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Ground broken on library storage facility
Facility should free up more study and research space in University Libraries
By KEVIN FRYLING
Reporter Contributor
Public areas lost to a growing University Libraries collection are slated to return as study and research space over the next several years, thanks to the construction of a new library storage facility.
Crews broke ground on Oct. 18 for the project at the end of Rensch Road across Sweet Home Road from the North Campus, according to Stephen Roberts, assistant vice president for University Libraries. Roberts estimated the approximately 10,000-square-foot facility's outer walls should be up within a month. Initial construction will be swift because the structure's exterior is prefabricated. The timeline for the entire project is about nine months, he said.
Roberts said the new storage facility will alleviate the increasingly serious lack of storage space in the libraries. University Libraries have been full for the past 10 years, he said. To accommodate the growing collection, much public library space has been lost, as well as space in such areas as basements, back rooms and storage rooms. The stacks themselves also are overcrowded.
"We get well over a linear mile of new materials each year," Roberts said.
The new facility will contain about 1.2 to 1.3 million volumes, nearly one-third of the total University Libraries collection. Storage is very high-density and compact, Roberts noted. "It's going to take two to three years to populate the place."
The new facility has been designed to contain stacks 30 feet high, double shelved and boxed. The materials are organized via barcode for easy retrieval. Roberts said similar storage systems are in use at Harvard and Cornell universities. The UB facility is modeled closely on the Cornell system.
"It's a very functional thing," he said. "This will allow us to build some more study space in the libraries. Our goal is to provide renovated quiet space for our students and faculty to use."
Roberts explained that the libraries are used now more than ever, despite the unprecedented amount of resources available online. He said the first project that will make better use of space is the creation of a computer room, or "cybrary," in the basement of Abbott Hall—the Health Sciences Library—on the South Campus. That area currently is filled with books and periodicals. Other projects, such as the creation of more group study areas and viewing rooms, are under consideration as well, he said.
Only low-use research materials will be stored at the facility, Roberts said, noting that most of the periodicals now being stored are available digitally. The facility will be equipped with a reading room so that researchers can access the materials there, but most patrons likely will retrieve them upon request from one of the campus libraries or obtain them electronically. Roberts said he expects most requests to come from other universities.
Because of the great weight of so many volumes, he noted the new facility's floors must be strong and perfectly flat. Workers will pour the concrete floor as soon as the walls are up, he said. Shelves and other indoor work will be completed over the winter, with materials scheduled to start moving in the spring or summer of next year.
In addition to library materials, the facility also will house a back-up computer system that will safeguard electronic information for the entire university.
Roberts said the university will lease the new facility at first with an eye toward purchase. He noted there is room to expand the structure by an additional 5,000 square feet.