Books for Soldiers: WFPL and the War Library Council
Elizabeth Simms
In 1917, the United States entered World War I. As the country mobilized for war, military leadership, upon finding that many soldiers had poor literacy, decided to find a way to “encourage literacy, discourage negative behavior, and support the soldiers during difficult times at the front lines.”1 The federal government reached out to the American Library Association (ALA) for help providing soldiers with books. In response, the ALA created the Library War Service. From 1917-1920, the Library War Service established thirty-six libraries in the United States and Europe and distributed 7 to 10 million books to soldiers, providing them with knowledge and a chance to distract themselves from the hardships of war.
The Library War Service contained a War Library Council and local councils of the same name across the country, and the purpose of these local councils was to collect funds and books in their region for the war libraries at home and overseas. In August or September of 1917, the Trustees of the Wayland Free Public Library received a letter from the newly appointed Division Director of the War Library Council asking the Trustees and librarian to serve as a local War Library Council with the authority to add ten more individuals to their council in order to help furnish and maintain public libraries for U.S. army camps. As part of this potential role, the Director requested that a representative of the Wayland Free Public Library attend a New England War Library Conference in Boston on September 11, 1917. Furthermore, the Director gave the Trustees and librarian the authority to appoint officers to “forward the nation-wide campaign for money and books to be held during the week of September 24th, 1917.”2
At their monthly meeting on September 5, the Board of Trustees voted to act as the local War Library Council and to distribute circulars to Wayland residents informing them of this new role and the upcoming campaign and asking for donations. By October of 1917, after the nationwide fundraising and book donation campaign, the Trustees reported receiving 1,022 books and $300 to the fund for books. Over the course of the following year, the WFPL received 454 books. In working to solicit these books and monetary donations, the WFPL played an important role in the country’s war effort, helping to improve the lives and minds of soldiers in the army camps.
Footnotes
1 Danna Bell, “Bringing Books to World War I Soldiers: The Library War Service,” Teaching with the Library (blog), Library of Congress, 25 April 2017, Library of Congress.
2 Charles Belden to Chairman and Members of the Board of Trustees, 29 August 1917 Trustee Records, Box I, WFPL Archives,.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bell, Danna. “Bringing Books to World War I Soldiers: The Library War Service.” Teaching with the Library (blog). Library of Congress. 25 April 2017 https://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2017/04/bringing-books-to-world-war-i-soldiers-the-library-war-service/
Bennett, Katie D. “How Libraries Served Soldiers and Civilians during WWI and WWII.” OUPblog, Oxford University Press. https://blog.oup.com/2017/05/libraries-soldiers-world-war/.
Charles Belden to Chairman and Members of the Board of Trustees, 29 August 1917, Library Trustee Records Box I, 1901-1929. WFPL Archives.
Trustee Minutes, Vol. 4, 1917-1945. WFPL Archives. See especially 5 September 1917, 10 October 1917, and 8 January 1919.
Weeks, Linton. “When America’s Librarians Went To War.” NPR. 4 July 2015. https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/07/04/418840245/when-americas-librarians-went-to-war.