Our books

Who may borrow the books?

You can borrow our books if you have a Norfolk Libraries card. Find out how to sign up as a borrower.  

If you're searching for a book, you can use the Norfolk Online Catalogue to track it down.

You can also request books and have them sent to any library in Norfolk.

Books about America

Our aim is to provide books for the general reader about the United States, its history and culture.

We also have books contributing to knowledge in general which have been written by Americans or published in America.

The books you can borrow include:

• Biographies
• Histories
• Travel books
• Cookbooks
• Art books
• Sports and entertainment books
• Books on topics of current interest

Other books have been bought to support the study of American history in high schools throughout Norfolk.

Each book purchased with Memorial Trust funds, or presented by the Second Air Division Association or private individuals, carries a special bookplate.

Some books are specifically dedicated to named men and women who served with the Second Air Division.

We do have some additional books which are in secure storage because of their rarity.

Second Air Division history

Our other key aim is to document the history of the Second Air Division during the Second World War and make the collection as comprehensive as possible.

The collection includes many rare group histories privately published at the end of the hostilities.

You can also find more recent books concerned with the Eighth Air Force and its units.

E-books

If you have a Norfolk library card you can download a book for free from our eBook Collection.

Just like our print collection, it contains specialist books about the Second Air Division and books covering all aspects of American life and culture.

Wing Collection libraries

We've four Wing Collections housed in library branches around Norfolk, in addition to the main collection at the Library.

These are at Sprowston, Attleborough, Long Stratton and East Dereham.

Each of these collections has a rotating stock of books about the topics covered by the collection policy of the American Library and of the branch itself.

Stock selection

We follow a written stock selection policy in collecting materials to add to the collections.

Most are bought specifically for the collection, although a limited number of donations are added from time to time.

If you want more information, you can download our  collection development policy (PDF, 137 KB).