The reorganization of the Library of Congress, 1939-44,

Archibald MacLeish (1892 - 1982) was an American modernist poet, writer, Pulitzer Prize winner, and also served as Librarian of Congress. American Libraries has called MacLeish "one of the hundred most influential figures in librarianship during the 20th century" in the United States. At the prompting of Felix Frankfurter, President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated MacLeish for the Librarian of Congress. The position was frought with political and bureaucratic difficulties, and MacLeish's initial investigations found the Library of Congress to be extremely disorganized and overwhelmed by the pace of acquisitions. MacLeish engaged leading scholars in library science to analyze the library's managerial structure. Working from their recommendations, MacLeish had completely restructured the Library of Congress making it work more efficiently within a year.