1930-1931
Recognizing that some books become more valuable with time, staff and patrons recommended books for transfer from the open stacks to the Widener Treasure Room. The Treasure Room stored manuscripts, incunabula, rare books, examples of fine printing, books with valuable plates, etc.118
1930-1931
The Radcliffe Library opened a Map Room in Longfellow Hall. Twelve maps were mended before being moved there with the others. More shelves were built in the basement of the library.119
1931
A student advertised a Leica camera in the Harvard Crimson. Widener Library’s Photographic Department bought the camera, which was used to begin producing microfilm facsimiles. Production was slow and labor-intensive at first.120
1931-1932
A new building at the Observatory would provide adequate space and a fireproof environment for its immense collection of glass negatives.121
1931-1932
Georgiana Ames began to note the following statistics for binding and repair work at the Radcliffe Library: volumes bound and rebound, outside the Library; volumes repaired, in the Library; pamphlets inserted in binders, in the Library.122
1931-1933
A decrease in the University’s income caused Widener to close in the evening and on Sundays. Many Harvard libraries coped with reduced budgets.123
February 1932
The Radcliffe Student Government Library Committee wrote letters or conducted interviews with students who returned more than 5 books after their due date. The library needed but could not afford additional space. Several years later, Georgiana Ames noted “the tragic unexpansiveness of the present building.”124
1934
The Harvard Bindery became a department independent from the Library. It did business with the Harvard College Library as well as with other departments of the University. When Charles Facey resigned, Robert F. Fiske became superintendent. In the following decades, most libraries at Harvard did business with the Bindery, as did departments and individual scholars. A workshop in Widener continued to do basic binding repairs.125 Records indicate Fiske’s interest in materials, equipment, standards, and treatments of bindings (leather preservative, e.g.). The Harvard University Archives holds correspondence indicating that questions regarding environment, mildew, and storage of books were directed to him.126 Services offered by the Bindery included “repairing, mounting photostats, making cases, folios, labels, etc.”127 More detailed work was possible for special projects. For example, a 1939 job description for a book from the Widener Treasure Room reads, “reback chocolate calf, AV 209 sides. Remove old mend from A3. Mount between silk. Mount TP on paper.”128
March 1935
The Radcliffe Library used its front hall to display a “varied collection of mutilated books” as an effort in user education. The show was called “Radcliffe Native Industries.”129
1935
Robert Blake noted the over-crowding of Widener’s Treasure Room and the need for additional funds to rebind and repair its holdings. The Treasure Room collection continued to grow, both by donation and by the transfer of books from the main stacks.130
1935
Eleanor S. Peters, librarian of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, having already implemented a system of organizing the library’s pamphlets, hired an assistant to “clean, oil, and repair the bindings” of over 200 rare books in the collection. She also initiated a binding program for the collection’s serials.131
1935-1936
The Divinity School Library constructed a cage to hold archival materials related to missionary work.132
1935-1936
Georgiana Ames described the Widener privileges available to Radcliffe students. Some undergraduates—this year, 45—were given access while they were working on their theses. Graduate students could use the Widener stacks year-round. Many also used departmental libraries at Harvard. The Radcliffe Library still could not afford a new building, and instead underwent renovations: wooden shelves were replaced with steel, and tables were removed to make more room for shelves. The Student Government Library Committee continued its outreach to encourage student responsibility and organized a “Be Kind to Books Day” in April 1936.133
References
118 Robert P. Blake, “The Library,” Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments 1930-1931 (1932): 231-232.
119 Georgiana Ames, “Report of the Librarian,” Annual Reports of Radcliffe College for 1930-1931 (1932): 29.
120 Grace, “The Photographic Department of the Harvard Library,” 282.
121 Harlow Shapley, “The Observatory,” Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments 1931-1932 (1933): 275.
122 Georgiana Ames, “Report of the Librarian,” Annual Reports of Radcliffe College for 1931-1932 (1933): 32.
123 Robert P. Blake, “The Library,” Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments 1931-1932 (1933): 227-228.
124 Georgiana Ames, “Report of the Librarian,” Annual Reports of Radcliffe College for 1931-1932 (1933): 29; Georgiana Ames, “Report of the Librarian,” Annual Reports of Radcliffe College for 1933-1934 (1935): 32.
125 Barnes, “The Library Bindery,” 60-63; Daniel C. Weber, “Harvard University Bindery Sold,” Library Journal 83, no. 11 (1958): 1659-1661.
126 Harvard University. Records of the Bindery, 1933-1955. UAV 213.2. Harvard University Archives. Courtesy of the Harvard University Archives.
127 Harvard University. Records of the Bindery, 1933-1955. UAV 213.229 hd. Harvard University Archives. Courtesy of the Harvard University Archives.
128 Harvard University. Records of the Bindery, 1933-1955. UAV 213.279 hd. Harvard University Archives. Courtesy of the Harvard University Archives.
129 Georgiana Ames, “Report of the Librarian,” Reports of College Officers 1934-1935 (1936): 48.
130 Robert P. Blake, “University Library,” The report of the President of Harvard College and reports of the departments for 1934-1935 (1936): 267.
131 Robert L. Work, “Ninety Years for Professor Agassiz’s Natural History Library,” Harvard Library Bulletin 6, no. 2 (1952): 214-215.
132 Willard L. Sperry, “Divinity School,” The report of the President of Harvard College and reports of the departments for 1935-1936 (1937): 186.
133 Georgiana Ames, “Report of the Librarian,” Reports of Officers 1935-1936 (1937): 50.