It was during World War I, when soldiers began wanting to have some reading material around for their downtime, that the book light went on in the military.
It’s also when the American Library Association went to work delivering books and magazines paid for through the war bond program. They raised “a whopping $5 million in public donations, distributing more than 7 million books and magazines, erecting 36 camp libraries and providing library collections to over 500 sites, including military hospitals.”
The effort became “the foundation for the Defense Department’s first and longest-running morale, welfare and recreation program.”
Nellie Moffitt, the Navy’s general library program manager, told American Forces Press Service that last year alone, the services spent $12 million for digital library materials and based on usage statics, those funds provided $725 million in materials and services.
“That’s a huge return on investment,” Moffitt said.
The current economic mess takes its toll on the military libraries as well. Moffitt adds “Like everybody else, we are going to have to take cuts, whether that is in hours, staffing or our materials budgets. We know we are going to be taking cuts, but we will try to minimize the impact on the customer and if at all possible, try to maintain the services we provide.”
Enlisted men reading on edge of elevator aboard USS Lexington, 1943. Courtesy of National Archives
A sailor finds an unlikely reading nook, undated
More at the Department of Defense: Libraries Remain Centerpieces of Morale, Welfare Programs.