Expansion Overview (Long Version)

Space Crisis

The university did not build any new library buildings on campus from the time the Physical Sciences Library was built in the early 1960's until Kroch opened in 1992, except for the Library Annex in 1978. However, there were renovations in Uris, Hotel and Law which improved those facilities, but did not add significant amounts of user or stack space. Although no new library buildings were under construction, the collections continued to grow at a rate of about 190,000 volume equivalents each year. To cope, the librarians were forced to install stacks in areas not designed for housing the collections and to take out seating for users. Between 1962 and 1993, Cornell added only 300 library seats to accommodate an additional 7000 students.

In the late 1980's the Library Administration convinced the university that Olin had to expand. After lengthy negotiations about financing and the site, the Kroch Library was approved. However, the Library Administration continued to press for additional space because several other libraries on campus were full or nearly full.

Planning and approval process for the new Annex

As part of the process of convincing the university that something had to be done, the Library Administration agreed to work with the Office of Institutional Planning and Research and CIT to develop a strategic plan for library space on campus. The plan called for no new library construction on central campus for the endowed libraries after 2000 and after 2011 for the statutory libraries, construction of an off-campus storage facility, and it suggested cautious optimism about a decrease in the need for library space in the future because of the impact of new technologies. This 1990 plan was accepted by the Trustees in January 1991.

In 1994-95, the university hired the architectural firm of Quinlivan, Pierik, and Krause (QPK) from Syracuse to conduct a feasibility study for an offsite facility. University, library, and QPK staff worked together to propose four scenarios involving additions of different sizes to the existing Library Annex. The University Administration settled on the least expensive option which was to renovate the existing Annex and build a high-density warehouse in the style of the Harvard Depository, along with new staff office space.

In the summer of 1994, the Library conducted a project to measure the collections, to calculate the empty shelving space available, and to confirm the growth estimates used in the feasibility study. In this effort, the library staff measured the entire collection including uncataloged items and items in non-book formats. The results of the study showed that the libraries had 882,082 linear feet of shelving on campus at that time and would need 127,00 linear feet of additional shelving by 2007.

In 1995, the university hired Reese Dill, the consultant who worked on the original Harvard design, to confirm the results of the previous studies. He concluded that the planned Harvard-style warehouse in combination with the existing Annex would house Cornell's growing collections until 2007, the library should continue to use the Library Annex with few modifications, the new facility should be ready for use in the summer of 1997, and the estimated construction cost of $1.8 million was reasonable.

Finally in January 1997 after almost two more years of planning, the Trustees approved a $4.6 million project to expand the Library Annex. This amount includes the cost of construction, furnishings, professional fees, site work, and moving 1 million volumes into the new facility in the first two years of operation. The Library Administration agreed that it would be responsible for the operating budget from its existing resources. A second warehouse module will be needed in 2007.

The Harvard-Style Warehouse Concept

The Harvard-style warehouse is basically a cold-storage building. It provides maximum shelving efficiency, fully computerized access and inventory control, and an excellent environment for the long-term storage of paper and film.

The shelving in the warehouse is 30-foot high racks made of steel. The shelves, except those near the air ducts, are approximately 36 inches by 54 inches, and the spaces between the shelves vary in height.

Because the purpose of the warehouse design is to store as much material as possible in the smallest amount of space, materials are sorted by size (height, width, and depth) and stored in cardboard trays. The books, trays and shelves are barcoded. These barcodes are linked to one another through records in the inventory control system.

Library materials are retrieved by a person operating a mobile mechanical fork-lift with a special shelving unit at the back. The person uses a list generated from the inventory control system to travel through the building gathering and reshelving material.

The environmental conditions in the warehouse (55 degrees F and 35% RH) will ensure that the collections will last long into the future.

Construction

Construction of the new portions of the Annex, the warehouse, the new staff work spaces and public reading room began in April 1997 and was completed in March 1998. More information is available from the Construction Schedule & Photo Album.

Selection Strategies

The library made a convincing case to the university to include about $900,000 of project funds to cover the cost of moving 1 million volumes in the first two years of the operation. The quotas for each library were calculated from the growth projections developed in 1994 and 1995. These quotas represent the amount of material which each of the libraries will be unable to store on campus by 2005. For the specific quotas, see the capacity analysis document (110 KB PDF file; works best to laserprint).

To meet these quotas, the library staff who select materials had to consider how to transfer material with minimal negative impact on faculty and students. The primary focus is on identifying items that are not heavily used on campus. Because of the variation in how material in different subject areas was used by students and faculty, each selector weighed several factors in developing a strategy.

There were generally two styles of selection for transfer used by the selectors. One strategy was to review items or groups of items and make decisions. Other selectors used computer generated lists of material that had not been checked out to determine what should be reviewed. In the two largest libraries, Olin and Mann, the selection was based on a computer generated list of material published before a certain date that had not been checked out through the online system. For specific information about each library, see the Summary of Selection Methods and Quantity of Material by Library.

The Moving Process

In April 1997 staff began a major effort to prepare materials for transfer to the Annex. Staff members marked selected items by adding codes to records in the catalog. They barcoded and boxed materials. Because the goal is to move 2,000 books each working day for two years, staff tried to do as much in advance of the actual move as possible.

Services

As the demand from faculty and students for circulation services has increased, Annex staff has grown from its orginal 1.5 FTE to 3 FTE.

Every item in the collection at the new Annex is represented by a record in the online catalog. Also, as funds permit, items in the original Annex will be brought under the control of the new inventory system.

Users can request material by telephone, e-mail, a Web-based request form, or in person at the Annex. The staff retrieve the items for use in the new reading room at the Annex, to check out from the Annex, or to be sent back to campus for pick-up. With the exception of archival material, which must be used in its home library on campus, users may request items from any library to be delivered to any library on campus.

The Annex is open from 9am to 4pm weekdays. Requested items are delivered within 24 hours, Monday through Friday. Users are strongly encouraged to request items in advance for pick up or use at the Annex.

If an item is requested multiple times, the selector for the subject area will be asked to decide if it should be returned to campus permanently.

Scanning, printing, fax, Ariel, and microfilm and microfiche services are also available.