Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-03
BY DON GLAssMAN.

IRON balcony Emil Ludwig,
L. German biographer, eyed the
scene-an octagonal room, high
i vaulted dome supported by mar
BILE Qrecian columns. and rows
of tables arranged symnaetrically inside
the octagon.
"Freee-e-e-eee, freee-e-e-eee freeze,
he sighed. "You say it's free? All, yes;
free. Think of It'll"
The same man clicked his heels and
bowed reverently on seeing the original
hand-written transcript of the Declare
ton of Independence, glassed in mar
bic case. His beloved Napoleon might
have stood there, risen from stone.
YES" the German was told, "the
Library Of Congress is so free that it is
like the air you breathe. It's import
sir, Is international. And though a stu
dent halls from Korea or Timbuctoo, he
requires neither passport nor introduc-
ton to consult 100000 individual
transcripts of knowledge. He may move
among the spirits of all ages or inform
himself on any achievement of humans
or humanity"
If Herbert Putnam, librarian Of Con-
gress. had been on the scene, he would
have added:
See, read, enjoy and consult. Learn
restore. improve and report. Admire
deny, find and finish. Create. This is
the National Library, ordained and sus-
tanned by the Nation. Sir, I can't tell
you what pleasure it gives our Congress
to appropriate moneys to support this
institution
Where does it begin and where end?
How came these stones, piled so high
and thick? Gray monument. granite
without, marble within?
To paraphraSe a living statesman
What is a library?" That depends
upon the library. Speaking of the one
on Capitol Hill, we say with the states
man, rs it shelves and binderies, cata-
logues and photographers, files and
oesks? No! 1t Is the soul of a people. -
A ND what is a librarian? Is he adj
miniStrator, cataloguer, lobbyist
orator or bibliophile? None of these
A librarian is the keeper of mems souls
Now, there are librarians and Librarians
Some drive their business with energy
others with ingenuity, and some with
v1Sion-librari demands peculiar
sacrifices. The worlds first librarian, a
Chinese, probably did his own printing
as well. And through all the ages man
came to know library as a place OF
assembly Tor DOCKS.
The exception to this dogma is, OF
course, Herbert Putnam and the Lii
brary of Congress. Polishing of his
thirtieth year as head of that institu-
ton, he has endowed Guardianship with
qualities that hoist a book worrnish
position to the level of professional art
Putnam Is an artist, because he drafts
imagination in answering and fulfilling
the cultural warnings of a gargantuan
throbbing Nation; in creating a supply
to full demands; in meeting conditions
prepared; in absolving himself of all
claim to originality, and in employing
diplomacy in battles and skirmishes that
revolve around administration.
Who will say, then, that librarianship
has not risen from mere profession to
estlmable art? For when man Gre
ateS he is an artist. And no one denies
that in the past 80 years Herbert Put
nam has answered the question
naire. The position he fills is one tc
command as much respect as any in our
Government. Congress has entrusted
him not only with filing and maintain
ing 153 lineal miles of booked shelves
but with harboring the Nations soul.
If the Declaration of independence
ranks as our most cherished document
Herbert Putnam holds it IL sacred trust
II you say the original Constitution Of
the United States is our most prizec
heirloom, he holds that. If Lincoln's
letters, Putnam is custodian of them
If Washington's letters, those also. Ir
the realm OF art he holds Whistler anc
Pennell. In philosophy Benjamin
Franklin. Name hundred Thousand
priceless transcripts-Herbert Putnam
is lord over them all.
AS major domo of the Nations soul
as custodian of things more precious
than all the gold in the Treasury, what
sort of a man is he? On the authority
of his colleagues, 1t Is said he made the
Library of Congress what it Is; tha
this institution has survived two epoch!
one B. p. and the other A. p. (befort