Library of Congress Information Bulletin 1992-01-27: Vol 51 Iss 2

21 Pages·6.5 MB·English

Library of Congress
INFORMATION
BULLETIN
Vol. 51, No. 2 Published Biweekly January 27, 1992
The Library and the Former Soviet Union
Library of Congress
INFORMATION
BULLETIN
JAMES H. BILLINGTON
Librarian of Congress
On the Cover: Eric johnson, an exchange specialist who collected many
of the items in the new LC exhibit “The Press for Freedom: The Dissolu-
tion of the Soviet Union,” explains how he obtained some of the items in
the display case to Michael Neubert (left) and Harold Leich, Soviet-area
experts from the European Division. Photo by Reid Baker
Cover Stories:
C) Glasnost Gallery: An exhibit in the Madison Building’s Cur-
rent Events Corridor documents the changing former superpower
through its press and folk art.
(J Pressing On: An interview with Eric Johnson, a Soviet-area
exchange specialist, on his travels to the Baltics.
CJ Role Playing: William Robinson, deputy director of LC’s Con-
gressional Research Service and a senior specialist in public poli-
cy, discusses CRS’s role in the aftermath of the breakup of the Soviet
Empire.
A New Deputy: Daniel Mulhollan, newly named acting Deputy
Librarian of Congress, will head a new team devoted to improv-
ing LC’s service to Congress.
Guilty as Charged: Two men who recently pleaded guilty to
stealing Library materials will be sentenced next month.
Around LC
Number 25: The Kentucky Center for the Book is the 25th state
center affiliated with LC’s Center for the Book.
Pushing 40: A bibliography on Elizabeth II, as she celebrates
her 40th year as queen of England.
Note in the Bottle: A new Information Bulletin column on what
those who work in the world’s largest library are reading.
The Library of Congress Information Bulletin is issued biweekly by the Public Affairs
Office of the Library of Congress and distributed free of charge to publicly supported
libraries and research institutions, academic libraries, learned societies and allied
organizations in the United States.
Comparable institutions and organizations in other countries may arrange to receive
the Bulletin on an exchange basis by applying in writing to the Library's Exchange |
and Gift Division. All other correspondence should be addressed to the LC Informa-
tion Bulletin, Public Affairs Office, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20540.
GUY LAMOLINARA, Editor
PRINTED ON 100% RECYCLED PAPER JOHN J. WAYNE, Editorial Assistant
by the Library of Congress ANN M. JEFFERSON, PEGGY F. PIXLEY, SHERYLE O. SHEARS, Composing
Printing and Processing Section |
Acting Deputy Librarian Named
Mulhollan to Lead New Team to Serve Congress
Daniel P. Mulhollan, chief of the 1981 to 1991 he served as assistant
Government Division of the Con- chief of the Government Division
gressional Research Service, was and was named chief of the division
named to a one-year term as acting this year.
Deputy Librarian of Congress, effec- His extensive experience serving
tive Jan. 12. Congress made him a valuable
Mr. Mulhollan will lead an effort member of the Library's Manage-
to improve the Library's service to ment and Planning Committee,
Congress during his tenure. He will formed by the Librarian shortly af-
be responsible for establishing a ter he was appointed in 1987 to de-
Library-wide team to examine and fine strategic priorities for the 1990s.
enhance Library understanding of | Mr. Mulhollan focused particularly
and responsiveness to congression- on the Library's services to its con-
al needs, and congressional under- stituencies.
standing of the Library’s mission A 1966 honors graduate from the
and potential. Daniel Mulhollan will lead an ef- College of St. Thomas, Mr. Mulhol-
“Congress is the Library’s most fort to improve the Library's service lan did his graduate work at George-
important constituency, and this is | to Congress during his tenure. town University. He has received
a good time to examine the full spec- | Photo by Reid Baker numerous awards for performance,
trum both of members’ changing among them the Library's Distin-
needs and the quality and variety of | guished Service Award last Feb-
our services,” Librarian James H. Bil- team to coordinate Library-wide ruary.
lington said in announcing the ap- | responses to congressional needs for Mr. Mulhollan will also serve as a
pointment. the next year. member of the Library's Manage-
Mr. Mulhollan and the team will Mr. Mulhollan has been with the ment Team, on which he will share
give particular attention to services Library since September 1969. He responsibilities for the formulation
needed in addition to the public has served as head of the Political In- and administration of policies affect-
policy research and analysis provid- | stitutions and Processes Section, the ing the entire Library. He serves
ed by CRS. The staff of the Legisla- Congress Section, and the Legisla- under the general direction of the
tive Liaison Office will work with the tive Process Section in CRS. From Librarian.
Sentencing Scheduled for Library Thieves in February
A government attorney and a up to $250,000, according to a state- and Sam Houston; the signatures
Rockville radiologist who recently ment issued by U.S. Attorney Jay B. and autographs from several presi-
pleaded guilty to charges relating to Stephens. dents, including Abraham Lincoln,
the theft of materials from the Mr. Goldman is accused of steal- Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy
Library are scheduled for sentencing ing presidential papers and Civil Adams, Franklin D. Roosevelt and
next month in federal court. War documents from the Library be- Harry S Truman; and photographs
Barry M. Goldman, 36, of Rock- tween July 1990 and June 24, 1991, of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis,
ville, Md., who was placed on leave when he was arrested by Library George Armstrong Custer, William
from his job as an attorney for the police and the Federal Bureau of In- Tecumseh Sherman and Henry
General Accounting Office, pleaded vestigation. Longfellow.
guilty in U.S. District Court Nov. 22 | Valued by the Library at approxi- All of the items have been recov-
|
to one count of theft of government mately $200,000, the stolen materi- ered from Mr. Goldman's house and
property. | als included several letters from dealers to whom he sold, said
Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. President John F. Kennedy, includ- Library Police Detective Albert
12. He faces sentencing of up to 10 | ing three to Clare Boothe Luce; McDowell.
years in federal prison and a fine of documents relating to Robert E. Lee (Cont. on p. 29)
JANUARY 27, 1992 a7/
Winston Tabb, then acting Deputy cal music program now heard
Librarian of Congress, and Janet regularly in the new Common-
Chase, the Librarian’s special wealth of Independent States.
assistant, represented Dr. Billington Said Music Division Chief James |
at the Dec. 19 luncheon. Pruett: “The international coverage |
This is the fourth foreign award is unprecedented for a classical
that Mrs. Krewson has received for music series.”
her work at the Library since 1987. The 1991-92 broadcast series be-
She was previously honored by the gins in January and includes both
Federal Republic of Germany with recent performances from the |
the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Library of Congress (such as |
Merit; by the ambassador of the CAGEFEST from November 1991)
Netherlands on behalf of Her as well as archival Classic Perfor-
OKrewson Receives Belgian Majesty Queen Beatrix with the mances programs from the Library's
| Award: Margrit B. Krewson, the insignia pertaining to the Order of recorded archives.
| German/Dutch area specialist in Orange-Nassau, in the grade of () New Publication Caps 74
| the European Division, was Knight; and by the Republic of Years of Service to Library: On
| honored recently at a luncheon Austria with the Grand Decora- Dec. 20, 1991, Clara Egli LeGear
given by Belgian Ambassador Juan tion of Honor for service to the received the first published copy of
| Cassiers and Mrs. Cassiers for Republic. Volume 9 of the List of Geographi-
her work on and interpretation of () Broadcast Concerts Popular on cal Atlases in the Library of Congress,
| the Library's collections as they APR: In only its second season, marking the culmination of her
| relate to the Flemish and German Concerts from the Library of Congress long and distinguished career with
populations of Belgium, as well is proving to be a popular series with the Geography and Map Division.
| as for her support of Belgian radio stations in the American Public The presentation to Mrs.
scholarship and the enhancement Radio network. During the last LeGear, 95, was made by Ralph
of American-Belgian relations. On season, 134 U.S. stations carried the Ehrenberg, chief of the Geography
behalf of his Majesty King series, as did networks in five other and Map Division, and Ronald
Baudouin, Ambassador Cassiers countries, one of them the former Grim, head of the G&M Reading
presented Mrs. Krewson with a Soviet Union. Classic Performances is Room and author of the introduc-
Knighthood in the Order of the returning twice a month to Russian tion to Volume 9, along with Dana
Crown. airwaves—the only Western classi- Pratt, director of the Library’s Pub-
lishing Office.
Mrs. LeGear and her husband,
Russell, who was a descriptive
cataloger at the Library for 34
years, live at the Methodist Home
of the District of Columbia.
“I can’t believe it,” said Mrs.
LeGear when she was presented
with the book, a comprehensive
list of the authors or compilers of |
the 18,435 geographical atlases |
described in the first eight volumes
(1909-1974) of the List of Geographi- |
cal Atlases.
(Cont. on p. 29)
Ambassador and Mrs. Cassiers
(center) at the Belgian Embassy
during the Dec. 19 presentation
to Margrit Krewson. Photo by
Helen Dalrymple
LC INFORMATION BULLETIN
Kentucky Center for the Book Established
From approximately May 1990 un-
til his arrest May 6, 1991, Mr. Katz
Librarian James H. Billington an- make it a strong partner in our na- used as many as 30 aliases and ficti-
nounced Jan. 13 the approval of a tional promotion campaigns,” he tious addresses on call slips with
proposal from the state of Kentucky | added. which he obtained books — mostly
to establish a book center affiliated State centers plan and fund their art books and books on machinery —
with the Center for the Book in the own projects, drawing on help from from the general collections, law en-
Library of Congress. This brings the | the state’s “community of the book,” forcement officials alleged. Until he
total number of state centers estab- from authors througti readers, and was nearly apprehended in Septem-
lished since 1984 to 25. | from prominent citizens and public ber 1990, he removed entire volumes
Each state center works in cooper- officials who serve as honorary ad- from the Library by hiding them in
ation with LC to stimulate public in- visers. State centers use national an oversized briefcase, law enforce-
terest in books, reading and libraries promotion themes from the Library ment officials said. After that, he re-
and to promote the state’s literary of Congress such as “Explore New moved pages from books by cutting
and intellectual heritage. Worlds—READ!” and occasionally threads in the spines of the books
The Kentucky Center for the Book host Library of Congress events and and hiding the pages in a pocket
will be at the Department for Li- traveling exhibitions. sewn to the inside of his raincoat lin-
braries and Archives in Frankfort. | ing, Detective McDowell said.
The Louisville Free Public Library The value of the items defaced or
and the Lexington Public Library LC Thefts (Cont. from p. 27) destroyed is no less than $40,000
will be collaborative partners. “We Harry R. Katz, 44, of Potomac, and not more than $70,000, Detec-
are delighted to welcome Kentucky | Md., a Rockville radiologist, plead- tive McDowell said. Mr. Katz has
to our growing network of state af- | ed guilty in U.S. District Court Dec. agreed to pay restitution, he said.
filiates,” said John Y. Cole, director | 6 to one count of depredation of Detective McDowell was assisted
of LC’s Center for the Book. “Ken- | government property. Scheduled in the investigations by Detective
tucky’s rich literary heritage and fine for sentencing Feb. 6, he faces up to Henry Trevathan of the Library
record of cooperative activities on 10 years in federal prison or a fine Police and by FBI officers.
behalf of reading and literacy will | of up to $250,000 or both. —Gail Fineberg
Around LC (Cont. from p. 28) consultant following her official
The bibliography of atlases in the retirement from the Library in 1961.
Library of Congress was started by Mrs. LeGear has received nation-
Philip Lee Phillips, the first chief of | al and international recognition for
the division, which was created in her work. Among her many awards,
1897; he was still in charge when she was honored by the Special
Mrs. LeGear came to work in 1914. Libraries Association's Geography
During her first 35 years in the di- and Map Division in 1957 with its
vision, Mrs. LeGear served in a var- Honors Award, which recognized
iety of positions, including cataloger, her “as patron saint to anyone in-
reference librarian, assistant chief terested in historical cartography; as
and acquisitions librarian. She also a source of advice and counsel to all;
continued her education, obtaining as author or editor of many of the bi-
an A.B. degree in library science bles of the profession.” She was given
from George Washington Universi- the Library's highest award, the Dis-
ty and a master’s degree in 1936. Clara LeGear, who has given 74 tinguished Service Award, in 1963;
After World War II, Mrs. LeGear | years of service to the Library and she was designated as an Hono-
relinquished her administrative rary Fellow of the American Geogra-
duties to devote full time to writing After she was officially designated phical Society of New York in 1968.
and compiling bibliographies. Her | bibliographer, Mrs. LeGear resumed With the publication of Volume 9,
first major publication, a manual on work on the bibliography of atlases which serves as the author index and
the care and preservation of carto- begun by her former chief, Philip Lee guide to the other eight volumes, A
graphic materials, quickly became a | Phillips. She completed Volume 5 in List of Geographical Atlases in the Li-
standard reference work in the field 1958 and produced Volumes 6, 7 and brary of Congress is now complete.
of map librarianship. 8 of the bibliography as an honorary — Helen Dalrymple
JANUARY 27, 1992 29
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Elizabeth Il Celebrates a 40-Year Reign:
A Selected Bumograpny by an LC Specialist
“Thy choicest gifts in store, is an indicator of the special place| efforts to conserve and add to the
On her be pleased to pour; that the queen and her family hold | royal collections.
Long may she reign: | in modern life.
May she defend our laws, Following is a selection of books Millar, Oliver, Sir, 1923— Queen’s
And ever give us cause | that tell the story of Queen Eliza- | pictures / Oliver Millar. — 1st
To sing with heart and voice | beth’s reign: American ed. — New York : Macmil-
God save the Queen.” lan, 1977. — 240 p. [24] leaves of
| Essays
| plates os. (some col.)
Succeeding her father, George VI, | The Queen: a Penguin special. — N5247.W56M54 1977
on Feb. 6, 1952, Elizabeth II, at the | Harmondsworth, Eng. ; New York: Includes bibliographical references
meeting of the Accession Council Penguin Books, 1977. — 185 p., [16] and index. This story of the amass-
ing of the royal collections, from the
time of the Tudors to the present
reign, includes an account of Queen
| Elizabeth’s stewardship of these col-
lections.
| Biography
Duncan, Andrew, 1940 — The
Queen’s year : the reality of monar-
chy. — [1st ed.]. — Garden City,
N.Y. : Doubleday, 1970 — viii,
345 p. : geneal. tables, ports.
DA599.D85 1970b
Attempts to determine how “an
integral yet archaic aspect of British
society like monarchy operates,” by
describing a year (1968) in the life of
the queen.
Flamini, Roland. Sovereign
Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Charles (center), are accom-
Elizabeth IJ and the Windsor
panied by Dr. Billington during their May 15, 1991, visit to the Library. dynasty / Roland Flamini. — New
Photo by Jim Higgins
York : Delacorte Press, 1991. — viii,
440 p. : ill. DA590.F54 1991
on Feb. 8, 1952, declared: “I shall al- leaves of plates: ill. DA590.Q36 A current assessment of Elizabeth
ways work as my father did . . . to | A series of essays written in honor II in which the author argues that
uphold constitutional government || of the queen’s 1977 silver jubilee. she has initiated change in the
and to advance the happiness and Her constitutional status, royal rela- monarchy —adapting it to the new
prosperity of my peoples.... tives, right of succession and per- | expectations of her subjects, but do-
I pray that God will help me to sonal style are some of the topics ing so without changing any of the
discharge worthily this heavy addressed. | essentials.
task.”
Forty years later, most concede Art Patronage Howard, Philip, 1933— The British
that she has lived up to her decla- monarchy in the twentieth century /
ration. Not only has she faith- | Albert, Harold A. The Queen and [by] Philip Howard. — London :
fully carried out her constitutional | the arts. — London: W.H. Allen, Hamilton, 1977. — 208 p., xvi p. of
duties, but she has made the monar- 1963. — xi, 177 p. : ill. (some col.), plates : ill. (some col.), facsim.,
chy an accepted and popular insti- port. B8386.E4A4 geneal. table, ports. (some col.)
tution. The high level of interest in Describes the queen’s interest in JN341.H6 1977
the royal family and in royal events and patronage of the arts and her (Cont. on p. 42)
30 LC INFORMATION BULLETIN
‘The Press for Freedom’:
New LC Exhibit Opens on Dissolution of Soviet Union
On iy;: 4 The Madison Build- |e stablished in February 1990. Of the to Gorbache—va s enameled nesting
ing’s recently desig- wealth of current materials, the ex- matrioshka dolls. The break with
a les nated “Current Events hibit reflects only a tiny fraction. “Soviet values” is obvious.
Corridor’”—to the Diversity of opinion and points of Among the diverse publications,
right of the front | view are stressed, rather than a Ekologicheskii vestnik (The Ecological
a lob—b ofyfer s a strik- panoramic view of the entire range Messenger) accents environmental
. ing testament to the of geography, minorities or lan- issues, Kod (Code) covers crime and
vwrrr N / recent breakup of guages. lli/Or (literally means “or”) focuses
e aa , s the Soviet Union. A 1917 map of Russia, annotated on consumer goods—all of which
: | With press and in 1918, shows many of the areas are associated with “Western” in-
graphic materials that today have reemerged as inde- terests.
from the advent of glasnost onward,
the exhibit reflects the timely exper-
tise of Soviet-area specialists Eric A.
Johnson of the Exchange and Gift
Division, Michael E. Neubert and
Harold M. Leich, both of the Euro-
pean Division, and exhibit director
Andrew J. Cosentino of Interpretive
Programs, along with the Library’s
acquisitions agent in Moscow, Mi-
khail Levner, a Russian national
with a talent for acquiring new,
rapidly proliferating—and disap-
pearing — materials.
According to Interpretive Pro-
grams Officer Irene Burnham, “The
Current Events Corridor has been
set aside to feature Library materi-
als that speak to compelling world
events. Here at the Library, we are
now intensively collecting current Eric Johnson explains the importance of one of the items in “The Press
materials worldwide to a degree that for Freedom” to Library visitors. Photo by Reid Baker.
cannot be matched elsewhere. So,
pendent nations of the Common- There are also the traditional Rus-
whenever world events warrant—
wealth. The U.S. State Department sian points oi view, the best known
and LC collections have something
struggled, after the end of World being Pravda (Truth), for the official
unique and illuminating—we can
War I, to keep up with the rapidly Commurnist line. But then there is
present an exhibit in the corridor.”
shifting political changes that were Anti-Scvetskaia Pravda (Anti-Soviet
Last year, the corridor featured a
surprisingly similar to those occur- Truth), Rossiiskie vedomostie (Russian
popular exhibit of Persian Gulf
ring today. This map serves as a key- News) for pre-Revolutionary values,
maps.
note to an exhibit dedicated to the and Monarkhist, which calls for resto-
Many of the materials used in the
clamor for expression in an area ration of the Czarist system.
Soviet exhibit can be obtained “out
where opinion was once subject to According to Mr. Leich, Prince
in the streets . . . [if you are] on the
the most rigid restrictions. Vladimir Kirillovich, heir-apparent
right street corner at the right time,”
Perestroika is evident in many of to the Romanov dynasty, is “a senior
says Mr. Johnson.
the mildly satirical new objects ren- member of the Romanov family, ac-
Mr. Johnson visited the Baltic dered in the styles of traditional Rus- cepted by the former Russian nobil-
states in June 1991 and Moscow the sian folk art—a painted mask of the ity as well as the Russian expatriates.
following month; the LC acquisi- formerly irreproachable Joseph Sta- The Russian Orthodox Church is
tions office in the Soviet capital was lin, or the Soviet leade—rf rsom Marx (Cont. on p. 32)
JANUARY 27, 1992 31
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Soviet Exhibit (Cont. from p. 31) succeed, others fail. Hardcore com- and distributed for publications like
also at present supportive of the in- munist newspapers will undoubted- Pravda, will continue to become
stitution of monarchy.” ly fail.” Especially in the Baltics, more expensive.
But the spectrum of titles does not Eric Johnson adds, “the ‘official’ “Prices will increase, since sub-
reflect the actual numbers of these media will disappear, to be replaced sidies will disappear,” Mr. Leich
activists. Mr. Neubert says many of by the new independents. The explains. “Publications like Moscow
the publications are issued by small most popular publications now Guardian are distributed free, with
“splinter groups” and “narrow are the independent newspapers. expenses covered by advertising,
parties.” I doubt that many now read Prav- but this concept is so new that it is
Pamiat (Memory) presents the neo- da.” currently being defined and in-
— Olinathe
rome one
Russian folk art from the Johnson Collection: nesting matrioshka dolls Russian publications in the age
show former Soviet leaders; enameled spoons. Photos by Jim Higgins of glasnost
fascist line with a theme of “Faith, A giant step from the samizdat ti- vented in countries where such con-
Czar, Fatherland,” Bolshevik repre- tle Ekaterinburg, “published” as re- cepts never existed before.” What
sents the Stalinists and Menshevik, cently as 1988, are the trendier, the increases in price will mean for
the Latvian Social-Democrats. Western-style publications: Orientir the average consumer and the future
Edinstvo (Unity) advocated Baltic DiP for tabloid readers, Stalker UFO of publishing is uncertain.
continuance in the Soviet Union, on UFO sightings and Moscow Maga- John J. Wayne
while Baltiiskoe vremia (Baltic Time) zine on popular lifestyles. Stolitsa
urged defection. Among the reli- (The Capital) approximates the typi-
gious publications, Menora is for cal Western newsweekly, and Com-
Jews, Pravoslavnoe chtenie for Russi- mersant, the business magazine.
an Orthodox church members and Western-style photos and graphics
Sviataia Rus for the Old Believers are featured in the Ukrainian Dulia
sect. Risk addresses the formerly (Burden), which surprises us with an
“nonexistent” and illegal gay and artist's rendering of Lenin sporting
lesbian factions, while SPID-Info a “Mohawk” hairstyle.
(AIDS-Info) advises on the world- And, like prices of food, average
wide epidemic. Literally, there is prices for independent newspa-
a wei
something for everyone. pers—about 1 ruble—are set to rise.
The variety of viewpoints is stag- For example, Business in the USSR In keeping with the other
gering, but Mike Neubert points will skyrocket to about 30 rubles. changes, Stalin becomes a paint-
out, “This is a metaphor. Some will Paper, formerly centrally controlled ed papier-maché mask.
32 LC INFORMATION BULLETIN
LC Specialist Presses for Baltic Materials
Senior Exchange Specialist Eric John- | clared its independence. And as a re- sense a big deal, even though I’m
son, who was responsible for collecting sult, the Soviet government imposed just a lowly exchange specialist.
much of the material in “The Press for | a blockade on Lithuania, so there They are very interested in in-
Freedom” exhibit, was recently inter- was no gas, or anything else, going in. creasing their contacts with the
viewed by Craig D’Ooge of the Public And not only did they impose a West. Getting information is one of
Affairs Office about his travels to the blockade, they also didn’t allow their major goals. Now that they've
Baltic states. foreigners and foreign journalists to thrown out Marxism-Leninism en-
visit there. So when I applied at the tirely, that amounts to throwing out
When did you gather all this material? |
Soviet embassy to go to Lithuania,
In June of 1990, I traveled to Lithu- they denied me permission.
ania, Latvia and Estonia on an offi-
So how did you get into the country?
I flew through Moscow, because
While traveling in the Baltic there were no direct flights from the
States, “| was treated like library West to the Baltics. I spent a week
royalty. They hadn't had a visitor | visiting our acquisitions office there.
from the Library of Congress in over And then I went to Estonia and to
50 years. And the Librisa cronysid - Latvia, where I made arrangements
ered sort of the grandfather—or | to acquire a lot of material.
grandmothe—r o f ail libraries” there. When I went down from Estonia
— Eric Johnson to Latvia, the Latvians agreed to give
me an official Soviet visa to travel to
Lithuania. But they “neglected” to
Artist's rendering of Lenin in a
cial acquisitions trip for the Library. inform the central Soviet govern-
Mohawk hairstyle from a Ukrainian
I was the first official Library of Con- ment in Moscow.
newspaper
gress representative to visit the Bal-
What was Lithuania like?
tics since 1929, when James Childs, every single social science book in
I basically walked all over the city,
then of the Government Division, their entire library. So that leaves
everywhere ! went, because there was
visited the three Baltic nations. them with nothing. Through the
no gas. What public transportation
Library of Congress and other ex-
How were you received? there was was completely crowded.
change partners they are trying to
I was treated like library royalty. In Latvia I also had an adventure,
gather material.
They hadn't had a visitor from the of sorts. The director of the Nation-
Library of Congress in over 50 years. al Library of Latvia is very interest- How do you set up an exchange? You
And the Library is considered sort ed in getting a new National Library don't just fly in cold and start asking peo-
of the grandfather—or the grand- building built. He thought that it ple on the street do you?
mother —of all libraries. might be nice if I helped him present No, no. These are exchange part-
In the past, the Baltic and the his case to the Parliament. Here | ners that we've had since the 1950s.
Soviet area specialists had tried to go was in the middle of a meeting with The Exchange and Gift Division has
to the Baltics. But the Soviets had people at another library when the thousands of exchange partners all
denied them visas. director of the National Library of over the world, from which it ac-
We've had exchanges with them Latvia shows up and takes me off to quires material that you can’t simply
since the 1950s. But we've only been Parliament to meet with the secre- go out and buy. But when you go
allowed to communicate via mail. tary of the Supreme Council of the there you find out that there are
And the mail always went through Parliament! other libraries that in the past were
Moscow. So in theory there was al- In Lithuania, the entire Foreign forbidden to have contact with the
ways someone looking at the mail Relations Committee of the Parlia- West. Now that things have changed
going both ways. When Gorbachev ment of Lithuania was there to meet they are allowed to have contacts. So
came to power in ’85, things began me. I was one of the only Americans you make the contacts, as long as they
to loosen up. It was possible for me there. So just by being there, with are able to send you, or offer you,
to ask to go. an official passport, and as an em- something that you aren't already get-
The one catch was that in March ployee of the U.S. government and ting from another source.
of 1990 Lithuania had already de- the Library of Congress, I was in a (Cont. on p. 34)
JANUARY 27, 1992 33
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Baltic Exchanges (Cont. from p. 33) posters. And 150 newspaper issues. to 1,000 copies of each issue that are
What do we offer them? A lot of things. $40 dollars times six | actually printed and distributed.
Primarily, we send them copyright would be 240 rubles, and that can
duplicates. These are brand new take you a long way. Is it a source of personal satisfaction
books, and usually hardbound. to you to have helped these things see
Was this from individual newsstands?
the light of day?
Do we swap book for book? Or will we Yes, individual newsstands. The Yes, I've invested a lot of time and
offer a book for a run of serials? problem with a lot of this material is | effort into it, and have been process-
Traditionally, we're supposed to | that it’s so ephemeral. Most of it isn’t | ing it. If you look at the collection as
do book for book or serial title for available for subscription. So you a whole, it’s an amazing archival
serial title. But we have a very limit- have to go wander the streets. In | documentary which lets you know
ed amount of serial titles available some cases you have to be on the what people are thinking and what
for exchange. | right street corner at the right time
| voices wanted to be heard, but
When I was traveling through the | to get this newspaper, or else you weren't able to be heard.
Baltics, that’s one of the agreements The official Soviet press is so cor-
I worked out. We want these | rupt and so tainted by its affiliation
newspapers. Send them to us. And Recently acquired newspapers, | with the Soviet system that a lot of
in return we'll send you books of many of which are in the exhibit,
the old newspapers are collapsing
equal value. | are so valuable “because they | and dying. And they won’t survive.
document all the myriad voices
How do you set the value? which were suppressed in the | emeWrhgaet, awrie llt hesseu rvnievwe,, inwdheapte ndewniltl
Since we have an office in Moscow | Soviet Union for 70 years, and in
that’s responsible for acquiring newspapers. One of the samples up
the Baltics for 50 years. Before
material by purchase, we have an there was only one monolithic point | On. the © wali [aocft itvhee exhibit] ]iis sa aL ithuLi-thu
idea of how much this independent anian newspaper which started out
of view. Gorbachev opened Pan-
material costs. We know how much as a chintzy little mimeographed
| dora’s box.”
we're paying our contractor in sheet. It became a little more impres-
Moscow to acquire similar types of | sive and then finally looks like a nor-
| mal newspaper. And so you see the
material from Russia. So we have an | won't find it. One of the newspapers
idea that each single newspaper will we have on exhibit is from the Soci- actual growth or evolution of these
cost approximately 1 ruble. Or it did | ety of Soviet Stalinists. On the back newspapers.
cost approximately 1 ruble. it says, “We meet every Thursday by Part of the rationale in collecting
so much is that you don’t know
And a ruble, at the official ex- | the metro stop at such and such a
change rate, which we were using | time.” So that’s usually the only time | which newspapers are going to sur-
for a long time because government you can actually get that newspaper. | vive, which ones are going to be The
agencies were forced to use it, works Washington Post or The New York
out to be $1.60. Now, a ruble is Why are these newspapers valuable? | Times of Lithuania. There will even-
worth about a penny. So it depends Because they document all the | tually be a shakedown, and the lead-
on what exchange rates you use and myriad voices which were sup- | ing newspapers will emerge. But if
how it fluctuates. pressed in the Soviet Union for 70 we hadn't started collecting at the
| years, and in the Baltics for 50 years. very beginning, we wouldn't have
Did you purchase any material Before, there was only one mono- the first issues.
directly? lithic point of view. And if you dis- Incidentally, it was the Librarian
Yes, the Order Division gave me agreed with that, you were sent to of Congress who decided we should
$750 dollars to purchase material on prison or whatever else happened to be collecting this material, as early
site in 1990. And I bought a lot of | you. When Gorbachev opened Pan- as 1989. As a result, we opened our
materials for that, since I was able to | dora’s box, everyone who had ever office in Moscow in 1990. When he
use the tourist exchange rate, which wanted to say anything about any- wanted to know what the Moscow
meant that $1 was worth 6 rubles. I thing had the opportunity to say | office was doing, Harry Leich of the
ended up spending maybe $40 dol- it—anarchists, monarchists, Stalin- European Division brought over
lars for stuff that would have cost, ists— anyone with any opinion was samples of different material Mos-
through our Moscow office, at least able to express it. A lot of these | cow had sent, as well as material I
newspapers are produced by people had helped to acquire from the Bal-
in their basements or in their apart- tics. When the Librarian saw this, he
What did you get for $40? ments or whatever, and distributed. was so impressed that he decided
I got six videocassettes and 30 Some of them only have maybe 200 | we should have an exhibit.
34 LC INFORMATION BULLETIN