- Our library service will be on par with the best Army Libraries and Public libraries throughout the United States and abroad.
- We will constantly evaluate the services we are offering to determine whether or not they remain viable or require modification to serve the Family and MWR mission.
- We will offer programs and services tuned to the rhythm of the Fort Knox community, remaining attuned to the constant state of readiness in which the post exists.
- We will seek out feedback both in our library and in the community.
- We will embed ourselves in the fabric of our community by actively engaging customers and potential customers by participating in outreach events, speaking at meetings and programs, and offering a diverse range of highly visible programs and services that will seek to attract new customers.
- We will leverage resources, both print and in electronic formats, to provide the widest possible range of access to our customers.
- We will reinforce and expand our influence as the premiere institution of knowledge and lifelong learning on post.
- We will enhance and expand our collections – both physical and virtual – to best meet the needs of our community.
- We will offer services that reach out to the community – from birth to the twilight years – offering a vast tableau of programs.
- We will maximize the use of technology to reach and provide the broadest range of access to electronic resources to our customers.
- We will use technology to transform our library from not only a place where one seeks information, but into a place where knowledge is transformed through a process of creation.
- We will explore and participate in training activities that enhance our ability to serve the Fort Knox community.
- We will be a staff attentive to the needs of our customers, recognizing, respecting, and adapting to serve a constituency under enormous pressures.
Since first opening our doors, Barr Library has served members of the Fort Knox community with free and open places to gather, learn, connect, read and be transformed. We offer innovative library services, technologies and tools that our patrons need to reach their goals and to establish our community as Our Nation's Gold Standard Army Home.
Mission and Vision Statements
As part of the Community Recreation Division of the Directorate of Family and MWR, the Library adheres to the Directorate’s mission and vision statements, as well as its strategic goals. The Library makes further commitments to those goals, offering specific examples of how customers can expect the overarching Family and MWR commitments to be met at Barr Memorial Library.
Family and MWR Mission Statement: Professional workforce delivering innovative and relevant programs and services that enhance readiness, retention, and resiliency for the Military community.
Family and MWR Vision Statement: Extraordinary programs and services for our Military community.
MG David Goodwin Barr, The Library's Namesake
David Goodwin Barr was born at Nanafalia, Alabama, on June 16, 1895. He attended Alabama Presbyterian College and was commissioned a second lieutenant, Infantry Reserve, on November 27, 1917. He was called to active duty on that same date and was promoted to first lieutenant (temporary) on May 31, 1919. He was commissioned a first lieutenant of Infantry in the Regular Army on July 1, 1920.
Promotions
He was promoted to captain on March 1, 1930; to major on December 20, 1938; to lieutenant colonel on April 19, 1941; to colonel (temporary) on February 1, 1942; to brigadier general (temporary) on June 25, 1942; to major general (temporary) on February 23, 1944; to major general (permanent) on 15 October 1944.
Service
After completing OCS in November 1917 he was assigned to Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina, for duty with the 55th Pioneer Infantry as an instructor in road building projects. He went to France in September 1918 and served with the 18th Infantry, 1st Division. He served with the American Forces in Germany with the 18th Infantry and in February 1919 became Adjutant of the 1st Division Officers' School at Montabaur, Germany. He rejoined the 18th Infantry at Maxsain, Germany, in June 1919 and served until September 1919, when he returned to the United States with the 18th Infantry.
He was stationed at Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky, with the 18th Infantry until October 1920, when he was assigned to the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Upon his graduation in June 1921, he was ordered to Plattsburg Barracks, New York, as an instructor with the New York National Guard. In September 1921 he again rejoined the 18th Infantry at Camp Dix, New Jersey.
In September 1923, he was detailed to the Tank School at Camp Meade, Maryland, and was graduated in February 1924. He then was assigned to the 18th Tank Battalion at Camp Meade until July 1924, when he went to Camp McClellan, Alabama, for duty with the 4th Tank Company.
He went to Europe in June 1926 for duty in the office of Military Attaché, Paris, France. While there, he attended the French Tank School at Versailles, and in August 1927 he returned to the United States for service at Fort Benning, Georgia with the 15th Tank Battalion. In July 1929, he was transferred to the 1st Tank Regiment at Fort Benning.
He became Adjutant of the Mechanized Force in October 1930 and participated in its move from Fort Eustis, Virginia, to Camp (Fort) Knox, Kentucky. From April 1932 to August 1933 he was in France as an officer with the Pilgrimage of Gold Star Mothers. Upon his return to the United States in August 1933 he was assigned to the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and was graduated after completing the Advanced Course in June 1936. During this tour he also served intermittently as Assistant Adjutant, Command and General Staff School and on Civilian Conservation Corps duty, Headquarters Missouri District, with station at Fort Leavenworth.
He then went to Washington, D.C., as Adjutant of the Washington Provisional Brigade, until he was detailed to the Army War College, Washington, D.C., in September 1938. He was graduated in June 1939, and then returned to duty with the Washington Brigade as Plans and Training Officer, G-3. In July 1940 he went to Fort Knox, Kentucky, as Assistant G-4 of the I Armored Corps and in May 1941 became G-4.
In June 1942 he became Chief of Staff of the Armored Forces with Headquarters at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and served in this capacity until July 1943. In July 1943 he was assigned to Headquarters European Theater of Operations, London, England, where he served as Deputy Chief of Staff and later as Chief of Staff of the theater. In January 1944 he was named Chief of Staff, Headquarters Mediterranean Theater of Operations and in September 1944 became Chief of Staff of the Sixth Army Group, then serving in France.
In July 1945 he was assigned G-1 of the Army Ground Forces, Washington, D.C. In January 1948 he was assigned Chief, Army Advisory Group in China, which was changed to Joint United States Military Advisory Group to the Republic of China of which he was the Director in November 1948. He left Shanghai on January 30, 1949 and arrived in Japan on February 1, 1949. He remained Director of the United States Military Advisory Group to the Republic of China with offices in Tokyo, Japan, until the administration of the group was closed out. On 8 May 1949 he was assigned to Eighth Army as Commanding General, 7th Infantry Division, Sapporo, Japan. He commanded this division first in Japan and then in Korea during the first seven months of the Korean War, to include participating in the Inchon Landing and the subsequent invasion of North Korea culminating with the march to the Yalu River in November 1950. He left the 7th Division on 26 January 1951 and took command of the Armored Center on 22 February 1951. On 5 April 1951, illness forced his replacement at Fort Knox, and following prolonged hospitalization, he was physically retired on 29 February 1952.
MG David G. Barr died on 26 September 1970 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
