The DCA Lending LibraryThe first reference to the DCA Library was in 1955 when the Journal mentioned that one Admiralty chart of the Isle of Wight was available for borrowing. Postage was 6d each way, paid by the borrower. For two decades there were no more than 19 books in the library, all but two were pilot books and tidal stream atlases. In the next two decades the library increased, reaching 425 books by 1991, including 92 pilot books. A decade later in 2000, library usage was first quantified. By then the books had reached 600. Borrowing peaked with 300+ items borrowed per year; 6 items per week. About half of these were back copies of the Journal but now that back copies are available on CD, this no longer occurs. |
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In 2017/18 many of the older books were returned to members or disposed of in other ways as it was clear they would not be read again. So the current library has just 150 books on the shelf. Members may borrow these postage free and they can also request the Librarian to obtain any book they require and he will endeavour to obtain it through the secondhand book market. That gives members access to an online stock of some 10,000 sailing related books! The early enthusiasm for charts and pilot books seems to have been replaced by a desire for journey / adventure / struggle against adversity books. So why not dip into the DCA Library and see what you can find?
The DCA Library
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The DCA Library Catalogue groups books into the following sections and gives publication dates and some idea of content:
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Alternatively you can download a list of authors and titles organised alphabetically in each category .
How to borrow a book
To borrow something from the Library, send the title and author of the book you have selected to the DCA LIbrarian Giles de Bertodano together with your name, address, membership number and email address.
Postage is free both ways. The books will be posted with a return, postage-paid envelope included. The books may be retained nominally for a month but in practice until someone else wants them.
Postage is free both ways. The books will be posted with a return, postage-paid envelope included. The books may be retained nominally for a month but in practice until someone else wants them.
Back copies of the Journal
The Library has a two full sets of DCA Bulletins and Journals, so you can borrow a back copy if you wish. However you can purchase a CD-ROM for £10 from the DCA Shop which contains copies of the Journal from No 1 to 234. That is from the first one in 1955 to summer 2017. There is also a combined index of all articles, grouped roughly by subject. Each index entry contains a direct link to the relevant Journal. Searching by author or title is easy. Each Journal can also be searched using a relevant word. The use of CDs is being phased out, so you can now buy as an alternative a USB stick with copies of the Journal from 1 to 248, i.e. to the end of 2020.
Celebrating the Years of Dinghy Cruising AccountsThe Naylor Noggin is awarded to the best cruise account published in the Journal each year. A folder entitled The Naylor Noggin: A Celebration of the Years of Dinghy Cruising Accounts was put together by Paul Constantine after he won the Noggin himself in 2003. It contains a comprehensive introduction to the DCA, the Award, Brian Naylor's full cruise accounts, and thumbnail sketches of all the other winning cruise accounts up to 2012. Paul's outlines enable you to appreciate the diversity of cruises that DCA members have undertaken and in many cases make you want to read the original winning accounts. This you can do if you have past copies of the Journals or the CD which contains back copies of the Journal from their inception to 2017. You can also borrow back copies of the Journal from the DCA LIbrary and download copies from 2010 onwards via the website.
You can download a pdf copy of Paul's folder by clicking here... |
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