John K. Fairbank’s Special Contribution to Chinese Collection Development in American Libraries during the Second World War

AbstractJohn K. Fairbank served as the Director of the American Publications Service under the American Embassy in China during WWII, with responsibility for collecting Chinese and Japanese information and intelligence for the American government. As a Chinese studies scholar himself, Fairbank initiated and participated in several important projects of collecting Chinese publications and exchanging materials for leading American institutions, especially the Library of Congress, Harvard University, and Columbia University. He also supported the sending of English-language materials to China as gift or as exchange. His personal relationship with the ambitious and energetic Chinese scholar and library leader Yuan Tung-li played a crucial role in his career in wartime China. By examining the American Publications Service and the International Cultural Service, the two most important organisations for library and cultural exchange between China and the US during the war, this paper aims to document and analyse Fairbank’s special contributions to the collection development of Chinese materials in American research libraries.