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American Library Association War Service records
73025
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Title: American Library Association War Service records
Date (inclusive): 1917-1923
Collection Number: 73025
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1 manuscript box, 33 envelopes
(3.7 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Photographs, postcards, blueprints, insignia, and reports, relating to the work of the American Library Association War Service
in providing library buildings, books, and librarians, for American military servicemen in the United States and overseas
during World War I.
Creator:
American Library Association. Library War Service
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
[Identification of item], American Library Association War Service records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution
Library & Archives.
In June 1917, shortly after the United States entered into World War I, the American Library Association (ALA) convened a
War Service Committee to distribute library materials to American soldiers. This committee oversaw what was to become known
as the Library War Service program. Under the leadership of Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam, the program effectively
demonstrated the importance of ALA membership, while at the same time showing the value of collaboration with other military
and welfare agencies, such as the YMCA, YWCA, and the Red Cross. Moreover, it successfully raised more than five million dollars
in public donations, as well as securing Carnegie Corporation funds. With these funds and donations, the Library War Service
program established thirty-six camp libraries, distributed approximately ten million books and magazines, and sponsored 1,100
library workers for the war effort.
The ALA's war work had lasting legacies: the formation of the American Library in Paris, the establishment of the American
Merchant Marine Library Association, the garnering of greater concern with international library development, and the assimilation
of the wartime programs by the military departments and other government agencies. Additionally, the Library War Service instituted
new library services, such as Braille text and books by mail.
After World War I, the program continued to operate under the auspices of the Enlarged Program, which focused on three areas:
(1) continuation of war-related activity, (2) constitutional revision, and (3) new programs, which included increased expenditures
for publicity, promotion of higher salaries for librarians, initiation of special services to immigrants, and creation of
a board to set standards for library schools. The Enlarged Program never fully came to fruition; however, the ALA made inroads
for the library profession as a whole during this period, particularly in terms of its visibility.
The ALA was founded in Philadelphia in 1876, and later chartered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It was established
to promote the profession of librarianship, to improve library and information services, and, more generally, to enhance learning
and access to information for all people. The ALA is comprised of an elected council, which makes policies, and an executive
board, which enforces policies. In addition, the ALA functions through a network of affiliates, chapters, and other organizations,
such as the Merritt Humanitarian Fund, the National Forum on Information Literacy, and the Sister Libraries.
Scope and Content of Collection
Photographs, postcards, blueprints, insignia, and reports, relating to the work of the American Library Association War Service
in providing library buildings, books, and librarians, for American military servicemen in the United States and overseas
during World War I.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1914-1918 -- United States
World War, 1914-1918 -- War work
Libraries
United States. Army. American Expeditionary Forces