The Library War Service: Background information when reading The War Librarian

The Library War Service

This article relates to The War Librarian

The War Librarian features quiet, bookish Emmaline Balakin, who, despite the dangers of World War I, chooses to set off on an adventure by serving as a volunteer librarian to American service members. Her new position sends her overseas to a frontline hospital in France where she must contend with surly officers, German bombers and social injustices while trying to bring comfort and happiness to the men through books. Addison Armstrong's novel showcases a unique bit of WWI history that demonstrates the power of the written word.

As American service members were mobilized to fight, military leaders wanted to ensure that the soldiers had strong support systems to sustain them during their time overseas. In addition to the expected items — extra food and clothing, treats such as chocolate, and games — leaders soon realized that many of the men sought reading material. Additionally, the military wanted to encourage literacy. Thus, in 1917, the American Library Association (ALA) was asked to help provide library services for soldiers. The ALA's Library War Service program erected 36 camp libraries in the U.S. and Europe, distributed between seven and ten million books and magazines, and sent books to over 500 locations, including foreign military hospitals. More than 1,000 librarians volunteered to travel overseas to help run these foreign libraries, and these individuals became known as war librarians.

War librarians were tasked with finding the right books to provide to soldiers, which often proved to be a complex responsibility; books served not only as an escape or comfort for men fighting far from home, but they were often used as treatment for mental or physiological disorders, a practice known as bibliotherapy. Thus, librarians had to not only know about a wide range of books but also know their "patients" in order to get the right books to the right men.

The books for these ALA-established libraries were provided by American men and women. The ALA raised $5 million in public donations to purchase books, but many books used in the program were donated through local libraries back in the States. More than three million books were donated in a national book drive in 1918, and individual libraries developed other creative ways to encourage book donations. The Millville Public Library in New Jersey held a movie benefit where each attendee was asked to bring a book; four sold-out showings generated several hundred books for donation. The St. Louis County Library held dances with live music in their reading room, with the admission fee donated to the ALA to buy more books. In Milwaukee, Boy Scouts went door to door to collect books, using wheelbarrows and baby carriages to transport their bounty.

The work of the ALA during WWI also laid the groundwork for a similar program during WWII — the Victory Book Campaign gathered more than 17 million books for soldiers. The importance of books for men fighting overseas also led to the development of the Armed Services Editions — these pocket-sized paperback versions of popular books were freely distributed to American service members between 1943 and 1947. A total of 1,324 titles were published in this format, and approximately 123 million copies were given to soldiers during their service, bringing another generation comfort, hope and memories of home while they fought for their country.

Books have played a significant role in the lives of soldiers, and The War Librarian not only shows this importance but also brings to life the realities of the individuals who ventured overseas to help bring books to soldiers. Emmaline's story, although fictional, reflects the dangers and difficulties faced by war librarians as they did their best to share the entertainment and healing that can be found in the written word.

Library War Service bookplate, courtesy of the Library of Congress

Filed under People, Eras & Events

This article relates to The War Librarian. It first ran in the September 21, 2022 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.