Doing Their Part: The Services of the San Diego Public Library during World War II

LIBRARY TRENDS, Vol. 55, No. 3, Winter 2007 (“Libraries in Times of War, Revolution, and Social Change,” edited by W. Boyd Rayward and Christine Jenkins), pp. 570–582 © 2007 The Board of Trustees, University of Illinois Abstract As the United States was gearing up for war in 1940, San Diego, California, was one of the cities most affected by the increase in both military personnel and civilian defense workers. Confronted with a rapidly increasing population and a growing demand for information to support the aircraft and shipbuilding industries, the staff of the San Diego Public Library exemplified the important role that libraries played in educating citizens, building morale, and maintaining a sense of normalcy in a very uncertain world.