Collections Relocation Project Underway

The big move of collections to the new 5th and 6th floors began just after the end of the fall study and exam period with planning sessions and the staging of moving carts and equipment.  At this point, about one week into the project, the move has been going well in its early stages.

Workers from the moving company Library Design Systems (LDS) completed their move of microforms just before taking a short Christmas holiday break last Thursday. This week they moved print collections (mostly music reference materials) from the Music & Media Center area on the 4th floor to the 6th floor high density shelving that will house all music books and scores. Yesterday they began moving the recorded materials (CDs, DVDs, etc.) that have been housed in the Music & Media Center area on the 4th floor, and these are being loaded into the separate high density shelving system located behind the service desk on the 6th floor.

A library planning and advisory team has been working on the move each day with a primary supervisor/project manager from LDS and he will will be joined by two additional supervisors from the moving company next week, working in three teams of 4-5 workers.  The following general sequence of moving tasks has now been set in motion.

• This Wednesday through Saturday (Jan. 2): Music books (M call numbers) on the 3rd floor to the 6th floor; Art and Architecture books on the 2nd floor (N call numbers) to the 6th floor
• Monday (Jan. 4) through Saturday (Jan. 9): A-AM call number books temporarily housed off site and AM-BF call number books on the 4th floor to the 5th floor; rare books in Jones Hall room 306 to the new rare book high density shelving on the 6th floor (Friday, Jan. 8); newspapers to the 6th floor and map cabinets to the 5th floor
• Monday (Jan. 11) through Saturday (Jan. 16): Rare books from the Jones Hall 7th and 5th stacks levels to the new rare book high density shelving on the 6th floor (through Friday); government documents from the library off-site storage facility to the 5th floor
• Monday (Jan. 18) through Saturday (Jan. 23): Phase 3 shifting to return the lower floor shelving arrangement to pre-Katrina order
• Monday (Jan. 25) through Saturday (Jan. 30): Phase 3 shifting to return the lower floor shelving arrangement to pre-Katrina order
• Wednesday (Feb: 10) through Wednesday (Feb. 17): Legacy Collection rare books at the library off-site storage facility to the new rare book high density shelving on the 6th floor

Under this scheduling plan, most of the general collections to be housed on the new upper floors will be in place by around Jan. 8, which would allow the library to begin to make arrangements to move staff to the 6th floor that same week in anticipation of opening the new space for the spring semester, which starts on Jan. 11.  Much work remains on the construction project as a whole before the constructor contractor can obtain the permits needed for the new floors to be occupied, however, which is why construction crews have also been busily working overtime in the library building during the holiday intersession.

The scheduling plan has some moving operations continuing after the semester begins, but less visibly focused mostly on gov docs, rare materials, and shifting collections on the lower floors. Exact dates and some sequencing are subject to change if needed, of course.