How an Army Librarian Brought the Joy of Reading to the Front Lines

In September 1942, Army Chief Librarian Ray Trautman arrived in Australia, having traveled to this corner of the war to assess the reading needs of soldiers and meet with General Douglas MacArthur. The Pacific theater was already witnessing numerous battles, with the gradual advance towards the Japanese mainland seeming inevitable.

Morale in the Southwest Pacific Area was bleak, as Trautman himself acknowledged. To combat this, Trautman sought to understand what the soldiers most desired to read. Officers typically shared their reading materials among themselves, but Trautman was determined to engage with the enlisted men directly, those fighting on the front lines.

He observed that soldiers craved anything to read, but preferred best-selling novels, newspapers from home, pin-up magazines, Westerns, sports stories, comics, and even catalogs like Sears Roebuck. Trautman noted that the compact size of softcover books made them ideal for soldiers who needed to carry them easily. However, mainstream publishers shunned this format, favoring hardcover editions.

Without a storage system in the Pacific, Trautman's efforts to stock up on books were hindered, as new equipment was often destroyed by the elements before it could reach its destination. Despite these challenges, Trautman's dedication to bringing reading material to the troops proved invaluable in boosting morale and providing an escape from the harsh realities of war.