Libraries of all kinds, all over the country, are cutting back their physical collections because of the absurd idea everything important is online. It's appalling, though, to see a library whose parent organization knows the physical collection is irreplaceable, indispensable, and one of a kind to go that way.
The research library at Redstone Arsenal, where 60 years of space history and knowledge are archived, is vanishing, to be replaced with online access to a fraction of the materials.
I have no words, except for short one-syllable types I try to avoid using in this blog. I hope there is some chance US Space Command, the Air Force Academy, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, or SOMEONE will step in and preserve this.
UPDATE! I talked to the hsitory office at Air Froce Space Command, which has offered to take the entire collection. Dr.Sturdevant there contacted his Army counterpart, who assured huim the Army had decided not to turn the physical records over to disposal: they will be maintained for up to a year until the Army decides whether to open a branch library, send it all to AFSPC (which currently has the History responsibility for the new US Space Command) , or find some other solution.
2 comments:
Sorry to hear that, hopefully something can be saved
Nathann, thanks. The update is that Air Force has offered to take it and make sure it's conserved if the Army decides not to open it at some other site.
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