Since not all donated books were suitable for troops, librarians also raised funds that could be used by the American Library Association to buy new ones. This poster advertises the weeklong 1918 campaign encouraging public donations to the Library Fund. Librarians across the United States spearheaded efforts to collect monetary donations; while some led door-to-door campaigns, others visited theaters before a show to solicit money from audience members. The campaign met its goal of raising one million dollars. Books were very popular among soldiers who often lacked entertainment after a day’s training and were eager to pass the time. Soldiers overseas clamored for books to fill empty hours of waiting for action or when relieved from active duty. They could spend days or weeks waiting to enter the front lines; books provided a mental escape from the inevitable brooding and anxiety about upcoming battles. This is one of the last American posters printed during World War I promoting a donation drive to benefit a single organization. For more than a year, a slew of organizations hosted independent fundraising drives asking the public to give again and again. Concerned that the public would grow weary of these never-ending donation requests, the U.S. government encouraged the seven most prominent volunteer organizations to launch a single fundraising event, the United War Work Campaign, between November 11 and 18.