Have you seen our new exhibit in the Ellis Library Colonnade? It’s called Libraries at War, and it features selections from the Poster Collection dealing with libraries in World War I and World War II.
The Library War Service was created in 1917. It was directed by Herbert Putnam, then Librarian of Congress, and administered by the American Library Association.
In an enormous effort to send books and other
reading material to the American forces, the ALA distributed about ten million
books and magazines; collected five million dollars from public donations;
supplied library collections to more than 500 locations, including military
hospitals; and with the financial help of Carnegie Corporation, established 36
camp and military base libraries.During the Second World War more than seventeen
million books were collected through the National Defense Book Campaign
launched in 1941 and better known as the Victory Book Campaign.Books were frequently
regarded as powerful ideological tools. President Roosevelt wrote: “No man and
no force can take from the world the books that embody man’s eternal fight
against tyranny. In this war, we know,
books are weapons.”It was very hard to take good photos through glass AND mylar, but be assured – in person, these posters are quite striking. If you’re in Columbia, stop by and take a look.