Late 1930s
The Radcliffe Library dealt with overcrowding by shifting parts of its collections to Byerly Hall, Agassiz House, and dormitory libraries.134
Late 1930s
Widener installed a book drop, allowing patrons to return books when the library was closed.135
Spring 1937
The Harvard University Bindery installed a display of its bindings, with samples and photographs, at the Radcliffe Library.136
1937-1938
Widener’s Photographic Department acquired a Folmer-Graflex Photorecord camera. This camera produced better microfilm, more quickly, than the Leica purchased in 1931. The Photographic Department also purchased a microfilm reader. It soon became necessary to purchase two additional readers. Patron demand for microfilm reproductions increased in the following years. Beginning in 1938, in collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation, the Library regularly acquired microfilm reproductions of foreign newspapers.137
1937-1938
The Farlow Reference Library purchased steel filing cabinets for its collection of pamphlets and reprints. The cabinets protected the items from dust and eliminated the need to bind each item.138
1937-1939
Repairs were made to the Treasure Room, the Reading Room, and other areas of Widener. An air humidification system installed in the Treasure Room stack was intended to improve environmental conditions for the collection. Stacks constructed in the Widener sub-basement helped alleviate over-crowding, but mildew was a possibility in this moist environment.139
September 1938
A hurricane damaged the joints of the Radcliffe Library’s skylight. The damage went unnoticed until March 1939, when melting water from a heavy snowstorm dripped through the skylight for several hours. Some books were completely soaked. Others were warped either by water or by improper drying techniques.140
1938-1939
The Radcliffe Library surveyed its reserved books and several subject areas in the stacks in order to determine which needed repair or rebinding. As a result, the number of books that received “preservation by rebinding” doubled over the previous year to 2,197. Members of the Student Government Library Committee walked through the Library wearing posters reminding their classmates not to talk or eat. In subsequent years they also organized an exhibit of mutilated books (“propaganda against misuse”) and helped to erase marks made in books.141
1939
The Harvard University Archives was established, with the official purpose of preserving University records.142
1940
Keyes D. Metcalf, Librarian at Harvard College and Director of the Harvard University Libraries, began to promote his plan to save space by creating specialized libraries, including a rare books library, an undergraduate library, and a warehouse for low-use materials. Houghton Library, Lamont Library, and the New England Deposit Library were the realizations of this plan.143
1940
The Widener Photographic Department purchased a Recordak Model D camera to keep up with increasing demand for microfilm. A second Recordak Model D was purchased in 1946. 144
1940-1942
In 1940, Arthur A. Houghton Jr. agreed to endow a library for rare books and manuscripts. The donor remained anonymous for a time, but the library—which opened in 1942—was named for him. The building was air-conditioned for stable temperature and humidity, providing a better environment for books than Harvard had yet been able to supply. “Cool lighting” was used in the display cases. Shelving was designed to be free of edges that might damage bindings. The opening of Houghton stimulated the donation of rare books to Harvard. William Bond, librarian of Houghton from 1965 to 1982, described a team of Houghton employees catching and killing mice (which had entered the building during construction) on the night before the library’s grand opening. 145
1940-1942
The New England Deposit Library, a cooperative venture of several Boston- area libraries, was formed. Construction of its warehouse on Western Avenue in Allston was completed in 1942. Creating storage space on inexpensive land saved Harvard the expense of expanding its central library in Cambridge, freed up space in Cambridge collections, and allowed Harvard to postpone binding and repair work. Books from NEDL would be available via messenger service. Due to war-time demands for steel, four of the six floors had wooden shelving. The building lacked climate control. 146
1941-1942
The Andover-Harvard Theological Library was overcrowded. Some books were withdrawn and sent to the Andover Newton Theological School. Some duplicates and non-theological materials were sent to Widener. In the same period, many newspapers and periodicals were “put in boxes or protective covers.” Books published before 1700 were removed from the stacks. William A. Jackson, from Houghton, advised on which books should be prioritized for protection in case war endangered the Harvard collections. 147
1941-1942
The Radcliffe Library installed “modern fluorescent lamps” in its Reserved Book Room. It continued an ongoing campaign of selecting books for storage in NEDL and for deaccessioning. 148
References
134 See Georgiana Ames’s annual reports of this period (in Reports of Officers).
135 Lovett, “The Undergraduate and the Harvard Library, 1877-1937,” 236.
136 Georgiana Ames, “The Library,” Reports of Officers 1936-1937 (1938): 44.
137 Grace, “The Photographic Department of the Harvard Library,” 281; Keyes D. Metcalf, “University Library,” The report of the President of Harvard College and reports of the departments for 1937-1938 (1939): 342. See also Keyes D. Metcalf’s annual reports for subsequent years.
138 David H. Linder, “The Farlow Reference Library and Herbarium of Cryptogamic Botany,” The report of the President of Harvard College and reports of the departments for 1937-1938 (1939): 373.
139 Keyes D. Metcalf, “University Library,” The report of the President of Harvard College and reports of the departments for 1937-1938 (1939): 341; Keyes D. Metcalf, “University Library,” The report of the President of Harvard College and reports of the departments for 1938-1939 (1940): 373.
140 Georgiana Ames Hinckley, “The Library,” Reports of Officers 1938-1939 (1940): 49.
141 Ibid., 43-53.
142 Harley P. Holden, “The Collecting of Faculty Papers,” Harvard Library Bulletin 19, no. 2 (1971): 187.
143 Keyes D. Metcalf, “University Library,” The report of the President of Harvard College and reports of the departments for 1939-1940 (1941): 356.
144 Grace, “The Photographic Department of the Harvard Library,” 283.
145 Keyes D. Metcalf, “University Library,” The report of the President of Harvard College and reports of the departments for 1940-1941 (1942): 349; William H. Bond, “William Alexander Jackson: 1905-1964 (concluded),” Harvard Library Bulletin 15, no. 2 (1967): 201-204.
146 James Bryant Conant, “The President’s Report,” and Keyes D. Metcalf, “University Library,” The report of the President of Harvard College and reports of the departments for 1940-1941 (1942): 27-28 and 349-350; Keyes D. Metcalf, “University Library,” The report of the President of Harvard College and reports of the departments for 1941-1942 (1943): 374-375; Georgiana Ames Hinckley, “Report of the Librarian,” Reports of officers issue 1940-1941 (1942): 46-47; Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, 1st ed., v. 29, “Storage and Deposit Libraries”; Kenneth E. Carpenter and Jeffrey L. Horrell, “A Harvard Experience,” in Library Off-Site Shelving: Guide for High- Density Facilities, ed. Danuta A.Nitecki and Curtis L. Kendrick (Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 2001), 120-122.
147 Willard L. Sperry, “Divinity School,” The report of the President of Harvard College and reports of the departments for 1941-1942 (1944): 222.
148 Georgiana Ames Hinckley, “Report of the Librarian,” Reports of officers issue 1941- 1942 (1943): 48.