Depository Libraries for Endowment Publications The Executive Committee has given careful consideration during the year to the difficult problem of the proper distribution of the publications of the divisions of Economics and History and International Law. No difficulty has arisen in connection with the publications of the Division of Intercourse and Education, all of which, eight in number, are distributed gratuitously to applicants and to the several selected lists of addresses which have accumulated in the Secretary's office. Many of the publications of the other two divisions are sold at a price by reason of their technical and highly scientific character;-they are not publications intended to appeal to the general public, and of little or no service except to specialists, and their general gratuitous distribution would be an obvious waste of money. A number of these publications in both divisions are expensive to produce, and their sale will be limited because of the prices at which it is necessary to sell them. While it is not the expectation of the Committee that there will ever be a large market for many of these publications, it is nevertheless desirable that copies of them shall be placed in libraries where they can be freely consulted by the teachers, students, and specialists to whom they directly appeal. Accordingly, acting upon a recommendation of the last annual report of the Secretary, the Executive Committee decided at its meeting on May 20, 1916, to establish a chain of depository libraries, in the United States and in foreign countries, to which these publications shall be sent, free of cost and in addition to the publications for gratuitous circulation. The Committee has in mind a depository system, similar to that established by the United States Government for its own publications. A list of depository libraries was accordingly prepared in the Secretary's office, and was approved by the Committee, subject to certain conditions. These conditions were that the Secretary should first communicate with the librarian of each library on the list and obtain affirmative assurance that the books in question were desired; that the library had the facilities for properly cataloging and shelving them, and that they would be made freely accessible to all inquirers. A circular letter was sent to each library on the list, with the request for information as to its facilities and general character. The wisdom of this preliminary inquiry has been demonstrated by the results. As a rule, the librarians expressed their satisfaction at designation upon the depository list, and their purpose to cooperate with the Endowment in its plans to make all its publications easily accessible to the public. A small number of the librarians replied either that they had not the facilities for properly cataloging and handling the books, or that there was not sufficient demand for them to justify an affirmative answer. In the great majority of cases, the librarians expressed their desire to be included in the depository list, and agreed to include the Endowment publications in the regular catalogs, and make them freely accessible to their readers. The results of this canvass of the iibraries may be stated in tabular form. SUMMARY Libraries and Institutions in the United States: Universities and colleges.... Normal and Technical schools. Total... The following foreign libraries and institutions appear upon the depository list approved by the Executive Committee; distribution suspended pending a more opportune time for correspondence with them: Universities and colleges.... Law and Political Science schools.. National and State libraries.. General and other libraries.. Total..... GRAND TOTAL. APPORTIONMENT OF LIBRARIES BY STATES In selecting the depository list, the Secretary largely relied upon the United States Depository List, and had the advantage of the advice of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, all of whose publications are in the same category with those of the divisions of Economics and History and International Law, Virginia Washington 3021725094487 West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming 4 7 1 351 appealing to a limited and specialized audience. From the beginning of the free distribution of its scientific publications, the Carnegie Institution has frequently revised its depository list, eliminating from time to time the names of such libraries as have failed to fulfill the requirements originally specified as the conditions upon which the free distribution would continue. Following the same practice, it is the purpose of the Secretary, as the list of these Endowment publications increases, to keep in touch with its depository libraries and to remove from the list any libraries or institutions which are found not to observe the conditions upon which the original designation as a depository library was predicated. In the selection of the depository libraries, care was taken to designate one or more libraries in what may be called the geographical or population centers of the different States, with a view to locating at least one depository library in each such center. It is to be regretted that there were found more than one center where no such library was found, or from which no satisfactory response was received. In making its original list, the Secretary's office utilized the annual report of the United States Bureau of Education upon the libraries of the United States, and included all libraries containing 50,000 or more volumes. In a few sparsely settled sections of the country, where there were no libraries of this size, smaller libraries were designated in cities or towns which seemed to be most accessible to the surrounding neighborhood. The section of the country where the most difficulty was experienced in finding suitable depositories was that embracing the Southern States, and to a lesser degree in certain of the Western States. The Depository list contains several libraries located in the same city, due to the fact that there are several educational institutions in each such city, with large student rolls, to whose students it is desirable that these publications shall be accessible with the least inconvenience. It has been the aim of the Secretary to include all of the larger educational institutions of the country in the depository list, irrespective of the number of such institutions concentrated within a given locality. In its resolution authorizing a limited free distribution of the publications sold at a price, the Executive Committee fixed the number of such libraries at 1,000; this total included not only libraries in the United States, but those in all other countries. No attempt has yet been made to carry out the instructions of the Executive Committee with respect to any foreign libraries, because of the difficulties now surrounding ocean navigation and interfering with the regular distribution of foreign mails. Immediately upon the restoration of normal mail conditions, the correspondence with foreign libraries will be carried forward, and there will be no difficulty in making satisfactory distribution of the total number of copies of each publication for which the Executive Committee has provided. During the year, the Secretary's office has made a very satisfactory arrangement with the Bureau of International Exchanges of the Smithsonian Institution, whereby in the future all Endowment publications will be transmitted throughout the world in the regular shipments of the Bureau. This arrangement secures the delivery of Endowment publications beyond the limits of the United States free of all charge for transportation, placing them in that respect upon the same footing with those of the Government. A second advantage will spring from the regularity of shipment and the certainty of delivery. It should be stated, however, that at present the shipments of the Bureau of International Exchanges to foreign countries are very greatly limited, and to some countries, altogether abandoned. Additional lists are in process of compilation, permitting a differentiation in the free distribution of the publications of the two divisions. There will soon be ready a supplemental list of the chief law libraries of the United States, which desire the publications of the Division of International Law, but to which those of the Division of Economics and History would be of no direct interest. On the other hand, there are a number of general libraries to whose readers the publications of the Division of International Law do not appeal, and these will be represented on a second supplemental list. Under the instruction of the Executive Committee, the Secretary has also prepared a select list of periodicals, to which the publications of these Divisions will be sent for review, in order that the public may be informed as to the nature of the work they are doing, and the character of the volumes published from time to time. To aid in carrying out effectually the purpose in establishing Depository libraries, a list of these libraries accompanies this report (see page 187). Readers of the Year Book may therefore readily ascertain the names of the depositories in their immediate neighborhood, to which they can resort when they desire to consult any particular publication of the Endowment which is not gratuitously distributed. As has appeared, there is a margin remaining in the number of Depository libraries fixed by the Executive Committee, and the list can be increased to that extent. Librarians who believe that their institutions are entitled, by the character of their facilities and of their clientele, to be included among the depositories, may address the Secretary, requesting that they be included, and setting forth, in detail, the nature of their facilities and the reasons why they should be included. All such applications will be given careful consideration. Prices of the Endowment's Publications As the Trustees have been informed in previous reports, the Endowment issues several classes of publications. First, it issues publications of a popular and propaganda nature, which are sent free to all persons who have asked that their names be placed upon the Endowment's free mailing list. Secondly, it issues publications dealing with special phases of the peace movement and the maintenance of cordial international relationships, which are sent with the Endowment's compliments to selected lists of persons who are known to be interested in these particular subjects. Finally, the Endowment is publishing a series of volumes of a professional and scientific character prepared in the Divisions of Economics and History and International Law. These latter volumes require many months, if not years, in their preparation, and the cost of their preparation and publication is very great. It is the desire of the Endowment that these publications be circulated and read as widely as possible, but it is recognized that their indiscriminate circulation would be wasteful and extravagant and produce no good results in return. The question of the proper circulation of these professional and scientific volumes has received the careful consideration of the Secretary and the Executive Committee during the preceding year, with the result that a depository list has been agreed upon, referred to elsewhere in this report, containing selected libraries so situated geographically that the deposit of the Endowment's publications in them will make the publications easily accessible to most persons who desire to consult them. It is expected that this list will ultimately contain one thousand libraries, and the thousand copies supplied to them will be entirely at the expense of the Endowment. Having thus made its publications accessible to those who may not care to purchase them, the Committee has next considered the question of the prices at which the scientific and professional publications should be offered for sale to those who desire to acquire them for their personal libraries. Several methods of fixing the prices have been considered. One method took into consideration the cost of the publication. Another, involved the fixing of merely a nominal price, but sufficiently large to insure that the purchaser really desired the publication for a useful purpose. From the consideration which it has so far been possible to give to this question, neither of these methods of fixing the price has been found acceptable, and for the present the matter has been left entirely in the hands of the Endowment's publishers, to fix such prices as they consider proper, based upon the character of the book and the probable demand for it. The Secretary is daily in receipt of requests for gratuitous copies of the Endowment's publications which are sold for a price, but in view of the policy above outlined of placing them in libraries for the use of the public and offering them for sale for those who desire to acquire personal copies, the Secretary is unable to supply free copies of these publications and can only refer the inquirers to the Endowment's publishers or to the nearest depository library. This may not always seem a satisfactory answer to the recipient, but the Secretary |