On Jan. 30 the Center for the Book launched its series of lunchtime author lectures, Books & Beyond, with an address by Jane Aikin Rosenberg, author of The Nation's Great Library: Herbert Putnam and the Library of Congress, 1899-1939 (University of Illinois Press, 1993).
Books & Beyond showcases recent books that rely on Library collections or that speak directly to issues of importance to the Library and its programs. In selecting Dr. Rosenberg's volume, "We felt it was appropriate to begin the series with a book about the Library of Congress itself," explained John Y. Cole, director of the Center for the Book, in his introductory remarks.
Dr. Rosenberg, program officer for the Fellowships for University Teachers program at the National Endowment for the Humanities, drew most of her material from the Library archives in the Manuscript Division from 1983 to 1987. She recalled with nostalgia her days exploring the Library's resources. "I always went home a little grimy, but completely happy because I had these wonderful collections available to me."
She added: "The staff I'm sure soon learned to groan when they saw me coming. ... Once one of them told me the Library archives were the most-used collection in the Manuscript Division -- and in those days, I think I was almost the only user!"
The Nation's Great Library provides an in-depth look at Putnam's decisive influence on the Library during a significant period in its history. Dr. Rosenberg chose Putnam as her subject, she said, "because he and [Ainsworth Rand] Spofford between them encased a huge chunk of American history and Library of Congress history, during the crucial period from the Civil War to World War II.... Since John Cole had already done so much excellent work on Spofford, Putnam was a natural choice."
When Putnam assumed the Librarian mantle in April 1899, he adopted Spofford's vision of transforming the Library of Congress into a true "national library." Spofford had laid the foundation by asking Congress for copyright authority to build the collections and the Thomas Jefferson Building to house them.
It fell to Putnam, Dr. Rosenberg said, to complete the job: establish national services, secure funding to pay for the Library's growth and build a skilled professional staff.
Putnam was only 37, but he had already directed the Minneapolis and Boston libraries and had brief stints practicing law. He "was known as an up-and-coming young man with a genius for enterprise and an ability to move large organizations forward," said Dr. Rosenberg.
Right away, Putnam proved himself a winner at obtaining support from Congress. In his first year of office he requested -- and got -- a whopping 60 percent appropriations increase. He used much of the money to hire professionally trained staff.
At the start of Putnam's tenure the Library was "behind most libraries in almost every way," observed Dr. Rosenberg. By the time he retired, the Library was the undisputed leader of the American library community. Putnam established high standards in every part of the institution. He cultivated private-sector funding sources so the Library could expand its collections and activities. Under his 40-year leadership the Library staff ballooned from 230 to 1,100.
"What was it like working in the Library of Congress" under Putnam? Dr. Rosenberg asked rhetorically. Perhaps due to his patrician upbringing, Putnam's managerial style was exceptionally formal. All mail was answered by Putnam himself. Staff members often had to stand throughout meetings and could not take notes, since he believed in memorizing orders as they were delivered.
Putnam's latter years at the Library were marred by political friction, especially with Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration. Moreover, despite the burgeoning collections and staff, he insisted on maintaining his rigid, hands-on management style. By the late 1930s, when he was in his 70s, it was clear he could no longer manage a world-class institution.
When he was replaced by Archibald MacLeish in 1939, Putnam was excluded from administration although he retained an office and the title of Librarian Emeritus.
"People didn't want him trying to impose the past on the future," explained Dr. Rosenberg. "They thought he was too set in his ways to see where changes were needed."
Herbert Putnam was reputed to be a coldly practical administrator whose "veins ran with ice water." But he also wrote poetry and was an attentive family man who adored his daughters, she noted. His strongest devotion, however, was to the Library.
Dr. Cole related that, after Putnam's retirement, he was once asked why he hadn't written an autobiography. He responded by pointing to the 40 annual reports published during his tenure as Librarian -- which, he said, constituted his autobiography.
Books featured in the Books & Beyond series are available for sale in the Library of Congress Sales Shop, as well as at the talks themselves.
