National Air and Space Museum Library

National Air and Space Museum Library
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Name	National Air and Space Museum Library
Country	United States
Established	1966
Location	Washington, D.C.
Type	Research library
Collection size	over 300,000 volumes (aviation and spaceflight)
Parent institution	Smithsonian Institution

National Air and Space Museum Library.

The National Air and Space Museum Library supports scholarship on aviation and spaceflight through specialized holdings, reference services, and partnerships with institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, the National Air and Space Museum, and the National Museum of American History. The Library serves historians, engineers, curators, students, and the public researching figures like Orville Wright, Wilbur Wright, Charles Lindbergh, Chuck Yeager, Neil Armstrong, and organizations such as NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. Holdings document major events including the Apollo program, the Space Shuttle program, the Barnstorming era, and the Battle of Britain in the context of aviation history.

History

The Library traces institutional origins to specialized collections created within the National Air Museum and the Smithsonian Institution Libraries during the 20th century, formalized after the founding of the National Air and Space Museum in 1976. Early growth reflected donations and transfers from individuals and corporations such as the Wright brothers, Glenn Curtiss, Howard Hughes, Pan American World Airways, and the United States Air Force historical office. Major twentieth-century expansions paralleled milestones including the Sputnik crisis, the Moon landing, and the post-World War II aerospace industrial boom, with acquisitions from archives of Lockheed, Douglas Aircraft Company, and the Convair lineage. The Library’s administrative history intersects with initiatives led by figures like T. Keith Glennan and agencies including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and congressional legislation establishing Smithsonian mandates.

Collections

The Library's collections encompass monographs, serials, technical reports, flight manuals, photographic prints, and microforms focused on subjects such as aerodynamics, rocketry, air traffic control, and satellite technology. Notable collections include corporate archives from Pan Am, the research reports of Bell Aircraft Corporation, aircraft manufacturer documents from Boeing and Lockheed, and personal papers of aviators and engineers associated with Howard Hughes, Eddie Rickenbacker, Amelia Earhart, and Sally Ride. The Library maintains historic periodicals like Flight International, Jane's All the World's Aircraft, and specialized serials published by entities such as the Royal Aeronautical Society. Technical report series from NASA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, and military contractors supplement rare items like early aviation logbooks and flight test records connected to events including the Doolittle Raid and the Berlin Airlift.

Services and Access

Reference librarians provide research consultations, interlibrary loan support, and access to digitized materials for users affiliated with institutions such as Smithsonian Institution Libraries, the Library of Congress, and university programs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University. The Library operates reading rooms that honor access policies consistent with collections from donors including United Airlines and General Electric Aviation, and it supports scholarly publication through image reproduction services tied to collections from NASA and corporate partners. Outreach includes curated bibliographies for exhibitions featuring artifacts like the Wright Flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis, and the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia.

Facilities and Special Collections

Facilities house rare books, manuscripts, and aeronautical charts in climate-controlled stacks alongside audiovisual archives and photographic collections documenting events such as the Hindenburg disaster and the Gulfstream development programs. Special collections emphasize provenance from pioneers such as Samuel Pierpont Langley, archival holdings from Curtiss-Wright Corporation, and engineering notebooks related to Robert H. Goddard and pre-war rocket research. The Library preserves ephemera tied to air races, barnstorming flyers, and aeronautical exhibitions like the Paris Air Show, with conservation efforts coordinated with the National Air and Space Museum conservation laboratory.

Research and Outreach

The Library supports academic research, exhibitions, and documentary projects about milestones including the Mercury program, the Gemini program, and commercial aviation deregulation, collaborating with universities such as Princeton University, Cornell University, and George Washington University. It offers fellowships and supports visiting scholars whose work intersects with collections from donors like Texaco and archival partners including the National Archives and Records Administration. Public programming includes lectures, workshops, and online exhibitions highlighting themes from pilot biographies such as Hughes and test programs led by Kelly Johnson at Lockheed Skunk Works.

Administration and Affiliations

Administratively the Library operates within the Smithsonian Institution Libraries network and coordinates with the National Air and Space Museum curatorial staff, the Smithsonian Institution Archives, and external stakeholders including NASA History Office, the Air Force Historical Research Agency, and museo partners worldwide such as the Imperial War Museum and the Aerospace Museum of California. Governance and funding derive from Smithsonian appropriation structures, private gifts, and partnerships with foundations like the National Endowment for the Humanities and corporate sponsors from the aerospace sector.

Category:Libraries in Washington, D.C. Category:Smithsonian Institution