Library
The Mid-Atlantic Karst Conservancy is a specialty library of caving-related books and periodicals for serious researchers in the field of speleology. There are several such libraries throughout the country, including the National Speleological Society Library in Huntsville, Alabama and the National Cave Museum in Park City, Kentucky, among others.
The holdings include 4,600 international, national and regional books and foreign and general interest periodicals from every continent, and periodicals published by the National Speleological Society and its grottos. Aside from a small section of duplicates that can be borrowed by members, most of the holdings are available to researchers by appointment.
Topics include: Geology, Volcanology, Education, Biology, History, Hydrology, Science, Environmental Karst, Mountaineering, Vertical Caving, Rescue, Photography, Mineralogy, Hydrogeology, Management, Geomorphology, Paleontology, Equipment, Mapping, Anthropology, Archaeology, Art, Children’s Literature, Fiction, Bats, Diving and Speleophilately.
North, Central and South American books are from: All 50 states in the United States as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia; the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.
European countries represented include: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Great Britain, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and others.
From Africa, Asia and Australia/Oceania holdings are from: South Africa, Ethiopia, Congo, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, China, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Vietnam.
The periodicals from the National Speleological Society and its grottos include approximately 250 titles and 4,220 volumes. Most volumes have numerous editions within each publication year. Some were published quarterly. Some were published annually. Some publications may only have one issue or are from only one year. Some are quarterly, which would entail four per year. The monthly publications obviously were a dozen annually. A rough estimate based on averaging these publications would be more than 30,000 individual issues.
- View our periodical listings by Publication Name
- View our periodical listings by State
- View our periodical listings by Grotto/Publisher