College and Research Libraries


By B E R N H A R D K N O L L E N B E R G 

The Contributions of the University 
Library to the W a r Effort: 
The Possible vs. the Actual 

Mr. Knollenberg, librarian of Yale Uni-

versity, delivered this, the second of three 

papers, before the University Libraries 

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

IN H I S L E T T E R A S K I N G M E t o p r e s e n t this paper, M r . Leupp said that he 
wished me to speak as a representative of 

the eastern coast. I should like to do so 

if I could be sure that w h a t I am about 

to say w o u l d be representative of the views 

of the librarians east of the Alleghenies. 

B u t since I am not familiar w i t h their 

views, I shall have to content myself w i t h 

expressing the hope that w h a t I say is 

representative. 

T u r n i n g first to the actual, the contri-

butions that the Y a l e University L i b r a r y 

has made or is making to the w a r effort 

fall roughly into t w o broad classes—tech-

nical assistance and propaganda. 

T h e industries of Connecticut w e r e 

among the first to be called upon to step 

up w a r production and they of course 

promptly responded. Several of these in-

dustries asked for permission to d r a w on 

the resources of the Y a l e University L i -

brary for books in the fields of chemistry, 

technology, and others directly related to 

w a r industries. W e have not only lent 

such books in considerable numbers but 

have given precedence to the demands 

from w a r industries over our o w n profes-

sors and students and shall continue to do 

so. W e have also had a number of de-

mands for books in the field of geography 

from the A r m y Intelligence, and these, 

of course, have been promptly furnished. 

Perhaps our most important contribu-

tion has been in the building up of our 

extensive w a r collection. Shortly a f t e r the 

outbreak of W o r l d W a r I I in September 

1939 w e got in touch w i t h Y a l e men 

throughout the w o r l d and asked them to 

send to us every bit of material bearing 

on the w a r they could get hold of, whether 

in the nature of technical volumes and 

pamphlets or propaganda literature. T h e 

library w a s unable to get a special appro-

priation for this, and w e therefore had to 

say that w e could only pay for the cost of 

shipment of the material, not for any cost 

of acquisition. T h e collecting of the ma-

terial was under the direct charge of Rus-

sell Pruden, of the library staff, and of 

Professor Sherman K e n t , of the history 

faculty, w e l l endowed w i t h drive and 

imagination and now filling an important 

post in the Office of the Coordinator of 

Information in W a s h i n g t o n . Between 

them they were able to cajole a great many 

Y a l e graduates into collecting material for 

us at home and abroad and not even bill us 

for the cost of shipping. T h e flow of 

D EC EMBER, 1942 25 



material from abroad, except f r o m E n g -

land and South A m e r i c a , has been reduced 

to a mere trickle, but the amount of ma-

terial that comes in f r o m various sources 

in this country is even today large and 

important. T h e H o o v e r W a r L i b r a r y at 

Stanford, w h i c h had substantial funds 

available for the purpose, has, of course, 

gathered a f a r more comprehensive and 

valuable collection in this same field than 

w e have been able to do, but S t a n f o r d is 

far a w a y and various government agencies 

along the eastern seaboard have found the 

Y a l e collection useful in a number of 

ways. 

Exhibitions 

T h e Y a l e U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r y is notable 

for its beautiful exhibition rooms and 

corridors, and w e have tried to use these 

to contribute to a sense of unity among 

the various groups w i t h i n the community 

and to encourage a feeling of identity of 

Y a l e students and N e w H a v e n e r s w i t h 

the other peoples of the U n i t e d Nations. 

In N e w H a v e n , as elsewhere, the w a r has 

had a tendency to create or bring to the 

surface a certain amount of anti-Semitism, 

and w e have tried to counteract this by 

exhibitions of some of our fine collection 

of Judaica. A b o u t a year ago our refer-

ence librarian, M i s s P r a t t , arranged a 

fascinating exhibition in honor of the 

anniversary of the f o u n d i n g of the first 

Jewish synagogue in N e w H a v e n , w h i c h 

is still flourishing. T h i s included mate-

rial showing the contributions that Jewish 

residents of N e w H a v e n have made to 

Y a l e and the community. Sholem A s c h 

participated in the opening of this exhi-

bition. A t the present time w e have an 

exhibition in honor of the one hundredth 

anniversary of the birth of the great 

H u n g a r i a n - A m e r i c a n H e b r e w scholar, 

A l e x a n d e r K o h u t . W e have had repre-

sentative collections of coins, maps, and 

books illustrating the contribution of E n g -

land and other of the U n i t e d Nations to 

civilization. W e are planning n o w to 

have at commencement time an exhibition 

of books, broadsides, and manuscripts rep-

resenting the g r o w t h of democracy and 

tolerance in the A m e r i c a n colonies and the 

U n i t e d States. 

Possible Contributions 

T u r n i n g from the actual to the possible, 

the question that has exercised my mind 

most has been whether w e should use the 

library as an engine for propaganda, not 

only by encouraging the f e r v o r of our 

students and townspeople ( I include the 

latter, because the exhibitions in the library 

attract a great many visitors outside the 

immediate Y a l e g r o u p ) for the ideals for 

w h i c h w e are fighting, but also by engen-

dering or intensifying hate against the 

peoples, governments, and arms (or any 

of these) of the A x i s powers. M u c h could 

obviously be done along this line, especially 

by a judicious selection and exhibition of 

posters, cartoons, and pamphlets f r o m our 

w a r collection, by a rearrangement of our 

open shelves of periodicals and new books 

to bring into prominence the current mag-

azines and new books taking this line of 

approach and suppressing or obscuring the 

others. H a v i n g been brought up in a 

devoutly Christian family and educated in 

a Friends college, it w o u l d be painful for 

me to have our library contribute to the 

w a r effort in this particular fashion. B u t 

I understand that some libraries, m o r e , 

especially among the public libraries, have 

taken action along this line, and perhaps 

the Y a l e library is not doing its f u l l duty 

to the nation in not having, as yet, fol-

lowed suit. It is a question w h i c h I am 

26 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



bringing up for f u l l discussion and deci-

sion at the next meeting of the University 

L i b r a r y Committee and it might be a use-

f u l topic of discussion for this meeting. 

If the question is discussed, I hope to be 

advised of the consensus of opinion ex-

pressed. 

Protection of Resources 

I have not gone into the question of 

the protection of the resources and users 

of our library f r o m destruction by bomb-

ing, because I regard the great amount of 

time and thought w e have given to the 

question at Y a l e as a contribution more 

to present and f u t u r e learning than to the 

w a r effort. B u t certainly all w o u l d agree 

that there can be no more important phase 

of the w a r activity of our libraries along 

the eastern coast than the sound solution 

of this extremely disturbing and rather 

delicately balanced problem. 

A n o t h e r problem that has seriously w o r -

ried us at the Y a l e library is to determine 

how far w e should g o in encouraging the 

members of our staff to give up library 

w o r k for some form of direct participation 

in the w a r effort, either by joining the 

A r m y , N a v y , or M a r i n e s , by going into 

one of the departments at W a s h i n g t o n , or 

by taking employment in one of the w a r 

industries. T h e question has also arisen 

as to h o w much encouragement should be 

given to person-to-person solicitation for 

the purchase of U n i t e d States bonds and 

savings stamps. T h e course w e have taken 

is roughly as f o l l o w s : 

W h e n any member of the staff has con-

sulted w i t h me or the head of a depart-

ment concerning enlistment or taking a 

position in the government or in a w a r 

industry, w e have encouraged the person 

to enlist or take the position. In the case 

of voluntary enlistment, as w e l l as in the 

case of men drafted, w e have assured the 

staff member that his job w i l l be open 

for him after the w a r . In the case of 

those w h o have taken civilian jobs w i t h 

a government department in W a s h i n g t o n 

or gone into a w a r industry, w e have not 

committed ourselves to take them back 

a f t e r the w a r , but I have personally as-

sured anyone w h o has spoken to me about 

the point that w e shall give precedence 

to staff members leaving for one of these 

purposes. O u r numerous resignations 

have, of course, crippled our staff but not 

yet seriously enough to present an acute 

problem. 

Solicitation for Sale of Stamps and Bonds 

In the matter of person-to-person solici-

tation in the library, w e have permitted 

such solicitation but hesitate to continue 

to do so. A l t h o u g h some people regard 

the library's willingness to permit this as 

a contribution to the w a r effort, I have 

my doubts on this score. Such solicitation 

consumes a good deal of the w o r k i n g time 

of those solicited, and my guess is that 

those w h o purchase the bonds and stamps 

through such solicitation w o u l d purchase 

substantially the same amount w i t h o u t so-

licitation. Perhaps my point of v i e w is 

influenced by my conviction that capital 

needed for the w a r , like manpower, should 

be drafted either through taxes or en-

forced saving, w h i c h w o u l d make bond-

buying campaigns of all kinds unneces-

sary. 

In asking me to present this paper, 

M r . L e u p p suggested that I add a w o r d 

about w h a t other university libraries along 

the east coast are doing. I gather f r o m 

conversations w i t h several university li-

brarians along the east coast that Y a l e ' s 

course has been pretty much in line w i t h 

w h a t is being done generally. Some of 

D EC EMBER, 1942 27 



the public libraries have taken a more 

direct part in the w a r effort by putting up 

recruiting posters, making prominent dis-

plays of books such as the Shirer Diary 

and the Davies Mission to Moscow. O u r 

general policy is not to buy more than 

t w o copies of any current book (any de-

partment that desires more than t w o copies 

buys the additional ones out of its o w n 

departmental f u n d s ) , and w e have so far 

adhered to this policy. W e have given 

some thought in the library to the question 

of whether it is not our duty to use a 

larger proportion of our available book 

funds during the w a r for the purchase of 

a large number of copies of books which 

w o u l d instill the w a r spirit in the minds 

and hearts of the students, and by appro-

priate publicity induce the students to read 

them. T h i s is another question that I ex-

pect to bring up at the library committee's 

next meeting. 

Longer Hours for Staff? 

T h e question has just been raised 

whether the library ought not to ask its 

staff to put in longer hours ( w i t h o u t in-

crease in pay because the university is not 

in a position to grant any increase), so as 

gradually to release more and more mem-

bers of the staff for w a r w o r k . T h e ques-

tion could easily become acute at Y a l e , 

as in other colleges that have adopted the 

year-round curriculum, because the mem-

bers of the faculty w h o previously had 

their summers free are giving courses this 

summer w i t h o u t extra pay. B u t , despite 

this consideration, I can see no justice in 

asking members of our library staff to 

make such a sacrifice w h e n workers in 

industry, far from w o r k i n g extra hours 

w i t h o u t any pay, get a higher rate of pay 

for overtime than for the normal w o r k i n g 

period. 

28 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES