i l l be 

used also by the state board. A t the sug-

gestion of the campus coordinator of civil-

ian defense a "defense table and s h e l f " 

was set up in the reading room. L i t t l e 

has been done in the w a y of service to the 

enlisted personnel. Soldiers stationed in 

C o r v a l l i s are made welcome but are not 

permitted to take material from the build-

ing. 

Union Catalog 

T h e Bibliographic Center of the Pacific 

N o r t h w e s t w i t h its union catalog at the 

University of W a s h i n g t o n is proving a 

helpful aid in w a r research. T h e cata-

logs of the m a j o r libraries of the N o r t h -

west have been photographed and the 

holdings of each library are being trans-

ferred to the basic L i b r a r y of Congress 

catalog. W h e n an interlibrary loan re-

quest reaches the library and the univer-

sity cannot provide the necessary books, a 

check is made of the union catalog. W e 

know at once whether the books are ob-

tainable in the Pacific N o r t h w e s t . T h e 

saving in time is great. T h e Bonneville 

P o w e r Administration is one of our best 

interlibrary loan customers. O u r largest 

loan in one day w a s thirteen theses on the 

geology of W a s h i n g t o n . Frequently w h a t 

w e are unable to supply, Seattle Public 

L i b r a r y can. T h e t w o libraries cooperate 

very closely in caring for investigators' 

D EC EMBER, 1942 21 



needs. T h e Boeing A i r c r a f t C o m p a n y 

makes all requests through the public li-

brary and w e in turn lend to the public 

library instead of to Boeing directly. T h e 

Bremerton N a v y Y a r d is another regular 

borrower through the local library at 

Bremerton. W e w e r e able to supply many 

books needed in a study to correct the 

very bad housing situation w h i c h prevailed 

among the w o r k e r s in the early f a l l . 

L i b r a r y service to the men in the armed 

forces is carried on officially in t w o w a y s 

— t h r o u g h loans to the service club li-

braries or the chaplains or by actual visit 

of the borrower to our library. Recently 

letters w e r e sent the commanding officers 

of t w e l v e A r m y forts and fields and naval 

districts in Seattle and vicinity offering 

library facilities to the enlisted men and 

officers. Since then naval officers have 

visited our library to obtain pictures of 

G e r m a n submarines, a doctor f r o m the 

M a r i n e hospital has requested pictures of 

the effects of w a r gas to be used on the 

screen, and a private f r o m F o r t L a w t o n 

has borrowed f r o m our general reading 

collection. Identification is required only 

if books are to be taken f r o m the library. 

Loans to Libraries 

Since it is difficult for men to come 

l o n g distances for library service and our 

library is out of the city center, the loans 

made directly to the libraries seem to be 

more popular. L o a n requests have been 

made for books on health and dietetics, 

military topography and map reading, cal-

culus, breeding of horses, the T a l m u d , 

greenhouse care and culture, radio, a Rus-

sian dictionary and reader, a G e r m a n dic-

tionary and reader, books on skiing for use 

in w r i t i n g a ski manual, and a list of 

books f o r a hobby house at F o r t R a y m o n d , 

A l a s k a . W e have f e w requests for recrea-

tional reading. Perhaps the service li-

braries are adequately supplied. O n e of 

our most satisfying requests came f r o m a 

Seattle boy on the U.S.S. Mojave, a coast 

guard cutter in port at N o r f o l k , V a . H e 

w a n t e d to do some reading and thought 

the U n i v e r s i t y of W a s h i n g t o n in his o w n 

home tov^n the best place to w r i t e f o r a 

reading list of classic and semiclassic litera-

ture. H i s letter of thanks w r i t t e n f r o m 

Boston, his next port of call, indicated 

that his problem had been satisfactorily 

solved. 

A n o t h e r o u t g r o w t h of our Bibliographic 

C e n t e r is a venture in cooperative buying. 

T h i s may not be considered a w a r venture 

nor a university venture alone but it does 

aid in conserving budgets, a very im-

portant factor in w a r t i m e wh6n funds 

must be stretched to the utmost. A b o u t 

thirty libraries are buying through a joint 

agent. A b o u t one third are small college 

and university libraries. 

Since early f a l l the staff of our library 

has been keenly interested in providing 

reading for A r m y camps. B e f o r e the V i c -

tory Book C a m p a i g n w a s organized w e 

sponsored a campus book drive. Notices 

w e r e put in the Daily, and faculty mem-

bers w e r e called individually by staff 

members and informed of the need for 

books. O v e r one thousand books of good 

titles, w i t h clean covers, and in excellent 

condition w e r e received in response. In 

December H e l e n Johns, circulation li-

brarian, w a s appointed W a s h i n g t o n di-

rector of the V i c t o r y Book C a m p a i g n . 

She w a s allowed half time w i t h pay to 

take charge of the project, and office facili-

ties in the library w e r e made available 

for her and her volunteer assistants. U p 

to A p r i l 29, 83,563 volumes w e r e col-

lected in W a s h i n g t o n . T h e books w e r e 

distributed to forts, camps, and flying 

22 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



fields in W a s h i n g t o n and A l a s k a , to serv-

ice clubs in W a s h i n g t o n and O r e g o n , and 

to the A m e r i c a n M e r c h a n t M a r i n e . T h i s 

service w i l l be continued for the duration. 

C a p t a i n Berger, Special Service Officer at 

the Seattle P o r t of Embarkation, in speak-

ing of this service said recently, " R e a d i n g 

material has been found to be more im-

portant than any other factor in building 

and maintaining morale." 

Service to U.S.O. Libraries 

Several of our circulation staff have 

become interested in one of the U . S . O . 

libraries in the d o w n t o w n district as a 

sort of extracurricular activity. T h e y 

found y o u n g enlistees clamoring for text-

books in mathematics needed for examina-

tions which they expected to take. T h e s e 

texts w e r e most difficult to obtain. A n 

appeal to Charles W . Smith, our librarian, 

resulted in a loan of a goodly number of 

books from the library's textbook collec-

tion for as long a time as needed. L a t e r 

an appeal was made to the mathematics 

faculty w h i c h resulted in a g i f t collection 

of books large enough to satisfy the needs 

of the soldiers. 

M o s t of our staff members are actively 

participating in recommending book pur-

chases f r o m various funds allotted to the 

library. Each staff member selects a spe-

cial field in which she is interested and 

studies the needs of the library in that 

field. T h i s too is merely applying regular 

procedure to the present needs. Since our 

budget is too limited to purchase f r o m 

regular funds all current books needed on 

the w a r and postwar scene, the rental com-

mittee which meets fortnightly has empha-

sized purchases of this type. Book reviews 

are read c a r e f u l l y whenever there is time 

either in or out of the library and the 

meeting is devoted to a discussion of the 

titles recommended. T h e advantages are 

evident. A group of the staff is constantly 

alert and informed on the latest literature 

and w e are at the same time able to sub-

sidize our library collection w i t h the most 

timely books in the field. Practically no 

processing is necessary for this collection 

w h i c h makes the books available almost 

immediately. O u r students display little 

interest in purely recreational reading at 

this time but w a n t informative factual 

material " h o t " off the press. O u r rental 

collection supplies it. Libraries w i t h large 

book funds w i l l doubtless have little need 

for service of this kind. 

Other Regular Functions 

O t h e r regular library functions are 

proving useful in the general educative 

effort. T h e readers adviser prepares read-

ing lists and book exhibits as needs arise 

on subjects such as defense of A m e r i c a 

and postwar planning. T h e reference de-

partment prepares bibliographies needed by 

faculty members, students, debaters, or 

government officials in their research. In-

cendiary bombs, gases, home protection, 

blackouts are among the subjects which 

have been covered. 

T h e library participates actively in 

campus defense plans. Since the campus 

is located only a short distance f r o m the 

Sand Point N a v a l T r a i n i n g Station the 

hum of the practice planes is constantly 

in our ears, varied now and then w i t h the 

roar of a squadron flying in formation 

above us. W h e n w i l l it change to the 

roar of the enemy planes? N o one knows. 

W e hope never but w e must be prepared. 

T h e university district is a small city in 

itself. T o meet emergencies in the com-

munity the campus has been designated as 

an air raid station during the day not only 

for the campus population but for the 

D EC EMBER, 1942 23 



civilian population of the immediate area. 

A l l qualified first aiders on the staff are 

on call and part of the library w i l l be set 

aside as a receiving station. T e n members 

of the staff w h o have received first aid 

certificates are now practicing one and one 

half hours weekly on library time under a 

competent instructor to be prepared to 

assist in any emergency. O t h e r staff mem-

bers are expected to direct all occupants 

of the building to positions of safety w h e n 

the siren sounds. T h o u g h the library has 

been pronounced the safest building on the 

campus, it also has the greatest population 

which places great responsibility for stu-

dent safety on the staff. 

War Information Centers 

W a r information centers have been es-

tablished at all of our state universities in 

the Pacific N o r t h w e s t . M a n y useful and 

timely pamphlets have been received from 

the Federal government, foundations, so-

cieties, and other publishers. T h e y cover 

all phases of the national defense program. 

A t W a s h i n g t o n a selected list of publica-

tions received has been included in the list 

of library accessions sent to faculty mem-

bers. Pamphlets are kept apart f r o m reg-

ular collections and displays are made in 

display cases and materials are used in the 

library as called f o r . Students show great 

interest in materials displayed and often 

request their use. T h e method of dis-

seminating materials throughout the state 

is somewhat difficult and w i l l be made 

through loans to small libraries as needed 

until our center is better advertised. 

O u r library has been collecting original 

manuscripts and journals for years. A s 

the calls for collection of wastepaper be-

came more and more frequent it became 

evident that now if ever w a s the time 

for an aggressive campaign. A university 

radio broadcast brought out the desir-

ability of placing family records in a 

fireproof building where they w o u l d be 

preserved for historical purposes. T h e 

N o r t h w e s t history librarian and a faculty 

member in the history department next 

visited neighboring towns where such 

records were known to exist. T h e y have 

been generally w e l l received and have suc-

ceeded not only in obtaining valuable pa-

pers but in making friends for the library 

w h i l e at the same time being engaged in 

protecting our cultural heritage. 

Preserving Rare Books and Records 

Libraries are not only depositories of 

rare books and records but they are re-

sponsible for their safe keeping. Since 

our library is a d j u d g e d the safest building 

on the campus not a great deal has been 

done about removing our rarest materials 

to a safer zone. A s librarian and also as 

chairman of the Committee for the Preser-

vation of C u l t u r a l Resources, M r . Smith 

has given much thought to the problem. 

Plans have been made should such a need 

become imminent but both M r . Smith of 

our library and M r . Jennings of the Seat-

tle Public L i b r a r y believe that our cul-

tural resources are more important now 

than ever before for the preservation of 

morale and should be available for use as 

long as possible. 

T h i s report covers our w o r k to the 

present moment. A s the w a r advances, 

changes in personnel and instruction may 

change the emphasis in our daily w o r k , 

but our greatest task remains the educa-

tion of our y o u t h — f o r them we must 

continue business as usual. 

24 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES