We have adequate storage space in the numerous caving hostels around the uk
Duplication seems to be one major problem for most clubs with their library space..
The Wessex was looking into the possibility of a building extension, namely to store all the duplicate journals...(awaits a flaming)
So we store ours, the cravens, the SWCC. etc etc...and they store theirs as well. Whats the point... No-one can store everything.
This is why we end up looking for large facilities..
If the documents were shared between the clubs more openly, the clubs with premises could sustain adequate storage for a long long time...
Everything would need to go online ( an inventory)...and be accessible to all.....so if any research into anything were needed, you would know which club had it where...then contact the librarian.....and so on....
Yes its an expense in itself, but any solution is going to require money and time....at least if its not all in one place, no (unlikely) risk of fire wiping out the whole lot, or complaints that its the opposite end of the country for others.
All clubs have librarians,the human element, a storage facility is very limiting and has no-one.