Editing Herbert Putnam (section)

===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>