John W. Ramsay Research Library at the New England Air Museum

It must be a dream of many librarians to work in a place where books and the physical artifacts which the books examine coexist. Given an interest, who wouldn’t enjoy working in an art library surrounded by artwork, or in a naval library in an historic shipyard, or in an aviation library housed among historic airplanes? This latter library exists right here in Connecticut, and it is as large and as special as it is unfamiliar to many librarians.

Is it possible to have a library of over 20,000 volumes, 96,000 issues of periodicals, 5000 technical manuals, 600 videos, over 30,000 photographs, prints, and artistic renderings, and hundreds of boxes of archival material and not have any paid staff, and no real budget to speak of? Yes, if it is a labor of love like the Ramsay Research Library at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks. The Library’s Director, Bob Foster, and a staff of 17 volunteers “collect, preserve, catalog, and make available the history of aviation; especially, but not exclusively, as it relates to the New England area.” You might expect such a library to be named after a famous pilot, aviation pioneer, or perhaps a wealthy benefactor, but librarians will appreciate that the library’s board named this library after a former Library director, John W. Ramsay.

Started in 1960, the Research Library is a growing and thriving library run in support of the mission of the Museum. Though now a valuable asset to the Museum and to Connecticut, the library nearly disappeared after the tornado of October 3, 1979. The tornado tore off the roof of the hangar where the library collections were housed, but did not damage the collections themselves. Since that time the library space has expanded as the Museum has expanded. Currently the Library takes up about 7,000 square feet and includes a reference/reading room, work rooms, and stack and archive space at the Museum.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that this library with no paid staff, no budget, and limited public hours must be un-used or un-impressive. This is one of the largest non-governmental aviation libraries in the world. Nearly every item in the collection is a gift donated by people who were involved in or who loved aviation. The volunteer staff work diligently to identify and catalog these donations. They are caring for the items in a space that every librarian would recognize as a bit cramped and a bit unorthodox. The book collection, for example, shares hangar space with historic civil aviation aircraft. Offices are cramped and drafty. And Library staff know when it is time to retire when they can no longer negotiate the steep stairs to the main collections.

Some notable treasures from these collections include a rare book collection that emphasizes early ballooning, technical aviation manuals, pilot operating handbooks, and a reference file collection covering 740 different aviation topics. The periodical collection includes a large number of hard-to-find private and short-run aviation publications that are no longer published. The photograph and artwork collection includes 21,000 black and white prints, 7,800 slides, photographs, and artwork documenting the history of aviation. The Library’s archive collections include papers from many New England aviation pioneers, including Burnelli, Whitehead, MacClain, Wittiman and others. The archives also houses the historic documents of the Connecticut Aeronautical Historical Association, the new England Air Museum, and others.

The researchers who depend on this Library include pilots, engineers, aviation enthusiasts and the general public. Though the stack areas are closed to the public, researchers may use the various finding aids available in the reading room. More importantly, staff will assist researchers with their questions. The Research Librarian will do limited amounts of research for patrons and will answer both e-mail and snail-mail reference questions. The only cost to patrons is for document reproductions. Museum displays often spark research requests, including recent interest in the Lafayette Escadrille, the group of American aviators who fought with the French in the early years of World War I. Also of special interest is the Library’s materials on early women aviators.

Thanks to some recent cash donations, Library staff have acquired computers to begin the long task of providing a future online catalog. In the meantime, much of the volunteer staff time is taken up with the sorting and identification of donated items so that they can be housed and cataloged or sold in a Library book sale. The Library can’t keep all the donations it receives, so the Library hosts seven book sales per year and uses the proceeds to help support the library. Aviation book collectors are frequent visitors during these times.

For more information about the John W. Ramsay Research Library at the New England Air Museum, see their website at www.neam.org/exhibits/research.asp . The Library is open to the public on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 2pm and is located off Route 75 in Windsor Locks.

An edited version of this article appeared previously in Connecticut Libraries.