Editing Herbert Putnam (section)

==Library of Congress==

===Induction===
As the ALA's leading witness during the 1896 Congressional Joint Committee on the Library, Putnam was able to successfully lobby Congress to greatly expand the role of the Library of Congress. This restructuring and expansion of the Library became effective on July 1, 1897.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.loc.gov/item/n85185518/herbert-putnam-1861-1955/ | title=Herbert Putnam (1861-1955) | website=[[Library of Congress]] }}</ref> Putnam's activities with the [[American Library Association]] led him to join with [[Justin Winsor]] and [[Melvil Dewey]] as official delegates to the International Conference of Librarians in London in 1897.<ref name="Rosenberg, 1993, p. 25"/> When Winsor died shortly thereafter, Putnam served the remainder of his term as President of the ALA.<ref name="Rosenberg, 1993, p. 25"/> When [[John Russell Young]] died in January 1899, President William McKinley requested Congress to appoint Putnam. He was officially confirmed December 12, 1899.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

===Systemization of a public institution===
[[File:2025 O Street, N.W..JPG|thumb|150px|left|Putnam's former house in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
Upon the confirmation of Putnam to his appointed duty of Librarian of Congress, one daunting task Putnam faced from the onset was the sheer volume of materials that had to be reorganized for the newly opened [[Thomas Jefferson Building]] – the newly appointed library for the Library of Congress. However, Putnam was well aware of what needed to be done. "In October 1899 Putnam requested a $190,000 increase in the budget for fiscal 1901. If Congress consented, the 1899 LC budget would nearly double and that for 1900 would be increased by 60 percent. Declaring that the collections were deficient in many respects, [Putnam] asked for $50,000 to purchase new material, more than twice the 1899 [[Appropriation (law)|appropriation]].<ref>Rosenberg, 1993, p. 28</ref> In summation, the first task of Putnam's administration was to organize all materials of the Library of Congress so they may be used efficiently by the public."

Putnam's request was granted by the [[United States Congress]], and thus an appropriation bill was passed on April 17, 1900.<ref>Rosenberg, 1993, p. 29</ref> Although Putnam's administration would need time in order to collect, organize, and disseminate all of the material within the Library of Congress' collection, the task was completed with enormous success. "By 1924 the first objective had been won with – 
1) All spaces in the building duly differentiated and equipped for specialized, as well as general, uses. 
2) The specialized material installed in appropriate cases. 
3) A scheme of classification, systematic and elastic, with an appropriate nomenclature. 
4) Adoption of processes of cataloging, including forms of entry, now standardized for American libraries. 
5) Actual application of the classification and cataloging to a large portion of the collection of printed books."<ref>Lewis, 1939, pp. 7,8</ref>

Putnam during this time also introduced a new system of classifying books that continues to this day, known as the [[Library of Congress Classification]]. He also established an [[interlibrary loan]] system, and expanded the Library of Congress's role and relationships with other libraries, through the provision of centralized services. He was elected an Associate Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1902,<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter P|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterP.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterP.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=14 April 2011}}</ref> and elected a member of the [[American Antiquarian Society]] in 1907.<ref>[http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlistp American Antiquarian Society Members Directory]</ref>

===War-time service===
[[File:Quire Putnam Lawson.jpg|thumb|Putnam (center) at A.L.A. Camp Kearny Library]]
In July 1916, "former LC staff member Elizabeth West, director of the [[Carnegie Library]] of [[San Antonio, Texas]], suggested to Putnam that the Library of Congress cooperate with other libraries to send books to American soldiers."<ref>Rosenberg, 1993, p. 85</ref>

Initially, Putnam was not interested in the wholesale distribution of books to American troops simply due to the lack of interest. However, when attention arose that the British War Library Service in London were performing similar duties to their troops, measures were quickly devised by Putnam, the ALA, and Congress to enact such a program to the American military branches.<ref>Rosenberg, 1993, p. 86</ref> "Aided by a grant of $320,000 from the [[Carnegie Corporation]], the War Service built thirty-six libraries, completing the majority by February 1918. But with so much invested in buildings, little money remained for books or administration…Putnam took the matter up directly with the War Department and obtained assurances that the government would provide utilities. He appealed to ALA members to donate books and volunteer for service, and by June 1918 the association had purchased 300,000 books, sent 1,349,000 gift books to camps, and distributed 500,000 magazines."<ref>Rosenberg, 1993, p. 87</ref> In the time after [[World War I]], the services of the Library of Congress towards the war effort provided a new outlook for the American public on the possibilities of what a successful library could accomplish. In other words, the contributions made by the Library of Congress in that time gave "librarians 'a new conception of what a truly national library could be' and added one more item 'to the long list of benefits for which American libraries have to thank the Library and the Librarian, of Congress."<ref>Rosenberg, 1993, p. 90</ref>