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Title: Subject File, 1922-33, 1936-52

ID: 7/1/6

Creator: International Relations Office (IRO)

Extent: 23.6 Cubic Feet

Arrangement: Arranged alphabetically by subject title and chronologically thereunder

Date Acquired: 04/26/1974

Languages: English [eng]

Subject files of the first International Relations Office (1939- 49), Committee on International Relations (1938-45) and the International Relations Board (1939-52) contains correspondence, reports, publications and related documents includes financial aid, books and periodicals, translations, international and professional associations, foundations and federal agencies relating to the Aid to Libraries in War Areas program (1939-48), American Book Center for War Devastated Libraries (1945-47), book campaigns, Books for Europe (1938-42), Exchange of Library Personnel (1947-50), Joint Committee on Foreign Importations (1939- 45), Institute of International Education (1942-44), International Federation of Library Associations (1937-52), Library of Congress (1943-48), Libraries and the War (1942-48), National Defense Committee (1940-41), New York Public Library (1943-48), Rockefeller Foundation (1940-48), State Department's Cultural Relations Division (1939-48), UNESCO (1945-50) and the U.S. Office of Education (1945-47). Correspondents include William W. Bishop (1922-49), Charles H. Brown (1942-51), Leon Carnovsky (1942-56), Frederick Cromwell (1947-49), J. Periam Danton (1940-45), Milton Lord (1943-52), Flora B. Ludington (1942-47), Harry M. Lydenberg (1942-47), Keyes D. Metcalf (1942-46), Carl H. Milam (1942-49) and Marion A. Milczewski (1943-48). Most of the material covers the 1939-52 period.

The International Relations Board (International Relations Round Table) creatred the International Relations Office (IRO) in June 1942 (1).  The IRO was set up to "carry on its work in cooperation with the other committees of the Association whose work had international implications" (2).  The IRO also functioned as an advisory agency for libraries abroad (3).  In 1942-45, the IRO served "as an operational agency for various projects of the Department of State, the Rockefeller Foundation, and other foundations and libraries" (4).  A "new" IRO was created in 1956 (5).  The IRO concentrated its efforts on library development and the director was charged to "study and investigate the state of library education in various parts of the world" (6).  The director was expected to spend several months of each year in nations on the continents of Asia, Africa, and South America (7).  In 1959, the IRO sponsored (with Rockefeller Foundation monies) a group of ten visiting Japanese librarians who studied reference and advisory services in the United States (8).  The IRO was disbanded in 1972 (9). The office reopened in 1976 before closing again in 1982, then reopening.