The premier library in the United States Department of Defense, the AU Library holds especially strong collections in the fields of warfare, aeronautics, United States Air Force and DOD operations, military sciences, international relations, military education, leadership and management.
Named for General Muir S. Fairchild, the founder and first commander of Air University, the library serves as the focal point of faculty and student research, holding more than 2.9 million items.
In April 1946 the newly formed Air University Library (AUL) was located at building 37, preparing for the AU's opening in September, as part of what was expected to be “the most progressive and forward looking system of military education in the entire world.” The AUL was organizationally structured as its predecessor, the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics Library, at Orlando, Florida.
The organizational structure consisted of five divisions and six branches located at Maxwell and the now-defunct Craig Air Force Base, in Alabama, and at the School of Aviation Medicine at Randolph Field in Texas.
The credo of the Air Corps Tactical School is expressed in its motto Proficimus More Irretenti - 'We Make Progress Unhindered by Custom' [3].