Abstract
Various media were used in World War II as a part of the war effort, and public libraries were recognized as disseminators of wartime information. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the role of the library in American medium policy, by analyzing the wartime information service provided by the American Library Association (ALA) and the Office of War Information (OWI) using American Library Association Archives, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library. As a result of examining the war-related information program promoted by the ALA and the OWI, it became clear that public libraries were a significant part of the governmental medium strategy. The public library functioned as a center of wartime information and librarians had the responsibility for supplying necessary information for citizens. The diffusion of information was done through the various media that contained not only printed matter but also audiovisual materials. The information service provided by the close relationship between the ALA and the OWI was based on the idea that adequate information diffusion was essential for the informed citizen who supported democratic society.
