Morning at 7 00 eastern on cspan. Tuesday, Smart Technology to connect government services. See it live at 8 00 a. M. Eastern here on cspan2. Im thrilled and excited to be here. I want to thank cspan for covering the National Book festival. We have a beautiful sunny day. I hope the crowds show the crowds. One thing about remember about exceptional president s, is that the exception. This is a wonder event. Heaven is a library, if thats the case, heaven has gone out today and we are in heaven of this National Book festival. The leaders for tomorrow. I am youth leader for today. Trying to show that we had this redblew map. The divide was a little divide. The idea that the country itself is a polarized as washington is just wrote. I dont know a scientists who believes that. All people that they realize that whatever theyve done in life is something that ought to be recorded and passed on to the next generations, thats the way we learn, we learn for the future and trying to understand in the past. All of us have a past. You talk about the remaining, you really focused and didnt talk about guam, why did you this is a great question. Its actually to the point. We realized that there was no way we could tell the whole story. Theres no way we could be short of having a story read like the telephone book. Of course, the telephone book is not a story. When i was in law school i graduated in 1967, there were 13 women in my class of 500. Today the law schools are 50 50. He never liked people who put profit of private goods. It belonged to American People from generations unborn and need to be handed on in the wake of the spirit. I made a career out of my life for books, and to help spread the love i spread the texas book festival and National Book festival. While i love reading, i never thought i would write a book, certainly not one about myself. The goal was in some way a sense the book is urgency and to get the story before its too late to be able to ive had father and a daughter in los angeles who both came together and after hearing about the book, the daughter said the father, im taking you to the coffee shop now and youre going to tell me the story. 30plus Million People to Health Insurance bill. Thats going to be quite a change, quite a Martin Luther i think that was towards justice. There are things with healthcare now. You know what johnson would have said . Civil rights, a its important to pass it and once you pass it, its easy to go back and fix it. Bring back the dead. I try to do that, but also others who are less familiar like generals ted roosevelt, jr. [laughs] no big person, you know, to go back to italy so i am bringing all mf guys and i am going to write about leadership. Thats really what i care about. Thank you. [applause] just started. Cspan is going to have questions called in from cspan and cspan will now answer next on the reading festival, her book when books went to war. The stories that helped us one a world war ii, from the fdr president ial library in new york this is 35 minutes. And now it is my pleasure to introduce our author for this session, molly manning, when books went to war the stories that helped us win world war ii. He grew up in new york, north of albany. Welcome back to the hudson river valley. He graduated from the university of albany where he also earned a masters agree in history. Shes an attorney for the United States court of appeals for the Second Circuit in new york city. In 2012 she published her first book, it was great literary, held the true story american history. Her latest books tell amazing and inspiring story about how the United States government educated americans on the home front about the importance of books in wartime, an argzed programs that lead to ready distribution of a million books. Please welcome me to welcome molly manning. [applause] thank you for that wonderful introduction and thank you all for coming today. So what id like to talk about today is the extraordinary story of how books played an essential role during world war ii. Its a story thats been largely forgotten, but i think that youll see by the end of this program a very important part of world war ii and really defined the generation and the generations that came after. 140 million books were restrib distributed. Thats an extraordinary number. [inaudible conversations] so what id like to start with is why books of all thing that is can be provided, why did the government select reading materials, and really we have congress to thanks for those. During the timing of the service act and the allocation of funding to train that would be drafted to military service t army ended up facing an extraordinary moral problems, so basically in the summer of 1940, president roosevelt ask congress to pass legislation for the first peace draft. Americans were not at war. They did not want to join a war that they considered to be a foreign war that was thousands of miles away, and thought they didnt really concern them. They felt that domestic problems really should have been the main focus of the government, not the war in europe. But fdr realized that if america would attack the current state could not possibly defend the United States. The American Army was 174,000 people in 1939. That was really, really small. And so he asked congress to please pass legislation to allow for a draft. Congress worked on legislation over the summer and in september 1940 they came and they finally passed the selective training and service act. They also realized they needed to have funding so they have adequate Training Camp for all of the new people that would be coming into the military. So what ended up happening, people were drafted in the services before Training Camps were built for them. And so instead of going to a Training Area where there were cafeterias, classrooms for training, they ended up having villages of tents. Many are familiar with what winter feels like, unfortunately the draft occurred over the winter, at least for the first, to live in tents during the wintertime in the north was really a miserable experience. So that alone made many people feel less than exciting for their military service. Many people didnt understand why they were drafted. America was w not at war. Its didnt really make sense to them why they would have to train under those circumstances. And also a lot of people were very young that were drafted in the the military. They were used to living at home with their parents. This is the first time that they were taken out of their homes to live in tents with perfect strangersment when it strangers. So the men were stuck wearing uniforms from world war i which were itchy and they had to use broom sticks. They didnt really want to know what kind of soldiers they would turn out to be. And so what ended up happening was the military started doing research, trying to figure out what can they do to make the men happier. They realized the moral problem was not universal. The Training Camps in world war i, there were all sorts of amusements that were available to the men. After a full days of training they could relax and enjoy themselves. The men had facilities like pool halls, they also had movie theaters, there were stages where they could watch shows and maybe comedians would go through. They also had library so the men could take out books and if they want today write a letter to their loved ones at home they had a private to do it rather than a tent trying to pour out theirde hearts to their loved ones. Lived in Training Camps that had all of the amenities were happier. They felt a sense of purpose in their training and the army felt that that was what they need today try to duplicate in the new Training Areas. The only problem was that they were having trouble building barrics. What kind of entertain that we can provide that wouldnt necessarily with no structure. Could distribute the books and can keep in their belongs and they could have to go back to entertain them. They faced a problem, though, thought todnt provide a giant book budget to help boost the moral. They didnt have fund to go actually buy enough books. But civilianly they decide that had they would host drive, collect as many books as they can to donate to the army and navy. Theyle planned the campaign towards the end of 1941 and right before the campaign kicked off pearl harbor was attacked. Suddenly everyone in america, they suddenly all decided that this was a war that they all wanted to fight and they all wanted to do their fight. Americans i wanted to donate bos to Training Camps. They started out by plastering posters across the United States so that they knew that there was a Book Campaign that was about to take off. In january of 1942, on the steps of the New York Public Library on 42nd street there was a twoweek publicity where they try today bring as many celebrities and politicians and military officials to explain why books are so important in wartimes. Each day thousands upon thousands of books were donated. This is in the basement of the New York Public Library. You see volunteers, books that wereou donated by new yorkers. Among the celebrities that came out during those two weeks katherine, she gave a speech about how important books were, she actually brought stacks of books herself for donations. She signed each one and wrote an encouraging message. Now, this campaign wasnt just by adults and for adults. Even children got involved. They worked with boy scouts and girl scouts who organized doortoDoor Campaigns. They asked people to bring books to them and sort them and box them and get them ready to Training Camps. There was one boy cowt troop in chicago that was so successful in doorto Door Campaign they collected ten thousand books. The campaign was going well. They had collected millions of books. The volunteers were plan to go collect 10 million books. Theybo ended upturning to president roosevelt for a little help. He declared that april 17th, 1942 was victory book day and he asked all americans to go through book shels, select books that they enjoyed reading and to donate them. President roosevelt and Elenor Roosevelt were fans of reading. You know that they have book shelves with books. Fdr was a collector of books, as the german army spread across europe, there was an effort by the german army to destroy books. The idea was basically getting control over ideas, any ideas that did not sport the nazi platform or ideas existed were considered dangerous. Those books would be removed from libraries. Some were dangerous that were y was allowed to take those books. Fdr did not think that was the besti policy. He thought americans could combat that by reading as many books as they can. He thought was a again use idea. And so he gave a speech one day about the power of books, and he talked about the book burnings a little bit and you can see the poster ended up being made that had an excerpt of the speech. He concluded that we know books arhee weapons. After the speech he had a press conference and one reporter asked, mr. President , what types of books should we ask to donate anything but algebra. [laughs] on the more serious note, you should donate any book that you read and enjoyed. The campaign actually met its goal to collecting 10 million books in 1942 which was a huge accomplishment. What do you notice about the books that were being collect snd theyre all hardbacks. This was fine for people in stationary Training Camps. They werent so ideal for people that were sent out to the front seat. This is actually north africa. You can see these people appear to have been marching for quite some time. You can see that they have packs on their back. All of their personnel possessions are on their backs. They. Necessities. So food, water, weapons, it was very important thing that is would make the cut and went into that bag. The men marched for a few miles they stopped to go go back through their pack and see if they could eliminate that was not necessary because their feet were blistered, they were hot, uncomfortable and wanted to do anything to lightened their load. Even thanough many men brought a victory book with them for a long ship ride to whatever front they werehe dispatched to, manyf them carried books off the ships because they knew they would probably be long and boring, theres no entertainment, no movie theaters in north africa. They had to carry it with them. But unfortunately, after days of marching and fighting many books had to be set aside because they simply couldnt carry the weight. They were too much. Now paperbacks would obviously good improvement. In 1939 only 200,000 were printed. Collected 10 million books. They couldnt do anything about whether hardbacks were being printed. That was on publishers. They did not want to print paperbacks. Itks cost 2. 50. A paperback could be sold for 25 cents. Obviously they could get a much bigger profit by selling hard covers than paperbacks. So they didnt want to print paperback. The same could be said with the people that ran bookstores. They could make more of a profit off of hard covers. They realized this is a special circumstances, we need to do our part for the men who were fighting, and so they decided that they were going to have to print some kind of special troops for troops and distribution overseas and they decided to haveav a special program where they would sell books directly to them and they couldhe distribute them around e world. They had. To redine the book. They had to look like something they got rid of the hard cover. They reduced the size of the books. The a largest paperback four ana half by six and a half. They could not print books this tiny. And so publishers how to figure out how are they going to print these o things. They printed two books on top of one another on a magazine press and sliezed them in half. Magazine presses could have used news papers. And so those books copied in brooklyn published in 1940. So you can see these improvement made a dramatically centered book. And to show how small they are and indeed pocket size, i have one in my pocket right now. This is mister use stranger. Its a complete book. Its very lightweight. Suddenly they had books that were truly pocket size. They didnt have to fit into a backpack anymore. They fit in the breast pocket. So what the publishers did each month they published 30 different titles initially later 42 titles a month. So an entire set of these books would be sent to the servicemen who were fighting each men. Each unit would receive at least one full set. And so i wanted to show you a little bit about the inside of the books, its pretty remarkable the change that is are made to these also. So the back cover of each book had a short summary. If a man want to figure out if this is s a book that he wantedo read, he could figure it out quickly. This w was extraordinary because publishers realized serld soldiers would not be able to read. Andks their research showed that if they made the columns of text shorter it was easy because the eye didnt have to make it across four or five inches of text, just two. It made it easy for soldiers to read. In the back cover, inside cover printed all of the books that were printed that that month. And so if a person had a favorite title, a favorite author and want today make sure they didnt misit, all they had to do is check the back of their book each month and if their favorite title or author they knew somebody in their unit had that book and they had to track them down. [laughs] theres a policy to swap books. As soon as you were done, you have to pas it on to the next person to read it. Really popular books had a waiting list. You could sign up to read a specific title if i you heard tt it was a good one. Now the books that are incredibly popular. What id like to do in my book have the men themselves tell you how they felt you about the books rather than have my paraphrase. They are much more powerful. I want to show you a few of the books that. The books that are printed. The first book that i want to start out with is the education kaplin. You can know that because theres an a1 printed in the corner. A series was the first 30 books and then book number one. This is book that basically has a bunch of short sketches of humor. They are humorous stories. Not difficult reading, just to entertain and make the men laugh. One personer wrote to the author to talk about what the book meant to his unit, what he said was, i want to thank you profoundly for myself and more importantly for the men here in this god fore all we have is a pingpong set, with one paddle only. [laughs] last week we received your book on mr. Kaplin, i read it and simply roared with laughter. I read it at campfire. The men howled. Its a ration on pleasure. The first 30 books is a total surprise. No one had told them that they would start receiving monthly shipments of books. The first shipments in november 1933. What happened was they basically received bundles of books. They ripped them open and they just distributed them among themselves as fast as possible. 1944 they were surprised to find they received another shipment of books. Word started to spread this was going to be a monthly phenomenon and the men start d looking forward to it. Stars and stripes, a poplar army newspaper, started printing book list to let the men know this is what is coming next. One of the next book after the series of the education of caplin was chicken every sunday by rosemary taylor. This book was pretty much a whole some book. It was the story of a young girl who grew up in her mothers boarding house and reports on what is happening. The mother is booking guest that are crazy and asking for strange things to happen and the mother is always trying to appease the when they eat tin cans of rations and then read about the tantalizing tenders drove them crazy the city but the talk of ice water was enough to set him aquiver. Reminded them of their own mothers and for many this book brought them back what it is like to be civilians. In many men rose similar things to her that reading the book took them home for a couple of hours to alleviate the homesickness. I lived in that marvelous house with all the wonderful people. A surprise favorite also told from the perspective of a young girl who grew up in brooklyn the odds are stacked against her living with the impoverished family her father is an alcoholic but then he dies when she is in high school she is the first to get out to help support the family by getting a job but it was her dream to go to college she did everything she could and she ended of succeeding and a lot of men see that example as they face possible death to face tremendous odds against them. With 7,000 letters just four members of the services and was good enough to write back to most of the men. Compared to read the a good letter from home. And what is amazing is they told her how the book actually helps them survive the war mentally and emotionally. One Group Release stands out for me how it seems the units kept facing issues that were suicide missions. To feel this is it. This is the end of three. There is something about this book the odds that she faced and somehow to find courage to say you helped to inspire read during the trying days of battle then he went into battle again. And begin he wrote to say that once again you have saved me. This time he had gotten wounded and would be discharged but wanted to tell her one more time with the book meant to him. He and his wife were planning to start a family and they would name their child betty smith if it was a girl in order of the woman that would cause him to live. Over 123 million of Armed Services were distributed. And it did not end for what you feel today were repercussions with the american paperback industry exploded and publisher saw if they would buy a hardcover book but they would buy paperbacks. Hardcover books were too expensive for most to afford but the 0. 25 paperback would reach whole other population. In 1939 only a few were printed contended untutored 51 million then in 1959 for the First Time Ever in america more paperbacks are printed than hardcover so they got the message they could make a profit of the paperback. The second thing it was the gi bill. When the white man who went to west point field reason he would ever go to a library is of the head a direct order to do so. But suddenly everybody who has been discharged has the opportunity to go to college for free on the governments time per coba simultaneously they started to read books while at war and realize they enjoyed doing something a scholarly as reading. With a College Education they decided to take a vantage of that. Those that got it education the first member to get a College Education and then 60 generations continue