After the draft was reinstated in the U.S. in 1940, millions of young soldiers found themselves in barracks and training camps, where they were often bored. The head of the Army's Library Section, Raymond L. Trautman, sought to remedy this by purchasing one book per soldier, but when that failed, librarians launched a nationwide book collection campaign.
In 1940, following the reactivation of the draft in the U.S., millions of young soldiers were assigned to barracks and training camps where they often felt unoccupied. To address this problem, the Army's Library Section head, Raymond L. Trautman, proposed giving one book to each soldier, though that plan did not work. Consequently, librarians launched a nationwide effort to collect books for the troops.