The Department of the Interior Library SystemAuthor(s): Paul HowardSource: The Library Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Jan., 1957), pp. 38-46Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4304603 .

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THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LIBRARY SYSTEM

PAUL HOWARD

Is article will discuss those librar- ies of the Department of the In-

I terior which are established to help the officials and employees of the depart- ment in the performance of their work. Other libraries, such as those in Indian schools, or those established primarily for the use of visitors at the national parks, are not included.

The Department of the Interior was established on March 3, 1849, as the "Home Department" of the government. It was formed by a regrouping of activi- ties from four of the five then-existing executive departments and was set up with the following principal offices: Gen- eral Land Office, Patent Office, Indian Office, and Pension Office.' Since that time the evolution of the executive branch of the government has resulted in creation of additional departments and an accompanying shifting of offices and functions until, at present, the Depart- ment of the Interior, although it retains some "Home Department" functions, is primarily concerned with natural re- sources.

The department's Employee Handbook states that its work is concerned primarily with the man- agement, conservation and development of the natural resources of the United States.

The jurisdiction of the Department extends over the continental United States, to islands in the Caribbean and the South Pacific, and to lands in the Arctic Circle. It includes the cus- tody of 750 million acres of land, the conserva- tion and development of mineral resources, the promotion of mine safety, the protection of fish and wildlife, the administration of the Nation's

great scenic and historic areas, the reclamation of the arid lands of the West through irrigation, and the management of hydroelectric power systems. The Department of the Interior is also responsible for the welfare of nearly three mil- lion persons in the territories and island posses- sions and has guardianship of about four hun- dred thousand Indians in the continental United States and thirty-four thousand Indians, Eski- mos, and Aleuts in Alaska.

These departmental functions are ex- ercised through five assistant secretaries who-under the Secretary and the Un- dersecretary, corresponding to president and first vice-president-might be com- pared to vice-presidents of an industrial organization and are responsible for a group of bureaus and offices whose func- tions are roughly similar. The assigned functions of these assistant secretaries are as follows.

The Assistant Secretary-Minerals Resources discharges the duties and exer- cises the authority of the Secretary with respect to minerals and fuels and has su- pervision over the Bureau of Mines, the Geological Survey, the Office of Oil and Gas, the Office of Minerals Mobilization, the Office of Geography, and the Defense Minerals Exploration Administration.

The Assistant Secretary-Public Land Management discharges the duties and exercises the authority of the Secretary with respect to land utilization and man- agement and territorial and Indian af- fairs and has supervision over the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Office of Territories.

The Assistant Secretary-Water and Power Development discharges the du- 1 9 U.S. Stat. 395.

38

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THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LIBRARY SYSTEM 39

ties and exercises the authority of the Secretary with respect to the develop- ment of water and power and has super- vision over the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bonneville Power Administration, the Southwestern Power Administration, the Southeastern Power Administration, and the Office of Saline Water.

The Assistant Secretary-Fish and Wildlife discharges the duties and exer- cises the authority of the Secretary with respect to the conservation and develop- ment of commercial fisheries and the protection of game and wildlife, includ- ing sport fishing.

The Administrative Assistant Secre- tary discharges the duties and exercises the authority of the Secretary with re- spect to administrative management, in- cluding administrative services, budget and finance, inspection, management re- search, personnel management, property management, and security.

Under the assistant secretaries are four bureaus (Sport Fisheries and Wild Life, Commercial Fisheries, Mines, and Geological Survey) whose work is pn- marily research in nature and eight bu- reaus and offices (Southeastern, South- western, and Bonneville Power Adminis- trations, Indian Affairs, Land Manage- ment, Reclamation, National Park Serv- ice, and Office of Territories) which are primarily operational in nature but which nevertheless have some extensive research programs.

In addition to scientific and technolog- ical research, the co-ordination and man- agement of a group of enterprises as large, widespread, and varied as those in the Department of the Interior demand research in the fields of management, in law, and in economic and social sciences. The literature needs of the research and operating programs demand a library service as varied in its content, as deep in

its penetration, and as practical in its application as the programs themselves.

From its earliest organization the de- partment, or at least its offices, felt the need of library service. In 1849 R. S. Chilton was paid $800 for his services as librarian and temporary clerk in the Patent Office.2 In 1850 a departmental circulating library was established, and by 1873 the position of Superintendent of Documents and Librarian was es- tablished by law.3 In 1889 the Secre- tary of the Interior reported to the Congress on the status of six libraries in the department, which contained ap- proximately 70,000 bound volumes and 42,000 pamphlets.4 The law libraries had established a combined catalog. How- ever, it was the opinion of the librarian of the department's library and of the vari- ous commissioners that any further con- solidation would in fact be detrimental to the work of the department.

The department's library, which con- sisted of works "of a miscellaneous char- acter, such as history, biography, fiction, poetry, geography, travels, language, logic, moral, mental and natural philoso- phy, and works upon all subjects in- cluded in a miscellaneous or circulating library," had very little significance to the work of the department. The law col- lections and the technical collections were maintained in the various bureaus and offices. In 1907 the Secretary of the Interior reported: "The library of the Department, consisting of 9,287 vol- umes, which was used simply as a circu-

2 United States Department of State, Register of All Officers and Agents ... in the Service of tshe United States on the Thirtieth September, 1849... (Wash- ington, D.C.: Gideon & Co., 1849), p. 131.

' Memorandum from W. B. Acker (chief clerk) to E. K. Burlew (administrative assistant), dated March 31, 1928.

'47th Cong., 2d sess.; House Executive Docu- ment No. 55 (Washington, D.C.: Government Print- ing Office, 1883).

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40 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY

lating library, has been abolished and the books distributed to the Library of Con- gress and the Public Library of the Dis- trict of Columbia."5 Some items of this collection may now be found in the Rare- Book Room of the Library of Congress; some, after transfer from the Library of Congress to other libraries, have returned to the Department of the Interior. How- ever, the great bulk of them are not iden- tifiable.

The idea of a departmental library kept recurring. In 1928 a formal proposal was made by the librarian of the Pension Office to establish a central library in the department.8 In 1937, with occupancy of a new building, a consolidated library was established, and on April 28 of that year Departmental Order 1173 provided that "all books now housed in rooms should be turned over to the library, ex- cept reference books actually needed in connection with current work."7 Later (July 21, 1941),8 a committee on the li- brary, with the First Assistant Secretary as the chairman and the departmental li- brarian as secretary, was established for the purpose of consulting "with the de- partmental librarian in connection with the creation, development and main- tenance of a conservation library for the Department of the Interior."

These efforts represented a more real- istic concept of the function of a Depart- ment of the Interior library than pre- vailed before 1907. The concept of the library as a conservation library, a sub-

ject closely related to the mission of the department, gave promise of real devel- opment. However, flaws in the organiza- tion and execution of the concept, the impact of World War IS, and divers changes in the departmental structure and personnel prevented the library from ever becoming established in fact. There is no record of actual appointment of a departmental librarian, although it seems evident that the librarian of the Office of Education and later the librarian of the consolidated law library served in this capacity on occasions. The principal rea- sons for this failure were: (1) there was no adequate financial program; (2) exist- ing libraries were not consolidated, either administratively or physically; (3) a li- brarian with sufficient authority was not appointed; (4) a definitive library pro- gram was not developed.

In 1943 or 1944 a study was prepared in the Division of Budget and Adminis- trative Management on "Reorganization of the Libraries of the Department of the Interior. "9 This report, although it repre- sented a considerable advance in its con- ception of the necessary library program and organization, failed in some funda- mental respects and also failed to gain acceptance.

In the meantime bureau libraries were growing at varying rates. In Washington they possessed approximately 580,000 volumes, which by 1948 increased to 675,000 volumes. In addition, some six- teen libraries had been established out- side Washington by various bureaus.

In 1947 and 1948 a series of events transpired that focused attention on the need for a departmental library. On July 1, 1939, the Office of Education had been

' United States Department of the Interior, Re- ports for Ihe Fiscal Year Ending 1907 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1907), I, 6.

S Memorandum from C. 0. Howard, librarian of the Pension Bureau, to E. K. Burlew, dated March 24, 1928.

7 United States Department of the Interior, Or- der No. 1173, April 28, 1937.

8 United States Department of the Interior, Or- der No. 1589, July 21, 1941.

U United States Department of the Interior, Divi- sion of Budget and Administrative Management, "Reorganization of the Libraries of the Department of the Interior" (photostat of unpublished type- script, 6 + [5] pages, in the department library).

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THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LIBRARY SYSTEM 41

transferred from the Department of the Interior to the Federal Security Agency. However, the outbreak of the war had prevented removal of the library of the Office of Education from its quarters in the Interior Building until December, 1948. Before the end of the war, and con- tinuing afterward, there was a liquida- tion of a number of emergency agencies, such as the National Resources Planning Board and the Office for Emergency Management,10 which had library collec- tions covering subject fields of great in- terest to the Department of the Interior. In the unsuccessful efforts to obtain these collections, it became evident that the lack of a departmental library was a serious handicap. This factor, coupled with the availability of space and equip- ment resulting from the removal of the library of the Office of Education, reacti- vated the demand for a departmental li- brary.

The Librarian of Congress was re- quested to lend the services of a member of his staff to serve as a consultant for the purpose of studying and recommending action on the contemplated consolidation of bureau libraries. Mr. Donald G. Pat- terson was assigned to this task. His re- port, presented during January, 1949,11 was the most comprehensive study that had yet been made of the department's libraries in Washington. Mr. Patterson found:

The library services of the Department of Interior are provided by ten separate and unco-

ordinated libraries maintained by the constitu- ent bureaus, services or divisions, primarily as research and technical collections for the use of their specialists. The collections have accumu- lated over different periods of time, subject to conflicting conceptions of library needs, to di- verse policies of library administration or devel- opment and with varying degrees of support for library activities in the respective bureaus, or even in different departments, since some of the services have had a migratory existence, marked by fairly frequent mergers or partitions of func- tion or organization.

He recommended a physical consolida- tion of all libraries except the library of the Division of Geography and that of the Geological Survey, with a consolida- tion of operations and services between them and the departmental library.

As a result of this report, Departmen- tal Order 2525 was issued to take effect on July 1, 1949.12 This order established a Department of the Interior library in order to promote the objectives of the De- partment through a wider dissemination of knowledge in the field of natural resources and in the other fields of activity of the Department; to improve the facilities for research by the bureaus and offices of the Department, other Federal agencies, state and local agencies, and representatives of foreign governments inter- ested in such fields of activity; and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of existing li- brary facilities.

The new library was to be composed of a consolidation of eight bureau libraries, with the Geological Survey and the Divi- sion of Geography libraries under the technical supervision of the librarian of the department. It also provided author- ity for surveys of other libraries and col- lections and for their consolidation and integration in the department's library system. The library functions established were (a) bibliographic service, (b) refer- ence service, (c) loan service, (d) reader

1" Letters from J. Edward Folger, librarian of the National Resources Planning Board, to the Secre- tary of the Interior, January 14, 1941, and February 11, 1941; letter from Frederic A. Delano, chairman, National Resources Planning Board, to the Secre- tary of the Interior, July 6, 1943.

11 Donald G. Patterson, "Recommendations Re- lating to Contemplated Consolidation of the Bureau Libraries in the Department of Interior" (Washing- ton, D.C., 1949) (unpublished twenty-five-page typescript in department library).

12 United States Department of the Interior, Or- der No. 2525, June 24, 1949.

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42 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY

service, (e) technical supervision over other collections, and (f) centralized ac- quisitions. The writer was selected as de- partment librarian and reported for duty August 1, 1949. At this point a brief de- scription of the libraries affected by the consolidation might be in order.'3

The library of the Geological Survey was the most complete and most distin- guished of all the libraries in the depart- ment. It had approximately 325,000 vol- umes, 100,000 maps and charts, and ex- tensive runs of periodicals and other serials. In content it covered the entire field of geology and related sciences and was recognized as perhaps the finest re- search collection in geology in the coun- try. Two major bibliographies were being regularly prepared in this library-The Bibliography of North American Geology, published by the Geological Survey, and the Bibliography andi Index of Geology Exclusive of North America, published by the Geological Society of America. The library had developed its own classifica- tion scheme but was fully cataloged by standard methods.

The law library, which was main- tained by the Solicitor's Office, contained 115,000 volumes. It was specialized to fit the needs of the departments. It stressed legal materials from the seventeen west- emn states, administrative law, and fed- eral law and its legislative background. It contained all the National Reporter systems, the congressional set of docu- ments, a large collection of congressional hearings, and numerous sets of adminis- trative decisions. The bulk of its mate- rials, being continuations, was accessible without cataloging.

The library of the Fish and Wildlife Service consisted of approximately 90,000

volumes, including 500 periodical titles and numerous serial publications, de- voted to biology, natural history, ocea- nography, fisheries, game management, ecology, and all the related sciences which would assist in the conservation and development of fishery and wildlife resources. It was a very specialized col- lection having very little of what might, in a college library, be called undergradu- ate material but a great deal of research materials. It was organized according to the Library of Congress classification and cataloged by standard methods.

The library of the Bureau of Mines consisted of approximately 73,000 vol- umes, including 400 periodical titles cur- rently received. It was a working library and did not attempt to be as definitive as the library of the Geological Survey or to penetrate as deeply in specific areas of its fields as did the library of the Fish and Wildlife Service. However, it did attempt to meet the current needs of its bureau in Washington, with basic technological publications and with current serials in the fields of mining engineering, mineral economics and production, mineral re- sources, health and safety, and metal- lurgy. It used the Library of Congress classification and was cataloged ade- quately but not so comprehensively as the two technical libraries already men- tioned.

The libraries of the Bureau of Recla- mation and the National Park Service were alike in some respects. They were neither cataloged nor classified; they had no librarian and no financial program. In fact, they were collections of books rather than libraries, 15,000 belonging to Reclamation and 27,000 to the Park Service.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bu- reau of Land Management, and the Of- fice of Territories each had small libraries

13 Mary Horgan, "Survey of Library Facilities in the Department of the Interior" (unpublished the- sis, Catholic University of America, 1953).

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THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LIBRARY SYSTEM 43

presided over by untrained librarians. Only the collection of the Office of Terri- tories was classified (by a homemade sys- tem). None of the collections was cata- loged except that the library of the Bu- reau of Indian Affairs possessed an index to Indian history, travel, and biography consisting of approximately 200,000 en- tries. The three libraries had approxi- mately 20,000 volumes among them.

The Division of Geography had 10,000 volumes and 100,000 maps and charts. Its chief function was to assist the ge- ographers in the research necessary for assigning official place names for the gov- ernment. It was classified by the Boggs- Lewis map classification scheme, and the books were cataloged by standard meth- ods.

In addition to these library collections, there was a probable total of 50,000- 60,000 volumes in various bureaus and offices in Washington. There were sixteen "field" libraries in varying states of or- ganization.

The organization problems confront- ing the new Department of the Interior Library were difficult and complex. They involved public relations, budgeting, staffing, and replanning all library opera- tions and procedures to fit the new condi- tions established by the library consoli- dation.

The psychological climate into which the new library was born was not con- ducive to longevity. The history of past attempts at consolidation gave credence to the belief that centralization of library service was impractical. In addition, the department itself was not strongly cen- tralized; each bureau enjoyed a great deal of autonomy. At that time, aside from a few housekeeping functions, such as a switchboard and a central duplicat- ing service, there were few department- wide services in Washington and fewer in

the field. The Department of the Interior was more like a confederation of bureaus than a unified organization.

The most immediate problem was the consolidation and integration of the col- lections and staff of the eight libraries. This immediately ran into a difficulty which was not settled for ten months. Space in government buildings is allo- cated by the General Services Adminis- tration, which at that time was negotiat- ing with the Department of the Interior on a number of space problems and which insisted on solving them all together. The delay was annoying and frustrating, but in the interval three important steps were taken which added materially to the final consolidation. The Manual of Proce- dures" was completed in November, 1949. Up to this point several of the bu- reau libraries were occupying approxi- mately only half of the space that had been allotted to them. This included a reading room, portions of stacks, and of- fices. During January, 1950, the staff and book collections of six bureaus were transferred to this space, thus advancing the consolidation of the department li- braries. Finally, a pattern for financial support was established by consultation with the bureau fiscal officers.

Reorganization of the staff stemmed directly from a reallocation of duties. The Manual of Procedures called for a separa- tion of clerical and professional functions and for an immediate pooling of staff and book resources. In the latter respect it departed from the recommendations of the Library of Congress survey, which had assumed that an interval of time would be required during which technical processes would be centralized but serv- ices would remain at least partially seg-

14 United States Department of the Interior, Cen- tral Library, Manul of Procedures (Washington, D.C.: Department of the Interior, 1949).

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44 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY

regated and the collections divided. The organizational structure of the

new central library is simple. Two major divisions were established: Technical Processes and Readers and Reference Service."5 The Technical Processes Sec- tion was subdivided into acquisitions and cataloging ulnits, while the Readers and Reference Service was divided into a ref- erence unit and a circulation unit. As- signment of jobs within the organiza- tional pattern was made after consulta- tion with each individual staff member, and job descriptions were drawn to meet the needs of the library, with concessions to the inclination and abilities of the staff members.

A brief resume of events will show how the consolidation progressed. The staff was consolidated on January 3, 1950. Catalogs of the library of the Fish and Wildlife Service, the library of the Bu- reau of Mines, and the library of the Solicitor's Office were interfiled without revision by February. This represented interfiling of more than three catalogs, since the Fish and Wildlife Service had three of its own: these were the old Bio- logical Survey catalog, the old Bureau of Fisheries catalog, and the Fish and Wild- life Service catalog developed after con- solidation of the two former bureaus. The Biological Survey used a classifica- tion different from the other collections. The periodical checklists were revised and interfiled by the end of April, 1950; the total library space was made avail- able June 10; and the intershelving of the classified book collections was virtually completed by July 1. Consolidation of the periodical collections into a single alphabet was completed early in 1951. Sorting and arranging the unclassified,

uncataloged collections was largely com- pleted by July, 1951. Cataloging of the library of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was completed, and the collection was integrated by November, 1953. The col- lection of the Office of Territories was cataloged and integrated by December, 1954. Collections of the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the Bureau of Reclamation were ar- ranged with the unclassified material and cataloged whenever circulated or used. Cataloging and recataloging of the law collection is still in process, although cat- aloging of the law texts and of congres- sional hearings was reasonably complete in 1955.

It will be noted that after 1950 there was a marked slowing-down in the rate of consolidation activities. The reason was threefold: the most pressing demands were satisfied; there was a tremendous upsurge in library use; and there was a greatly increased inflow of materials from bureaus and offices of the depart- ment and from exchanges. These in- creases were absorbed by the staff with- out additional personnel except for stack attendants.

Use of the library was more than doubled in the first three years. An aver- age of the percentages of increase during these years showed that library use in 1953 was 234 per cent of 1950. The rate of cataloging increased by more than 60 per cent.'6

By 1954 the pattern of library devel- opment was fairly well determined. It might be in order to examine the current status of the libraries in the department, so that a picture of library operations and problems in a moderately decentral-

16 Memorandum from Paul Howard, departmen- tal librarian, to William Dougherty, acting director, Division of Information, December 22, 1949.

"I United States Department of the Interior, Cen- tral Library, "Reports on Library Use," 1951, 1952, 1953, and 1954 (typescript copies in department li- brary files).

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THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LIBRARY SYSTEM 45

ized but widespread department might be obtained.

During fiscal year 1955 the Depart- ment of the Intenror was served by three libraries in Washington and by sixteen in the field. There was a total of 115 em- ployees and an annual expenditure of $639,000, as compared with 87 employees and expenditures of $411,000 in fiscal year 1951. These libraries are only very loosely allied within the department, the basic statement concerning department- wide library functions and organization having been issued as recently as April 30, 1956.'7

Financially, the libraries are supported in three ways. The department library is supported out of a working capital fund which is reimbursed for library purposes by quarterly assessments against the bu- reaus served. The amount of these as- sessments is determined by the number of employees in Washington above GS-5. Each year, when the library budget is ap- proved, a determination is made of the number of employees in each bureau above Grade 5, and the bureau is notified that it will be assessed for library service by an amount proportionate to the ratio of those employees to the total number of such employees in Washington. The Geological Survey in Washington and all libraries in the field are supported di- rectly by congressional appropriations. These are usually carried as salaries and expenses in the Appropriation Act. The library of the Division of Geography is supported by funds derived from other governmental agencies through con- tracts negotiated in the division.

Since 1955 one field library at Port- land, Oregon, is being operated by the

Bonneville Power Administration for all Department of the Interior agencies in Portland. Bonneville is reimbursed for library service in a manner comparable to that in the department library in Washington.

Books and related materials acquired by deposit, exchange, gift, transfer, or purchase are considered part of the li- brary resources of the department except in the case of archival materials. The de- partment library has established proce- dures for clearing all book and periodical purchases in Washington. Department- wide contracts for procurement of books, periodicals, and binding have been estab- lished in Washington, and these are available to field agencies.

Books which are purchased for per- manent retention in an office are paid for by the bureau or office concerned. How- ever, such materials are cataloged by the library and handled as an indefinite loan or permanent deposit. The Departmental Manual provides for similar co-ordina- tion of book acquisitions through the agency library. It says: "Acquisitions procedures should provide a unit control for all publications purchased. They should provide for co-ordination of all book purchases within the agencies served and for precise bibliographic iden- tification and recording of each item re- quired and received." This establishes a pattern of centralization of acquisitions within each field agency but of geograph- ic decentralization on the departmental basis. The one exception to this pattern is for lawbooks. The acquisition of law- books for the field as well as for Washing- ton was centralized in the department library by request of the Solicitor's Office in 1955.

Other library services are less central- ized than acquisitions. Material in the department library is available to any

17 United States Department of the Interior, De- partmenWa Manual (Washington, D.C.: Department of the Interior, 1956), Part 317, "Library Manage- ment," Sheets 1-2.

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46 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY

employee of the department by direct loan, by loan through a field library, or by photostatic copy. The department li- brary "back-stops" other libraries in ref- erence work and other services. However, the field libraries are quite far removed from Washington and obtain most of their assistance from other libraries in their areas.

Administratively, the field libraries are part of the field agency of the bureau and are completely decentralized except in the case of the Geological Survey, which has libraries at Denver and Menlo Park (Califomria) serving as branches of the library of the Geological Survey in Washington. However, the Departmental Manual provides:

The Department Librarian exercises techni- cal supervision over all libraries, collections and facilities. In exercising this supervision he ad- vises and assists the libraries in their operations, makes periodic reviews of the status of library service, recommends methods for increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of library service and for closer integration of the libraries, and formu- lates and recommends over-all library policy for the Department.

In other words, the department librarian serves as a staff officer on all library mat- ters and as a line officer in operating the department library.

The Department of the Interior li- brary system (if it can be called a sys- tem) is in a period of evolution. Its status

lies somewhere between a completely de- centralized group of libraries and an ad- ministratively centralized system such as that operated in the Department of Agriculture. It appears unlikely, unless the organization of the department is radically changed, that the Interior li- braries will ever be consolidated into a single administrative structure com- pletely separated from the bureaus.

However, it appears that a true sys- tem of library service may develop in this way: The department library, through development of its collections and serv- ices and through improvement of its com- munication facilities, will become in fact the central library of the department, as- sisting each library in providing a full measure of library service and serving all employees to whom field libraries are not readily accessible. Basic standards of li- brary service and operation appear to be inevitable, and a greater degree of co- operation and co-ordination between the libraries appears possible. It is likely that the department library will develop two types of relationship to other libraries in the department: it will serve as a staff organization, assisting in planning, de- veloping, and organizing library service, and it will provide a variety of services for field libraries in such fields as acquisi- tions, cataloging, bibliography, refer- ence, and lending.

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