FBA Library in the early 1970s

The library is one of the largest and most comprehensive sources of published and unpublished material on fresh waters in the world (2.2 kilometres of shelving, 400 000+ catalogued items). It is mainly situated at Windermere (approximately 80 %), with a satellite library at East Stoke.

This world class resource is global in its coverage, with hard to find publications from Eastern Europe, Russia and China being of particular importance. It is a major international collection and historical archive covering freshwater biology, taxonomy and ecology from 1930 to 2005, and its unique catalogue includes book chapters from multi-authored books as well as individual journal articles from over 2500 journal titles and the wide range of grey literature in its holdings.

The FBA collection of information on freshwater science, built up over 80 years, is probably the world's finest Library on freshwater science, covering all aspects of freshwater ecology, phycology, microbiology, invertebrate taxonomy and ecology, sediment and water chemistry, aquaculture, fisheries management, pollution and hydrology. The strength of the ‘grey' literature and collections of reprints arranged by subject make it an ideal resource for researchers and students.

The main Library at Windermere is in two areas:

 Pearsall Library – books, reprints and incoming journals, in the main building.

 Periodicals Rooms – periodicals, in the Basement Stacks and spread across the Pearsall Building. Click to view FBA's journal holdings.

The satellite library at the FBA's East Stoke site in Dorset is especially rich in information on rivers.

Catalogues
The catalogue includes books, journals and reprints. Members of the Association visiting the FBA at Windermere can search the digitised catalogue of library holdings also the older card index. Entries from 1985 onwards are digitised. Entries before 1985 are partly digitised. Individual chapters of books, papers from conference proceedings and relevant papers within journals are indexed up to 1996. The library also has access to commercial abstracts and indexes, including Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) and Waters & Oceans Worldwide. 

Studying in the Library
Any Member of the Association may come and use the Library. There is a small fee for this service, student members have free access. Please contact us beforehand to arrange a convenient date and time. We are open weekdays from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm (4.00 pm Friday). Members are entitled use of the Library for up to one week a year, with the agreement of the Director. Photocopying and computing facilities are available. Please note that this is a reference library and items cannot be removed off-site.

Document Delivery for members
FBA Members can request photocopies of any article from the extensive FBA library holdings. Using pre-paid forms, you can request articles from journals, conference proceedings and book chapters (up to 10% of any monograph). Documents are sent by first-class post (airmail for overseas members). A pack of 10 forms can be ordered by contacting the Librarians.