The National Aerospace Library

The idea of creating a National Aerospace Library (NAL), akin in some respects to the Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, was first taken up by the Council in the late 1990s. Because of the sheer volume of published material on aerospace, it was soon concluded that it would be unrealistic to aim for a single national collection in one building and that a more realistic goal would be to create a virtual library, using IT to link nodes in all the major UK libraries with substantial aerospace collections. However, pressure on space in Hamilton Place, and the risk of flood damage to library archive material stored in the basement, did highlight the need to find accommodation elsewhere for the Society’s archive material.

As a result, in early 2004, the Chief Executive informed members that the Society, “...in consultation with the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, the National Aeronautical Collection of the Science Museum and others, is investigating the possibility of establishing a National Aerospace Library” and sought their views.  The response was strongly positive but, in response to expressions of concern from the membership, the Chief Executive made it clear that “....there is no intention of moving the complete Library out of Hamilton Place or indeed, for that matter selling it off. Quite the reverse.”   In June 2004 an appeal to raise funds for the NAL was launched in The Aerospace Professional (AP) under the headline Aerospace Archives for the Future. This outlined the general objectives of the proposed NAL and noted that, “Such an undertaking would inevitably demand considerable capital investment and we hope it would be a strong candidate for support by the Heritage Lottery Fund of the National Lottery.”

July 2004 saw the formation of the Society’s National Aerospace Library Working Group, responsible for exploring the options for location of the NAL and then progressing the project under Council oversight.  An understanding from the outset, and consistent with periodic statements by the Chief Executive in AP, was the “intention to maintain a working library at HQ”.  By mid 2005 the project had developed into an ambitious plan for a new building, to be located in or adjacent to the ex RAE 24ft wind tunnel on the Heritage Site at Farnborough..  The estimated cost was around £10m, of which half was sought from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) with the other £5m to be raised as donations to the Society.  Following the rejection of the initial lottery bid, and with the funds raised by appeal in excess of £100k but far short of the £5m needed to match possible HLF funding, a less ambitious approach was adopted to finding an interim home for both the Library’s archive material and the additional collections which had been given to the Society since the launch of the NAL appeal.

The end result was the leasing of a room in ‘The Hub’ building on the Heritage Site at Farnborough from mid 2007 and the official opening there, in January 2008, of the National Aerospace Library.  This was a year and a half after the National Aerospace Library was established, as a limited company wholly owned by the Society, at a plaque unveiling ceremony in 4 Hamilton Place. In 2009, the lease was extended to include an additional room, housing the ‘Secret Factory’ museum, and the period of the lease extended from 10 to 25 years. The main contents of the Hamilton Place Library and the Society Librarian were suddenly transferred to Farnborough in August 2009 with no prior notice either to the membership or Council.

The evolution of the NAL concept is discussed in Appendix 3A and its development between 2004 and 2009 in Appendix 3B.  The information that has been made available to members through The Aerospace Professional is set out in Bulletin 2, Appendix 2C.

As the project developed between 2004 and 2007 the emphasis was increasingly on finding suitable accommodation for the archive material that had originally been in the basement in Hamilton Place and then moved to temporary storage in boxes in A Shed at Farnborough. The concept of a shared project involving the other main aeronautical libraries, linked electronically to form a truly national ‘virtual’ library, therefore received relatively little attention in this period and by June 2006 the NAL had been established as a company wholly owned by the Society. We believe the long term aim of the Society should be, as originally envisaged, the establishment of a network of electronically linked libraries in the UK operated and funded co-operatively.  However, starting as the sole owner of the NAL name and a large archive in Farnborough, the Society clearly has some way to go, and possibly some fences with other libraries to mend, to achieve that goal.

We are concerned that, as far as we know, the NAL project has evolved in recent years without any formal business plan approved by the Council. It has developed somewhat opportunistically, generating funds by appeal, expanding its footprint at Farnborough when the opportunity has arisen and supporting the library operation in Farnborough through an informal agreement with Hampshire County Council that we understand is not backed by any exchange of letters. With a 25 year lease taken out on the rooms in The Hub, supporting the archive is an appreciable forward commitment on Society resources without, we fear, a clear and costed long term plan. The statement by the Chief Executive in the October 2009 issue of The Aerospace Professional that, “We are also discussing with SEGRO further storage adjacent to the Hub building” underlines the potential risk of moving any further forward without a full business plan.

What is at issue is the proper role of the Society and the interests of the members. We believe it is appropriate for the Society to act as a catalyst in the creation of a collegiate network of UK libraries with significant aerospace holdings, linked electronically to form a virtual library that could truly call itself National. We also believe it is appropriate for the Society to accept into its archive orphan collections of sufficient merit. We are however concerned to ensure that, in going down this road, the tail does not begin to wag the dog, hence the need for a properly costed long term plan for the space the Society has leased at Farnborough. 

In concluding, we emphasise our support for the creation of the NAL at Farnborough as the archive component of the Society Library, augmented by the addition of other orphan collections.  This has been a positive step and is an outstanding achievement by the Chief Executive and all those who have supported the raising of the funds and the implementation of the plan.  Emphatically, however, we do not support the addition to the holdings at Farnborough of the contents of the Hamilton Place working library.  It is important to note that the latter, in contrast to the Farnborough archive, was the base for literature of high current importance in the technological and other disciplines of modern aerospace. As such it was a valuable facility for a wide range of Society members, and highly convenient for visits in conjunction with other business in London. We therefore believe that move should be reversed.

We believe the most important action to be taken to achieve a true National Aerospace Library is to rekindle dialogue with the other major UK libraries with whom the Society was in discussion when the NAL project was launched in 2004. The aim should be to define and implement a network linking all the libraries with significant aerospace holdings.  Whilst the Society may have ruffled some feathers by labelling its new archive the National Aerospace Library, there is a collective interest in creating such a network and the Society, though less well resourced than some other libraries, would be a natural focus for the activity.  From the perspective of members’ interests, we do not think that acting as a catalyst would require a disproportionate commitment of Society resources. However, such a role should not be allowed to involve a serious downgrading of the service available to members at Society HQ as exemplified by the recent removal of the working library and librarian

Appendix 3A   Evolution of the concept 1999 – 2004

Appendix 3B   Development of the NAL 2004 – 2009

Appendix 3C Other significant aerospace libraries

Appendix 3D NAL past and future – an essay