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By (Unknown)
Collection Overview
Title: War Service Correspondence, 1917-1923
ID: 89/1/5
Primary Creator: War Services Committee
Extent: 8.3 Cubic Feet
Arrangement: Arranged by volume and alphabetically by subject title thereunder
Date Acquired: 01/17/1974
Subjects: Ahern, Mary E., American Red Cross, Anderson, Edwin H., Askew, Sarah B., Belden, Frank D., Bishop, William W., Bostwick, Arthur E., France, Hill, Frank P., Importation Committee, Milam, Carl H., Montgomery, Thomas L., Putnam, Herbert, Raney, M. Llewellyn, Stevenson, Burton E., U.S. War Department, War Finance Committee, War Service, War Services Committee, World War I, Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA)
Languages: English
Scope and Contents of the Materials
Correspondence of War Services Committee, contains 47 bound volumes of minutes, budgets, reports, bulletins, circulars, directives, pamphlets and telegrams, includes suggestions made to the preliminary committee by librarians and the recommendations of the preliminary committee as to activities to be undertaken, implementation and evaluation of plans and activities, relations between ALA and the War Department, the American Red Cross and the YMCA, finances and financial campaigns, the New Jersey State Library Commission, book selection, classification, ordering, requests, lists and campaigns, dispatch offices, hospital and camp libraries, publicity, services overseas, and postwar hospital library service and work with the blind, and correspondence with Herbert Putnam, Director of Library War Service, Thomas L. Montgomery, President of ALA (1917), William W. Bishop, President of ALA (1918), Frank D. Belden, Chairman, New England Division Headquarters, Frank P. Hill, Chairman, ALA War Finance Committee, Burton E. Stevenson, ALA European Representative, Carl H. Milam, Acting General Director, ALA War Service, Gertrude T. Rider, Librarian for the Blind, and M.L. Raney, Secretary of the Committee on Importation.
Biographical Note
In an April 1917 meeting between Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress, and the Secretary of War, Putnam suggested that the ALA provide books for the American Army. The President of the ALA then decided that it should assist the war effort (1). The Louisville Conference of June 22, 1917 accepted the recommendation of the Preliminary Committee that a War Committee be appointed to study the supply of reading matter to the troops; construction, equipping and maintenance of library buildings at military garrisons; and the possibility of raising funds for that purpose (2). This mandate to study the problem was broadened by the Executive Board on August 14, 1917 with the appointment of a War Services Committee authorized to raise and distribute funds to supply books to the troops (3).
To facilitate the Committee's mandate, the Executive Board named Herbert Putnam Director General of the War Services Committee and gave him broad authority to hire staff, design and equip buildings, contract for equipment, determine lists of books to be provided, and accept or reject gift reading matter (4).
The War Services Committee ended its operations after the War. By August 21, 1919 the Committee proposed that Army and Navy librarians take over the fund for distributing books to service men, and that the service to hospitals be continued only until the Public Health Service could assume responsibility (5). On January 3, 1920 the Executive Board took over the work of the Committee, and at its July 15-16, 1920 Meeting, the Board transferred the Library War Services Fund to the ALA Treasury, and abolished the position of Director General of the Library War Services Committee (6). The ALA continued to provide funds for books for ex-servicemen as late as 1923 (7).
During World War II there was an attempt to revive war services. To prepare for the possibility of war, the Executive Board authorized the President to INT a Committee on Defense Activities on October 7, 1940. This Committee was to report directly to the Executive Board (8). On December 20, 1941 the Executive Board changed the name of the Committee to the Committee on Libraries and the War. The mission of the Committee to the Committee on Libraries and the War. The mission of the Committee was to disseminate information to libraries on "civilian defense and civilian moral" (9). Subsequently the Executive Board appointed a Committee on War Information and Education, but by June 21, 1942, this Committee was dropped because the government was doing the Committee's work and it was no longer useful (10).
Subject/Index Terms
Ahern, Mary E.
American Red Cross
Anderson, Edwin H.
Askew, Sarah B.
Belden, Frank D.
Bishop, William W.
Bostwick, Arthur E.
France
Hill, Frank P.
Importation Committee
Milam, Carl H.
Montgomery, Thomas L.
Putnam, Herbert
Raney, M. Llewellyn
Stevenson, Burton E.
U.S. War Department
War Finance Committee
War Service
War Services Committee
World War I
Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA)
Administrative Information
Repository:
The American Library Association Archives
PDF Box/Folder List
URL:
https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/alasfa/8901005a.pdf
PDF finding aid
for War Service Correspondence (89/1/5)
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Plans and Activities],
[
Series 2: Books],
[
Series 3: Other Organizations],
[
Series 4: Camp Libraries],
[
Series 5: Dispatch Offices],
[
Series 6: Other Phases of Library Service],
[
Series 7: Overseas Services],
[
Series 8: Army Education],
[
Series 9: Publicity],
[
Series 10: Miscellaneous Information],
[
Series 11: Post-War Activity],
[All]
- Series 1: Plans and Activities
- Box 1
- Item 1: Volume 1 - Early Suggestions to the War Services Committee and Committee Recommendations, 1917-1919
- Item 2: Volume 2 - Plans and Activities, 1917-1918
Bulletin of Library War Committee and Councils; Letters to Dr. Herbert Putnam, Directory Library War Service, May 1917-Nov. 1918; Letters of Thomas L. Montgomery, Pres. ALA 1917; Letters of Charles F. D. Belden, chairman New England Division Headquarters; War Service Administration, Plans and activities, October 1917 - December 1918; War Service Administration Appointments, Aug. 1917 - Aug. 1918.
Correspondents include E. H. Anderson, Mary Eileen Ahern, Sarah B. Askew, W. W. Bishop, Arthur E. Bostwick, R. R. Bowker, Gratia A. Countryman, John Cotton Dana, Milton J. Ferguson, Frank P. Hill, Mary Frances Isom, M. L. Raney, Hiller C. Wellman, James I. Wyer, Jr.,
- Item 3: Volume 3 - ALA Headquarters in Washington, 1917-1919
- Outline of ALA organization for Library War Service; Instructions from ALA Headquarters; The ALA and the War Department; General Reports to ALA Headquarters
- Item 4: Volume 4 - Financial Campaigns and the Handling of Funds, 1917-1919
- Financial Campaign Methods; United War Work Campaign; Financial Campaign Reports, General; Financial Campaign Reports and Correspondence from City and State Directors, arranged according to cities or states; Budgets; Handling of Funds - American Security and Trust Company; Financial Statements; Auditor's Reports, Marwick Mitchell, Peat and Co.
- Item 5: Volume 5 - New Jersey Public Library Commission, Library War Service, 1917-1918
- Sarah B. Askew, Org. Part I, Sept. 1917-Sept. 1918
- Item 6: Volume 6 - New Jersey Public Library Commission, Library War Service, 1918-1919
- Sarah B. Askew, Org. Part II, Oct. 1918-June 1919
- Box 2
- Item 1: Volume 7 - New Jersey Public Library Commission, Library War Service, 1919
- Sarah B. Askew, Org. Part III, July-Oct 1919
- Series 2: Books
- Box 2
- Item 2: Volume 8 - Books, Part I, 1918-1919
- Selection, Classification, Ordering, and Orders
- Item 3: Volume 9 - Books, Part II, 1918-1919
- Book Requests, General and Individual
- Item 4: Volume 10 - Books, Part III, 1918-1919
- Booklists
- Item 5: Volume 11 - Magazines, Newspapers, and Scrapbooks, 1917-1919
- Item 6: Volume 12 - Book Campaigns, 1917-1919
- General information, publicity, reports and correspondence
- Series 3: Other Organizations
- Box 2
- Item 7: American Red Cross and the ALA, 1917-1919
- Documents and Plans for War Library Service; General Correspondence between Officials of ARC and the ALA; Reports; Directories and Personnel; Publicity; Red Cross House - Blueprints and plans; Red Cross Uniforms
- Box 3
- Item 1: Volume 14 - YMCA and the ALA, Part I, 1917-1919
- War Library Service, Documents on Aims, Plans and Methods; Correspondence between YMCA and ALA Officials; Reports; Books sorting; Banned Books; Magazines
- Item 2: Volume 15 - YMCA and the ALA, Part II, 1917-1919
- YMCA lectures; Books for YMCA Lecture Courses; Directories and Personnel; YMCA Hits, Lists and Blueprints; Publicity, General Correspondence; YMCA Publications; YMCA Newspaper Clippings; YMCA Forms; YMCA Library Service in Great Britain, George H. Grubb, Secretary
- Series 4: Camp Libraries
- Box 3
- Item 3: Volume 16 - Camp Libraries, General, 1917-1919
- Commission on Training Camp Activities, Raymond B. Fosdick, Chairman; Camp Library Administration; Instructions to Camp Librarians; Camp Visiting; Camp Round Tables; Camp Library Buildings and the Carnegie Corporation Grant; Contractors, Construction, Equipment, and Costs; Garages; Locations of Camp Libraries; Library of Congress Cards for Camp Libraries; Morale Officers at Camps; Personnel of Large Camps; Camp Library Equipment; Record of Sale of Camp Buildings and Equipment
- Item 4: Volume 17 - Large Camps, 1917-1919
- Reports and Correspondence B-M
- Item 5: Volume 18 - Large Campus, 1918-1919
- Reports and Correspondence S-W; Summaries and Reports and Statistics
- Item 6: Volume 19 - Small Army Points, 1918-1919
- General Information; Books Requests; Reports and Correspondence A-E
- Box 4
- Item 1: Volume 20 - Small Army Points, 1918-1919
- Book Requests; Reports and Correspondence E-R
- Item 2: Volume 21 - Small Army Points, 1918-1919
- Book Requests; Reports and Correspondence R-W
- Series 5: Dispatch Offices
- Box 4
- Item 3: Volume 22 - Shipping Instructions
- Dispatch offices; General and Individually
- Item 4: Volume 23 - Brooklyn Dispatch Office, 1917-1919
- Correspondence, Charles H. Brown Supervisor, including Library War Service to Points in Brooklyn and Western Long Island. Chronological arrangement.
- Item 5: Volume 24 - Dispatch Office BR-H, 1918-1919
- Reports and Correspondence
- Box 5
- Item 1: Volume 25 - New York Dispatch Office, 1917-1918
- Reports and Correspondence
- Item 2: Volume 26 - New York Dispatch Office, 1918-1919
- Reports and Correspondence
- Item 3: Volume 27 - Newport News Dispatch Office, 1918-1919
- Reports and Correspondence
- Item 4: Volume 28 - Dispatch Offices O-S
- Omaha Dispatch Office; Philadelphia Dispatch Office; St. Louis Dispatch Office; San Antonio Dispatch Office; San Francisco Dispatch Office; Seattle Dispatch Office
- Series 6: Other Phases of Library Service
- Box 5
- Item 5: Volume 29 - Hospital Libraries, 1918-1919
- Box 6
- Item 1: Volume 30 - Various other phases of Library Service
- American Merchant Marines; Coast Guard Stations; Colored Soldiers; Mexican Border Traveling Libraries; Mine Sweepers; U.S. Navy; Prisoners of War; Students Army Training Corps; Transports; Conservation of Books on Transports; Troop Trains; United States Shipping Board Boats; War Industries
- Series 7: Overseas Services
- Box 6
- Item 2: Volume 31 - Overseas Reports
- Stories and Correspondence from the Camps; France
- Item 3: Volume 32 - Overseas-France, 1918-1919
- Item 4: Volume 33 - Overseas Letters: Putnam, Raney, Milam, Utley, Kerr, Dickerson
- Item 5: Volume 34 - Overseas Letters: Stevenson
- Item 6: Volume 35 - Overseas Shipment Reports
- Magazines, General Supplies, and Music Requests; France
- Box 7
- Item 1: Volume 36 - Book service to all points outside continental U.S. excepting France, 1918-1919
- Points outside Continental U.S. except France
- Series 8: Army Education
- Box 7
- Item 2: Volume 37 - Army Education, 1918-1919
- Army Educational Committee Correspondence; Army Education in U.S. Hospitals; ALA Educational List; Educational Activities in the Training Camps; Suggestions from the Educational Bureau; Booklists
- Series 9: Publicity
- Box 7
- Item 3: Volume 38 - Publicity, 1917-1919
- Series 10: Miscellaneous Information
- Box 7
- Item 4: Volume 39 - Miscellaneous Information, 1917-21
- Army Information; Boston War Camp Community Service, Joy Book for Soldiers and Sailors; British Library Service; Directories; Forms and Form Letters; William Howard Brett Memorial; Conferences; Historical Material; Honor System of Charging Books; Knights of Columbus; Letters of Appreciation and Commendation of ALA Service from Camps, Army Points, Navy, and Marines; Maps, lists of; Naming of Ship by ALA; Personnel; Societies Duplicating Book Service; ALA Members belonging to Rotary Clubs; Gifts to the ALA during the War
- Series 11: Post-War Activity
- Box 7
- Item 5: Volume 40 - Post-War Activity excepting hospital service and work with the blind, 1919-1920
- Army and Navy Permanent Libraries, L. L. Dickerson, Director; Disposition of ALA Books; ALA Gift Collection, Reports and Correspondence; The American Library in Paris; Reports of American Library in Paris and other International Relations; Work with the Foreign Born; U.S. Employment Service; Union List; ALA Service to Soldiers' Clearing House Employment Association of Pittsburgh; Enlarged Program; Prison Libraries
- Box 8
- Item 1: Volume 41 - Post-War Activity, 1919-1921
- Hospital Service; Reports-General and Individual A-M
- Item 2: Volume 42 - Post-War Activity, 1919-1922
- Hospital Reports M-S; General Correspondence; Hospital Post War Correspondence
- Item 3: Volume 43 - Post-War Activity, 1920-1922
- Hospital Service and its transfer to the U.S. Health Service
- Item 4: Volume 44 - Post-War Activity, 1920-1923
- Work with the War Blind; Committees, Associations, and Institutions Serving the Blind
- Item 5: Volume 45 - Post-War Activity, 1919-1922
- Work with the War Blind; Contributions toward the embossing of books
- Box 9
- Item 1: Volume 46 - Post-War Activity
- Work with the War Blind; Booklists and Publications; Printers of Braille Books
- Item 2: Volume 47 - Post-War Activity, 1919-1923
- Work with the War Blind; Publicity, Reports, and Miscellaneous
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Plans and Activities],
[
Series 2: Books],
[
Series 3: Other Organizations],
[
Series 4: Camp Libraries],
[
Series 5: Dispatch Offices],
[
Series 6: Other Phases of Library Service],
[
Series 7: Overseas Services],
[
Series 8: Army Education],
[
Series 9: Publicity],
[
Series 10: Miscellaneous Information],
[
Series 11: Post-War Activity],
[All]
War Services Committee 
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