Libraries use mobile shelving to grow without adding square footage
Posted by Matt Tourdot on Tue, Jun 15, 2010
"Colleges and universities everywhere are looking for ways their collections can grow without adding square footage." - Architect Michael Cohen, AIA, of Boston's Fletcher, Harkness, Cohen, Moneyhun, Inc.
How true Mr. Cohen! How true! Allow me to share a few examples.
When the College of Charleston, the oldest institution of higher education in South Carolina and one of the oldest in the United States, was planning the 140,000 square-foot Addlestone Library, it was with an eye to the future and a plan to maximize growth of the collections without having to increase the size of the new building. Cohen recommended mobile shelving as a solution and as a result the building footprint was 4,000 square-feet smaller. But there's more. Utilizing mobile shelving gave the new Addlestone Library potential to more than double its collection. It also helped free up space for the atrium, a variety of study areas, computers, meeting rooms, a café and tutoring facilities. Click here to learn more.
When Jean Darbyshire and the rest of the Kansas State University Libraries staff realized their collection at the Hale Library was growing more rapidly than ever, building a new facility was not an option. The space crisis had to be solved within the confines of the building. Darbyshire, director of administrative services, along with the management team determined that mobile shelving would get them the space they needed. "We calculated that we nearly double our area capacity on every system we add," said Darbyshire. Click here to learn more.
When the Central Michigan University Charles V. Park library underwent a four-floor renovation and addition, the staff faced a similar challenge. To house the combined collections, which were consolidated from several campus locations, would have required 75,000 square feet if stationary shelving were used. By utilizing high-density mobile shelving, the university was able to reduce the space needs to 45,000 square feet, which contributed to a six-million dollar savings in construction costs.
"The more we read and talked to people about it, the more mobile shelving made sense," said Pamela Grudzien, head of collection department. "A lot of money was saved and there is still plenty of room to add to our collections. We were able to add a few things that weren't in the original program budget as a result of that decision." Click here to learn more.
Saving square footage. Saving money. Creating room to grow. Freeing up space for other services. Do these sound as good to you as they do to me? Consider mobile shelving as a possible solution. These universities are happy they did.
Matt Tourdot- Spacesaver Storage Specialist
Is your library running out of room? Visit our academic Library Solutions page or contact one of our library storage specialists to learn more about how mobile shelving can help create more space to think.