Binding the Public and the Private

Researchers coming to Washington, DC, have a myriad of options from the top-notch universities such as American, Catholic, Howard, George Washington, or Georgetown, to the research facilities, which are a mix of public and private. While many may think of the Smithsonian Institution, the Folger Shakespeare Library, National Geographic, or other institutions, it really boils down to two essential places in DC, the Library of Congress and the National Archives.

Comparing the two, is not really a good comparison. The easiest way to put it is that the National Archives is the holder of public records, and the reading rooms of the Library of Congress are the holder of private collections. Want to read census records, ship manifests, and immigration documents? Go to the National Archives. Want to read diaries and family histories of Americans going back to before the United States existed? Go to the Library of Congress. Want to see the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, or Bill of Rights? National Archives, though, before 1952, the Library of Congress was their home.

 

Even though the Library’s collections are made up of private books and documents, many still covered by copyright law, occasionally a public record will come through the doors of the Processing and Preparation Section (PPS). The following are three such examples that recently crossed my desk.

Government documents are no stranger to us in PPS, with the most common being Congressional Hearings.

 

They usually arrive in groups, hearing reports from the House of Representatives and the Senate. Some can be as thin as a pamphlet, though others can be thick tomes, especially those concerning appropriations. Unlike most books that are sent to be bound, these hearing reports use a rigid naming convention. Each binding technician is trained to change the record in ABLE, our binding software, to either House Hearings or Senate Hearings. The original title, which was the name of the hearing, is then copied to the author field. This is only done for hearing documents thicker than 1/4”.

I processed lot 24-B148 in early May containing over 20 such hearing documents, pictured above. That lot was closed on May 15^th and is currently in queue to be sent to the Bindery. The lot is B style, denoting books that are thicker than ¼” and bound with glue, also known as double fan adhesive or perfect binding. The hearing documents and the other items on this lot, will be on the Library’s shelves by the end of summer.

 

Thinner materials are sent with only a call number, but still treated with care. The above pictured lot was UP lot 24-B109, prepared by Marques Wright earlier this year and I completed the quality review on May 8^th. UP stands for unlettered pamphlet. Each item was carefully scrutinized then sent to the Law Library where they are now available for researchers to peruse.

Sometimes we receive items that may look official, or have titles that seem official, but aren’t. This item came with a title that would definitely draw interest. We care for all books the same.

 

I was assigned the rush lot from GCCS on April 16^th and found this among its damaged collective. The book, For the President Personal and Secret: Correspondence Between Franklin D. Roosevelt and William C. Bullitt, was edited by Orville H. Bullitt, published by Houghton Mifflin Co. in 1972. William C. Bullitt was the first U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union, appointed by FDR, who was a close friend, and had quite a remarkable life. His brother Orville is responsible for gathering the documents together for this piece of American foreign policy history.

Bullitt was part of American delegation to the Paris Peace Conference along with President Woodrow Wilson in 1919. During that visit, he was sent on a secret mission to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Lenin. After becoming friends with FDR in 1932, he was sent to Europe as an envoy of the President-elect and would spend much of the next decade there. He was the first to inform the President that World War II had begun and was named Provisional Mayor of Paris in order to greet the leadership of Nazi Germany when they took over the city in June 1940. This caused a small falling out with FDR as Bullitt had not travelled to Bordeaux with the French government in exile.

Years of use, and apparent improper removal from the shelves caused the spine to tear away. I processed the book as item 43 on lot 24-B140, typed on April 16th, and sent to bindery on May 3^rd.

 

Lot 24-B140 was a designated a RUSH lot, so sent on an abbreviated schedule. It moved immediately to the top of the queue to be sent to the Bindery and was returned on a two-week turnaround rather than the usual one month. It was returned to the Library on May 17^th and the quality review was completed by Ronlicia Gordon-Falls on May 20^th. The books were then returned to GCCS, who sent them back to the stacks for ready access.

 

The third item came up as a bit of a surprise, a small pamphlet initially overlooked when it arrived on my desk. I scanned in the barcode so that I could process it while on telework. Since it is so thin, only the call number will appear on the binding, and that is all I saw when processing the record while working from home.

 

What About The German Prisoner? is a war-time product of the U.S. War Department, today known as the Department of Defense. It was produced on November 20, 1944, five months after the D-Day invasion, and was stamped Confidential. After 75 years, it was no longer considered confidential, but the stamp remains, telling part of its story. I realized what a gem this was when I returned to work and placed the binding ticket in several days after processing. The lot was closed on June 12^th and is currently in the queue to be sent to the bindery.

It will be sewn into a new rigid spine and cover that will ensure its survival for years to come. With the current backlog and turnaround, I expect this book to reach the Library’s shelves in time for its 80^th birthday this fall.

It is always a treat seeing what may grace one’s desk on any given day at the Library of Congress. These items will all be available soon for any researcher seeking the knowledge imparted therein. They join the millions of stories that make up the heart of our institution, mixing the public with the private, all together yours when you’re ready to come through our doors.

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