Arming the Mind and Spirit

"Arming the Mind and Spirit: The Library Reports upon Its Services during the First Year of War." By Ralph Munn, Director of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Carnegie Magazine, March 1943, pp. 291-295.

"My son wrote me to come to the library and ask you to translate 'white house' into Spanish for me." The censor must have been drowsy when he passed this soldier's too obvious ruse to inform his family that he was stationed in Casablanca. Many are more subtle and cause prolonged searches through books and atlases. Which North African city, for example, has a large central square with an equestrian statue? And in what area of Australia might a soldier see aborigines every day, be near a sugar plantation, yet far from railroads and the sea? Most disappointed are those relatives who try to locate the city of Sans Origine; they are scarcely able to believe that this postmark was devised for the very purpose of concealing the place of posting.

Giving aid and comfort to parents who are intent on thwarting the censors is merely a minor incident in days devoted to the sterner necessities of the times.

This is the first war in our entire history in which books have been officially designated as weapons. This new viewpoint toward the book springs from the realization that this is a war of ideas, a war in which countries poisoned by totalitarian doctrines must be defeated by nations inspired by the ideas of democratic freedom.

President Roosevelt has recognized the wartime importance of books in the following words:

"In our country's first year of war, we have seen the growing power of books as weapons. Through books we have appraised our enemies and discovered our allies. We have learned something of American valor in battle. We have, above all, come to understand better the kind of war we must fight and the kind of peace we must establish.

"This is proper, for a war of ideas can no more be won without books than a naval war can be won without ships. Books, like ships, have the toughest armor, the longest cruising range, and mount the most powerful guns. I hope that all who write and publish and sell and administer books will...rededicate themselves to the single task of arming the mind and spirit of the American people with the strongest and most enduring weapons."

The Victory Corner was established in the Central Lending Division to bring the best war books into such prominence that Pittsburghers can scarcely escape them. Every branch library has also devised methods of displaying these books conspicuously.

Librarians cannot examine readers to determine what they have gained from their reading, but it is inevitable that a much better understanding of the war and all its issues has resulted from the study of the many fine books of the year. Herbert Agar's "Time for Greatness" and James Reston's "Prelude to Victory" have awakened many of us to the necessity of working continuously to keep the freedom we have inherited. Howard K. Smith's "Last Train from Berlin" and former Ambassador Grew's "Report from Tokyo" gave us much better understanding of our enemies. Two novels, "The Seventh Cross" and "Hostages," both written by gifted refugees, have reflected Nazi brutality in a way that arouses every lover of freedom. Innumerable eye witness accounts have brought home to us the battles of land, sea, and air. Perhaps the most gripping of these was "They Were Expendable," which was designated by a jury of critics as the first "I" book, meaning that it is imperative reading for all civilians who would understand the war.

Those who fear that the United States may win the war only to lose the peace should derive some comfort from the amount of reading which centers about postwar problems. An informed public opinion is in the making.

Pittsburgh's Wylie Avenue district is usually cited as an underprivileged area, but even there the reading of informative books has not been slighted. In a study called "Since Pearl Harbor," Miss Eugenia Brunot, branch librarian at Wylie Avenue, tells of the use during 1942 of 109 books relating to history and the war. These 109 books had a total record of 610 loans, though many of them were not published until late in the year. William L. Shirer's "Berlin Diary" led with 26 circulations, and John Gunther's "Inside Asia" stood second on the list with 15 readers.

In addition to giving prominence to books dealing with the larger aspects of the war, the Victory Corner has served as an information center for problems arising on the home front. It has also been designated as an official depository of information by the Allegheny County Council of Defense.

Young men have ranked high among the Corner's readers, for here they find the books explaining the special features of all branches of the armed forces. Many hundreds of Pittsburghers have chosen their field more intelligently and have progressed more rapidly because of preliminary study in the Victory Corner.

The Business Branch received 9,864 questions, 378 more than in 1941. Almost all these questions related to the war's impact upon business. The War Law Service, because of the speed with which it distributes laws, executive orders, and directives, is in constant use. Government agencies and their personnel change so frequently that directories are out-of-date before they are printed. To meet this need, the branch librarians have made their own index, which they correct daily as changes are noted in the newspapers.

Engineers and research workers brought nearly 6,500 questions to the Technology Department, and 4,597 additional questions were received by telephone. A partial solution to the stoppage of German technical periodicals was effected in London, where microfilms are made from copies smuggled from Germany. The Technology Department has received these microfilms of forty of the more important chemical and technical journals.

The Reference Department has centralized many of its source materials in a War Information Section. Statistical abstracts and official documents yield the answers to many questions that are not available in the more popular books housed in the Victory Corner. Every phase of Pittsburgh's contribution to the war effort is being recorded in the files of the Pennsylvania Room. It has been designated by the Pennsylvania State Historical Commission as the official repository for such information.

From all this it should not be thought that the Library has become solely a war information bureau. College and public school students still need reference and supplementary book service, boys and girls still come to the Library, and even the general public found time to read many thousands of books that had no bearing on the war. There was less recreational reading, of course, as war activities claimed more and more of everyone's time. In all, 3,166,567 books were borrowed for home reading, about twelve per cent less than in 1941.

This decrease in the volume of loans was fortunate, in one sense, as it permitted the staff members to devote sufficient time to the more specific and more difficult needs of the wartime reader. With far less leisure, there are few calls for "just some good books." Requests are definite and relate to a need sufficiently strong to have brought the reader to the Library during his few spare hours. To fill one such need precisely, with material which is authentic, concise, and up-to-the-minute requires far more time than to satisfy the less exacting wants of the average library visitor in the more leisurely times of peace.

By aiding the leaders of organizations, the Library projects its service and influence far into the community. Much of this work centers in the Reader's Consultant's Office, to which social workers, Parent-Teacher Association officials, leaders of forums and study clubs, and many others come for suggestions and help.

Though it was established only four years ago, the Music Division has become fairly adequate to the needs of Pittsburgh. Musicologists now speak of it as a "satisfactory working collection." This division, perhaps more than any other, claims the interest of a large circle of friends. The Boyd Memorial Musicological Library and the New Friends of Music have been especially generous in their aid. Operatic and symphonic scores and phonograph recordings of standard compositions are the two fields in which weaknesses are still apparent.

In observing the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Julius D. Bernd, the Art Division emphasized the productivity of endowment funds when they are held for a long period. Mr. Bernd bequeathed $16,935 in 1895. From the interest alone, the Library has expended $46,085 for books and periodicals dealing with architecture and design. To a considerable extent these books are expensive ones; many of them could not have been made available in Pittsburgh from regular tax funds.

The appeal of war subjects to children is undeniably strong but of questionable worth. Many parents deplore the child's absorption in the more lurid details of battle. Librarians try to counteract these interests partially by directing attention toward the historic struggles for freedom, the lives of great Americans, and an understanding of other lands and people. The airplane, considered both as a machine and a weapon, is so firmly embodied in the child's thought that concessions must be made; here, however, the making of models and practice in recognizing all types of airplanes are the phases of interest that are encouraged.

In a world aflame with war it is neither possible nor desirable that children be completely shielded from its influence. They inevitably receive a full measure of actual war scenes from the newsreels, newspapers, and radio. Children's librarians feel, then, that they are acting in the child's best interest when they encourage him to give part of his reading time to books of cultural value.

Arming the mind and spirit of the American people is a task which no one agency can accomplish. The staff of the Carnegie Library is under no delusion that the war can be won with books alone; it does believe with the utmost sincerity, however, that the war and the peace cannot be won unless we have an informed and understanding people. We know that books are essential to this full understanding, that newspaper and radio fare is incomplete.

Told by President Roosevelt that books are weapons in this war of ideas, the staff has endeavored to make books serve as effectively as possible. We believe that many thousands of Pittsburghers have gained a fuller understanding of the war through their use of the Library's resources. We know that local industries have relied upon the Library for information which was essential to their wartime production.

We know, too, that life must go on in the home and the school even in critical times, so we have sought to maintain services for civilians insofar as they do not conflict with war needs.

Such, then, has been the Library's contribution to the first year of the war effort.