In Time of WarWhen the nation is in crisis, America's libraries respond |
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Dr.
Patti Clayton Becker, Associate Professor in the University Library, has
published "In
Time of War" in American Libraries, 34/5 (May 2003): 54-57.
"A foreign enemy unexpectedly attacks the United States. Shocked and angered, the nation overlooks bitter political differences and rallies around the president. As the military mobilizes the defense industry expands. Fearing another attack, people worry about home front safety and threats to the nation’s transportation system and energy and water supplies. It seems that the American way of life is under siege. Sound familiar? Sound like recent history? The US since September 11, perhaps? On the contrary, the scenario just described refers to events that began sixty years ago, when Pearl Harbor ushered the United States into the Second World War."
Dr. Becker's introduction to the article launches a fascinating glimpse of the similar experiences of libraries now and in World War II. Libraries are most successful when they understand and serve their communities, and during World War II library leaders urged public libraries to become opinion leaders and active promoters of democracy. This, they thought, might help to increase their visibility and garner federal attention and support. However, most people used libraries for recreational reading and other personal pursuits. Libraries (and librarians) that recognized this were more likely to be successful in serving their community than those who believed libraries should serve higher, abstract causes.
The "Books are Weapons in the War of Ideas" poster was published by the US Government Printing Office and distributed by the Office of War Information Division of Public Inquiry in 1942 to many American libraries. The theme was a favorite of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and reflects the ideological nature of the war, which many thought of as a struggle between fascism and democracy. The graphic calls to mind the infamous Nazi book burnings which began in 1933. |
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The "Give More Books" poster was also distributed by the Office of War Information Division of Public Inquiry. Published in 1943, it was part of the publicity effort of the second Victory Book Campaign to stimulate civilian book donations. The VBC, as it was known, was a joint effort of the American Library Association, the American Red Cross and the United Service Organizations (USO) to collect books for the American military. The first VBC was in 1942, and the second was in 1943. Together they distributed over 10 million books to the Army, Navy (including Marines), American Merchant Marine, USO, American Red Cross, War Prisoner’s Aid, war relocation centers (Japanese concentration camps), and some industrial areas affected by the war. Librarians were instrumental in receiving, sorting, packing, and shipping VBC books. |
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"Ever since the days of the Viet Nam war I have been interested in how war affects the home front," says Patti. Her English master’s thesis (Drew University, 1985) was on the war novels of Edith Wharton (Limitations of the imagination: the war fiction of Edith Wharton). Her doctoral dissertation is titled Up the Hill of Opportunity: American Public Libraries and ALA during World War II. She has presented material on Wisconsin libraries during WWII at the Wisconsin Library Association (WLA), on the Victory Book Campaigns at SHARP (the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing), on American libraries during WWII at the Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians, and on writing a dissertation at WLA. Her next projects will include working up parts of her WWII research into articles to submit to scholarly, peer reviewed journals. "In Time of War" is available on the Web to the UW and UWSP communities, as well as public libraries through BadgerLink. |
Photograph, posters and quotations courtesy of the author. American Libraries cover graphic courtesy of the American Library Association © Copyright 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003.