National Maritime Museum Library/Archive 12 July 2010

After a refreshing Sunday off, we arose bright and early to catch the river shuttle to Greenwich for the National Maritime Museum library and archives. The Caird Library is currently located in the National Maritime Museum. Consisting of the library, e-library and archives, Caird provides a wealth of information for the serious researcher, genealogist and layperson alike. The museum is publicly supported. Currently, there is a minimum age of 16 to access the materials.

The library was named for Sir James Caird (1864–1954) who was a principal founder and benefactor of both the museum and library. The collection includes approximately 200,000 items including around 100,000 modern titles (after 1850), 20,000 pamphlets, 20,000 bound periodicals including 200 current titles and 8000 rare books (prior to 1850) and about 70,00 reference items. The archives takes up over 4 miles of shelving. The e-library is available through terminals just outside the library in the reception area and is also available on-line. There are several different sources both available at the library and electronically including online databases and digital access to the materials of the various collections. Currently about 2 million objects are available. The core staff of twelve includes both professional librarians and archivists. The day of our visit, the Librarian was unavailable; however, we were given a tour and short presentation most ably by Hannah and Martin.

The library is in its original location and is found behind a great locked door through which we passed an oval rotunda in which a bust of Caird was prominently displayed. The library has been opened to the public since in the 1937. A current redevelopment project is underway and the library will relocate to the Sammy Ofer wing upon its completion. This relocation will allow for extended on-site storage and may make possible lifting the current age restriction. Construction has greatly restricted access to the library, but the staff has carried on. While there are usually about 3,000 to 4,000 visitors annually, they have had about 2,000 visitors so far this year in spite of the restricted hours. The materials are currently off site and deliveries of requested items are made about twice per week. Currently, advanced requests for materials are required. Written inquiries have remained steady with some increase due to restricted hours.

We were able to view some of the more rare and interesting items in the collection including a medical book from the HMS Bounty and a letter from Nelson to his wife. The library is open and airy, with most of the items within glass fronted cases, some reconfiguration has been done to keep patrons with rare items in sight. I think that we were able to get up close and personal with such rare items.

Following our tour, some of out toured the remainder of the museum while others made the climb to the Royal Observatory to some of the most breathtaking views of the city and an opportunity to straddle the Prime Meridian. Back to the dorm to write our blogs and prepare for our visit tomorrow to the London Library.