The NRL Ruth H. Hooker Research Library offers a full range of traditional and digital library resources to enhance and support the research programs of the Naval Research Laboratory and the Office of Naval Research. Traditional library resources include an extensive technical report, book, and journal collection dating back to the 1800s, housed within a physical facility configured for study and research, staffed with subject specialists and information professionals.

Ruth H. Hooker Research Library

Specifically, the NRL Research Library provides access to a physical collection of over 50,000 books; 60,000 bound journal volumes back to 1800; 2 million research reports in paper, microfiche, or digital format; and a digital library providing desktop access to over 3,000 current technical journal titles, thousands of conference proceedings from major technical publishers, a growing bibliography of all NRL-authored publications from 1974-present, and major reference tools.

Ruth Hutchison Hooker was NRL’s first librarian, a trained physicist hired to create a library at NRL in 1927. In honor of her 35 years of service, NRL named the technical library the ‘Ruth H. Hooker Technical Library’ in 1975. Other former NRL Librarians include:

• Mildred Benton, 1951-1954;
• LaVerna Morgan, 1965-1970;
• Doris Baster, 1970-1978;
• Pete Imhof, 1978-1986; and
• Laurie Stackpole, 1986-2002.