ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries January 1990 / 39 New storage facility at Southern Illinois University B y K en n eth G. P eterso n Dean o f Library Affairs Southern Illinois University at Carbondale A storage site relieves overcrowding at SIU. C om pletion o f a new Library Storage Build- ing at Southern Illinois University in C ar­ bondale has added shelving capacity for approxi­ mately 1.5 million volumes and volume equivalents o f non-book materials, and is providing relief for serious stack crowding which had developed in Morris Library over the past twenty years. Morris Library, the university’s central library facility, was constructed in two stages. The initial stage, consisting o f a basem ent and two above­ ground floors, was opened in January 1956. Five additional levels were added in 1964, and w ere finished one floor at a tim e over the next several years. W hen com pleted, the building contained 211,417 n et assignable square feet, and had been planned to accom m odate a collection of one mil­ lion volumes and an enrollm ent of approximately 15,000 students. T he collection, however, reached the one million volume level in 1967, about the same tim e the enrollm ent passed 20,000 students. Plans for a major addition to Morris Library w ere drawn in 1969, based upon doubling the building’s size, providing a stack tower, and accom ­ m odating altogether approximately th ree million volumes. These plans w ere approved and appro­ priations for construction sought from th e state legislature in the spring o f 1970. W ithin a few weeks, however, reactions to the war in Vietnam and the tragedy at Kent State University caused student unrest on the C arbondale cam pus to eru p t into violent confrontations. As a result the univer­ sity closed before the com pletion of the spring sem ester and rem ained closed until the following fall. This situation brought an angry response from th e legislature, and appropriations for the library addition failed to receive approval. D uring the decade of the 1970s th e library’s space problem s becam e increasingly serious. Year- by-year additional ranges o f stacks were installed at th e expense o f space for readers. In 1977 the library conducted a Special Analytical Study that not only described the seriousness o f th e space problem , b u t also forecast th at a crisis was looming only a few years ahead. T he inform ation provided by this study persuaded the university president to author­ ize th e appointm ent o f a Library Building and Planning C om m ittee, charged to consider various options for solving the library’s problem s and to p resen t recom m endations. Unfortunately, when the com m ittee com pleted its assignment and p re ­ sented its report in July 1979, the university was searching for a new president and the recom m en­ dations w ere laid aside until the next adm inistration was in place. Shortly after taking office in late sum m er of 1980, th e new p resid en t acknowledged th e li­ brary’s needs. H e also indicated two serious p ro b ­ lems— the lack o f sufficient capacity in the univer­ sity’s steam plant to accom m odate another major building on th e campus, and the indication from 4 0 / C&RL News high ranking state officials that funds would proba­ bly not be recom m ended for the new library addi­ tion at Carbondale. Therefore, alternative solu­ tions for the library were to be sought. At the president’s request a range of options was proposed by the library administration. The one which was generally regarded as most likely to receive support was a library storage building. Although the library adm inistration strongly favored construction of a new facility, the univer­ sity administration decided to explore the possibili­ ties of obtaining an existing building in Carbondale or the surrounding region. While several available structures were being considered, a ground swell of opposition arose from faculty and students. In their opinion, if the library had to resort to storing books outside the main building, a facility for this purpose should be constructed on campus where relatively easy access could be assured. Local legislators were p e rs u a d e d by this a rg u m e n t and in tro d u c e d am ended legislation to provide $1.6 million to erect an on-campus library storage building. The appropriation was passed in June 1985, and a site about one mile from the main library, and adjacent to the University Press building, was selected for construction. D uring the following fall six architectural firms were invited to make presentations, which resulted in the selection of Fischer/Stein Associates of C ar­ bondale for the project. Meanwhile, a Library Stor­ age Building Planning Com m ittee had been at work gathering information, examining plans of storage buildings at other universities, and writing a program report with recom mendations. It was agreed that the new facility should house roughly 500,000 volumes or volume equivalents of non­ book materials, plus facilities to accom modate readers. In addition, work rooms for Library Serv­ ices, Special Collections, and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository were needed. A shipping­ receiving room with loading area, and lavatory facilities were also to be included. Because addi­ tional space to accommodate the campus Micro­ graphic C en ter was being sought at this time, the university administration decided that a portion of the Library Storage Building should be set aside to accommodate this unit with the understanding that, if another facility for micrographics was built or provided at some future time, this space would revert to library use. Plans for the storage building were com pleted in the spring o f 1986, and bids for construction were January 1990 / 41 sought. Based upon th e architect’s prelim inary cost estimates, th e re was concern th a t bids m ight ex­ ceed th e $1.6 million available. Thus, contingency plans w ere developed which, if necessary, would provide stacks for 100,000 volumes w ith additional stacks added year-by-year. Fortunately, however, th e bids w ere lower than th e appropriation, and contracts w ere approved for both construction and com plete stack installation. Total contract awards w ere $1,398,311— in c lu d in g $943,700 for th e general contractor (including $433,156 for stacks), $159,473 for electrical, $114,000 for heating, $93,910 for plum bing, and $87,228 for ventilation. Final costs, including architect fees, site p rep ara­ tio n a n d m isc e lla n e o u s ite m s, a m o u n te d to $1,622,500, or $45.88 p e r square foot. T he p ro p o r­ tionate costs for storing library materials cam e to 87 cents p e r volum e for stack shelving only, and $2.84 p e r volum e for stack shelving and storage area (excluding w ork room s and micrographics). T he building is a p re-en g in e ered m etal structure ere c te d on a concrete slab foundation, and contains a gross area o f 32,035 square feet, o f w hich 28,169 is n et assignable. T hrough calculations developed by th e architects using a co m p u ter program it was d eterm in ed th a t th e m ost suitable and cost efficient configuration w ould be achieved by using station­ ary shelves on two self-supporting stack levels, and including th re e stairways and one elevator large enough to accom m odate two standard size book trucks. According to th e co m p u ter analysis this configuration cost roughly $250,000 less th an one providing com parable capacity b u t using movable shelves. A pproxim ately 75% o f th e stacks consist o f shelves seven inches deep, and th e rem aining 25% include both eleven and twelve inch shelves for archival m aterials and oversize books. F luorescent tu b e fixtures provide light and are controlled by local area, as well as zonal area, switches. T he building is eq u ip p ed with a sprinkler system which is zone activated. T h ere are also fire alarms and a m ovem ent sensing security system, b o th o f w hich sound alarms on site as well as at th e cam pus security office. T he heating and air conditioning system allows for th e stack area to be kept at lower te m p eratu res th an th e public and work areas o f th e building. O f th e total area, 23,320 square feet accounts for storage o f library materials, about 3,872 for th e M icrographics C en ter, and th e re ­ m ainder for office space and th e small reading room which can accom m odate eight people. Total stack shelving includes 65,983 linear feet. Twenty-five p e rc e n t o f th e stack area (part o f which is enclosed w ith security screening) has b een assigned to th e library’s Special Collections unit and is being used to house th e University archives, th e Illinois Regional Archives D epository (IRAD), a n u m b e r o f m anuscript collections, th e archival copies o f university theses and dissertations and a collection o f older phonorecords. T he rem aining 75% o f stack shelving is being used for general library m aterials w hich are in relatively little d e ­ m and. Approximately tw o-thirds o f these materials are back runs o f bo u n d periodicals and journals, and th e rem aining one-third are m onographs. T he original plan for transferring m aterials rec­ o m m en d ed moving one h u n d re d thousand vol­ um es th e first year and fifty thousand each year th e re a fte r until capacity was reached. T he n eed to relieve stack crow ding and shift collections in M orris Library, along with th e availability o f addi­ tional stu d en t help and university trucks, resulted instead in moving m ore materials initially so th at by th e en d o f th e first year o f use th e Library Storage Building was filled to m ore th an sixty p erc e n t o f capacity. R especting th e strong p referen ces o f both th e library staff and th e faculty to shelve classified m aterials by call n u m b e r and bo u n d seri­ als in alphabetical order, it was decided early in th e planning stages not to shelve by size or random order. Although this decision has sacrificed some econom ies o f space, it has gained th e support and good will o f users accustom ed to th e am enities o f an open-stack main library, who wish occasionally to consult collections directly. It also has elim i­ n ated th e labor-intensive process o f changing b ib ­ liographic records and o f adding special markings to volum es tran sferred to storage. Because the library’s catalog records have b een retrospectively converted to m achine-readable form, th e database for th e online catalog indicates th e location o f m aterials which have b een tran sferred to storage. W hen faculty support for th e storage plan was being sought, th e n e e d for accessibility o f materials was a prim ary concern. Thus, th e library has estab ­ lished p rocedures to retrieve req u ested item s twice a day, Mondays through Fridays, charging them out using th e circulation system at M orris Library. Users who w ant to use large quantities o f materials may m ake arrangem ents to consult or use th em at th e storage building’s reading room, w here copying facilities are available. T he storage building is staffed by one full-tim e Library Technical Assis­ tant, plus students who work on part-tim e sched­ ules. In addition, th e Special Collections unit has th re e g rad u ate assistants each w orking tw enty hours p e r w eek to service th e IRAD collection. D ep en d in g upon bo th u ser needs and tasks to be perform ed, additional staff m em bers from Morris Library and Special Collections may be assigned to work th e re also. Aside from budgeting funds for stu d en t wages, o th e r operating costs at th e storage building have b e e n absorbed to date w ithin th e budgets o f appropriate library d ep artm en ts or divi­ sions. Both th e Library Storage Building and th e stor­ age program have proven to be very satisfactory, as January 1990 / 43 viewed after th e ir first year o f operation. Judging by the low req u est rate for item s to be tran sferred back to th e main library and m odest circulation figures, th e selection o f older m aterials and item s in little d em and has b e e n successful. Having achieved re ­ lief for th e overcrow ding o f M orris Library, con­ struction o f th e storage building has provided an interim solution to th e n e e d for additional stacks. R enew al o f planning for a m ajor addition to Morris Library, however, has recently b e e n authorized, w ith h ope th a t construction will be possible w ithin th e next th re e o r four years. ■ ■ The University o f Crete Library B y Jan e K em p Circulation Librarian L u th e r College A visit to a Mediterranean academic library. W hile p rep arin g for a trip to G reece this p a st su m m er, I d e c id e d to do som e hom ew ork about academ ic libraries th a t I could visit at th e sam e tim e. Since my itinerary scheduled a w eek in C rete, a visit to an academ ic library on th a t island fitted m ost easily into my schedule. My first step was to read about G reece in th e A L A W orld Encyclopedia o f L ibrary a nd Inform a­ tion Services (ALA, 1986). H e re I learn ed th a t th e University o f C rete is relatively new (organized in 1977) and has th e only library in G reece com ­ pletely arranged on th e basis o f LC classification. My second step was to focus on th e U niversity o f C rete by reading about it in The W o rld o f Learning (E u ro p a Publications, 1988). F ro m h e re I discov­ e re d th a t th e University is divided into two cam ­ puses, one in R ethim non and th e o th e r in Iraklion. Since I w ould be visiting th e la tter for a longer p erio d o f tim e (the largest city in C rete and th e site o f Knossos), I narrow ed my options to visiting th e library on th a t cam pus. F ro m th e Lion’s F o u n tain in th e c e n te r o f Irak ­ lion, bus No. 2 o r 3 is ro u te d past th e U niversity o f C re te for th e price o f 50 drachm as (about 35 cents). Since this bus is usually packed w ith tourists on th e ir way to Knossos (located at th e term inus o f th e route), I was lucky to find a local, English-speaking stu d en t who could direct m e to th e university. L ocated at th e top o f a steep em bankm ent, it cannot be seen from th e street. A fter arriving, I was disappointed to learn th a t th e librarian, Janet Tavernaraki, was gone for th e day. H owever, Prof. Flytzanis Nikos o f th e Physics D e p a rtm e n t and m e m b er o f th e library com m it­ tee, was available to give m e a walking to u r o f th e library. H e re ite ra te d w hat I had learn ed before com ing to C rete, th a t th e Faculties o f L etters and Physical Sciences are located in two different towns, about one h o u r apart by car. T he facility I visited in Ira k lio n h o u s e d th e d e p a rtm e n ts o f physics, m athem atics, co m p u ter science, m edicine, c h em ­ istry and biology. F o u n d e d in 1979 (the o th e r cam pus started in 1977), th e Iraklion cam pus has an enrollm ent o f 2,500-3,000 students each year. T he school year is based on th e sem ester m odel and runs from S ep te m b er th ro u g h June. T h e building housing th e library also houses m any o f th e o th e r d ep artm en ts w hich com pose th e Iraklion cam pus. T h e p re se n t facilities are rapidly