The American Library, Norwich

Inside The Forum on Millennium Plain in Norwich, sharing a building with the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library, is a room that serves two purposes at once. The American Library — its full name being the Memorial to the 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force, United States Army Air Forces — is a functioning public library with more than 4,000 books on American life and culture, and simultaneously a memorial to the men of the Second Air Division who flew B-24 Liberator bombers from Norfolk and Suffolk airfields during the Second World War. The combination is unusual enough to be worth understanding before you visit.

What it holds

The book collection covers all aspects of American life and culture, not only military history, though a dedicated section addresses the Second Air Division's history in particular. Alongside the books, the library holds digital archives and a permanent exhibition. The Second Air Division Roll of Honor — a permanent memorial to the fallen men of the division — is available to view on-site and online. Archive collections are held partly at the library and partly at the Norfolk Record Office, which holds the 2nd Air Division archives on the library's behalf. For anyone researching USAAF personnel, the library offers a remote research service as well as in-person access: staff can assist with tracing individuals who served with the Second Air Division, and the website lists further resources beyond the library's own holdings.

The Second Air Division

The Second Air Division was part of the 8th Air Force, United States Army Air Forces, and operated from bases across Norfolk and Suffolk during the war. The library exists as a direct consequence of that presence — a memorial established by Americans who served here, and maintained ever since as a working institution rather than a static exhibit. The Heritage League, which supports the library's work, publishes quarterly journals written by veterans of the 2nd Air Division and maintains a publications library of historical articles. The connection between the wartime airfields scattered across this part of East Anglia and this single room in central Norwich is the thread the library keeps intact.

The Roll of Honor

The Roll of Honor is the memorial's most direct element: a permanent record of the men of the Second Air Division who died. It sits within the library's services alongside the books and digital archives, and can also be accessed remotely via the library's website. For families and researchers tracing individuals, it is often the starting point. The library's research function — helping people find out what happened to a specific airman, which bomb group or fighter group he served with, which airfield he flew from — is one of the more active parts of what the library does. An indexing project, run with volunteer support, is working to transcribe wartime registers held at the Norfolk Record Office.

Volunteering and support

The library actively recruits volunteers, currently for the 2AD Indexing Project, which involves transcribing wartime registers from the archive. The work is remote-friendly, which broadens who can take part. Donations are also accepted — a form is available to download from the library's website. The library is managed as a charity, with Norfolk County Council involved in its administration; the email address for enquiries routes through norfolk.gov.uk. For those with a family connection to the Second Air Division, or a research interest in the 8th Air Force more broadly, the library is the most concentrated resource of its kind in the region.

Events and education

The library runs talks, seminars and courses, listed via Eventbrite. A scholars' blog is updated with research and historical content. The events programme is modest in scale but consistent — it is not a venue that stages large public events, but rather one that holds regular, focused activities for people with a genuine interest in the subject matter. The library also offers PCs for public use and a meeting room available to hire, which gives it a practical, working character that distinguishes it from a purely commemorative space.

Finding it

The library's postal address is The Forum, Millennium Plain, Norwich, NR2 1AW, though it is also listed at 33 Bethel Street, NR2 1NR — both refer to the same building, which sits in the centre of Norwich and is well served by bus and rail. Opening hours are 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday, and 9am to 5pm on Saturday. The telephone number is 01603 774747. For research enquiries, the email is americanlibrary@norfolk.gov.uk. The library's own website, americanlibrary.uk, carries the Roll of Honor, the remote research service, volunteer information and the events calendar.