Evening star., 1940-02-25
Government
Study Rooms
Aid Research
By James 5. Free.

More books are being assembled
from raw materials of the printed
word at the Library of Congress to-
day than in perhaps any other IL
brary in the world.
In its 35 acres of floor space are
226 private study rooms and $50 in
dividual study tables devoted ex-
clusively to serious research. These
are in continuous use, and waiting
list of scholars quickly fills vacan-
cies as they occur. No other library
can match these facilities.
On it's shelves are some 5,828, 1925
volumes in general collections, prob
ably the largest, numerically, pos
sessed by any library.
Available for consultation are au-
thorities in the fields of history,
political science and public admin
istration, economics, church history,
Hispanic literature, romance htera-
ture, philosophy, poetry. bibli-
ography, cataloguing and classical
tion library practice, classical Itera-
ture, military history, musicology.
photography, Roman law, sociology
and Chinese history and culture.
Boards Worked There.
In the Library of Congress, Charles
A. and Mary Beard have compiled
many a page for their history pub
lcations. Here James Thuslow
Adams collected data for his Epic
OF America" Herbert Agar found
fuel for his Pursuit Of Happiness
the Story of American Democracy"
Henry Pringle checked facts for
The Life and Times of William
Howard Taft" Travel Adventure
Writer Richard Halliburton made
notes on China before he sailed
away over the Pacific never to re-
turn.
China's Bun Pc Kang has probed
the electric properties of the soya
bean," Prof. Hugh Hale Bellot, COM
monwealth fund professor Of
American history at the University
of London, has pondered over the
development of the history of the
Mississippi Valley in the past 80
years, six or more research workers
remained busy from 1928 to 1886
preparing material for the Die
tionary of American Biography, and
. the list is endless.
The last annual report of the
librarian of Congress listed some so
recently published books prepared,
at least in part, in the library. While
no complete check has been made,
it is known that from 1927 to 1899
at least SOL books were written,
partially, in the library.
The 1889 librarians report
showed that 1858 investigators
availed themselves of the private
study rooms and tables. This record
high is all the more significant In
light of the fact that the 172 study
rooms in the new Annex Building
became available only in the last
few weeks of the period covered in
the report. The next annual report
unquestionably will exceed the 1853
figure. Ten years ago, in 1901,
only 61O investigators were listed
Popular Fields.
Most popular fields of study for
these modern library Investigators
are history. economics, language and
literature, sociology, political science
and international law and relations.
OF S96 investigations checked In .
recent survey at the Library Of Con-
gress history dominated 161, eco
nomics 142, language and literature
125, sociology 65, political science So,
international law and relations 81.
While all 226 Of the Library's study
rooms are in demand, most sought
after are the 172 In the new annex.
These new rooms average 8x1l feet;
each has outside light and occupants
have complete control over heating
and ventilation; each is equipped
with desk, swivel chair, bookcase,
typist's table and chair; walls are
removable and sound Insulated by q
corklike composition which permits
hanging of charts, maps and the like.
There is no strictly defined time
limit for use of the rooms, but on
the wall Of each room is q small
notice reading:
This room is assigned for one week
at time. If at the expiration Of
that period no notice to the contrary
is issued, 1t may be assumed that
the assignment has been exterae6
for another week. .ss.
The Library reserves the right 70
terminate any Assignment without
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