Unveiling Tomorrow: Library Transformation Story

1. What Happened to the Library? Pam Morgan Alison Farrell April 24, 2009

2. Do we need a new computer lab? • Two old computer labs • Hot • Small • Visibility problems • Isolated • New lab • Large enough for MCCQEs • Visually appealing • State of the art • Inviting

3. Plans for the old labs • One of the old labs to go to Medicine • Lab located in the library to be reabsorbed for more space for library • Archives? • Staff space? • Reading room? • Endless possibilities

4. Plans for the New Lab • 86 seat capacity • Lots of windows for natural light • Excellent for teaching • Available to students when not in use • State of the art equipment • Will go in the middle of the library to make it appealing, inviting and visible.

5. Planning the New Lab • Meetings with Architect: • No say in selection of architect– that was the Faculty of Medicine’s process • We didn’t take notes during meetings with Architect • Expectations communicated clearly? Not sure. • Things not included in plan that we had asked for. • Didn’t have a chance to sign off on final design/tender before it went public.

6. Making Space • Needed to free up the entire A-E journal section • Major Weed of Journal Collection to free space • Weed all print journals reliably duplicated in electronic • Weed all old foreign language journals that are rarely used • Keep all Canadian and NL titles • Keep all statistical titles • Keep major journals that provide historical context of medicine (i.e. JAMA, NEJM, BMJ)

7. Making Space II • What is Reliably duplicated? • All content available, including the more peripheral content such as Book Reviews and Letters to the Editor • All Supplements included • All images are clear and easy to view • Browsing by volume and issue available • Reliable publisher with commitment to archiving • Not part of an aggregator database

8. Making Space III • Withdrawing the titles • If Gaps in QEII collection identified, issues sent to them • List was circulated to other NL libraries • Pull titles from shelf • Recycle • Removed the covers from the hard-bound items • Slice volumes into ½ inch sections • Had 16 recycling containers; emptied twice a week • Update Cataloguing Record and SERHOLD

9. Opportunity! Re-carpeting • Decided to replace all 30+ year old carpet while the library was undergoing renovations • Meant moving all our books and all our journals. Where to temporarily store them? • Planned to use the empty shelving where lab would eventually go while re-carpeting book area. This would not eliminate much study space.

11. Delays • Carpet delays • Meant the lab construction started before we got the carpet, so now where would we put the books during re-carpeting? • Put up stacks in the middle of the library – eliminating a lot of seating areas. It was summer, so we didn’t feel it would be much of a problem.

12. From seating to shelving

13. Math! • Our existing book storage was not optimal. • Wanted to include more seating (within stacks and in the far east corner of library) • This meant measuring and calculations. (and a lot of squats) • Used formulas for figuring out how much space was needed for existing books and growth for next five years. (apparent, actual and comfort zone capacity) • Figured out how much shelving we needed in middle of library to temporarily store books.

14. Journal Move • During the book move, all the journals were stored beside the area for the new lab. • Once the book re-carpeting was complete, we had to move all of our journals to re-carpet that area. • Journals moved to centre shelves, end of book stacks, and inside IRM. (this was confusing for patrons) • Still no study space and moving into the fall.

16. Disappearing Space • Faculty of Medicine and HCCSJ in space crunch • New medicine building to be built for 2011 • Library now had EMPTY space!! • Back half of journal area taken for Faculty Offices • How do we put the journals back in half the space?

17. Disappearing Space II • Faculty offered money and return of space once building completed • Options: • Compact Shelving • Permanancy once installed; not easily moved • Buy Additional Backfiles • Had already purchased much to accommodate lab; limit to what else is available to purchase • Offsite Storage • Older materials are little used • QEII was already doing this for monographs

18. More Math! • Same number of journals – half the space. • Looked at how many feet of journals could be moved to off site storage (pre-1985, pre-1990 or pre-1995?) • Looked at how much room was needed for growth. • After much measuring and calculating, it was decided to move all pre-1986 journals into off site storage

19. Offsite Storage Circ Staff boxing materials for Offsite Storage Label the Box & Ship to Storage Facility

20. Spreadsheet to record what titles/volumes/years in what box

21. Catalogue Record Updated

22. Get Those Shelves Down • Lab and re-carpeting finished • Exam time is coming AGAIN!! • Need back the central shelving for study space • Noise factors – must be down at least two weeks before exams begin • Student workers reshelving the titles to be kept in the new journal space • Offsite storage proceeding slower than anticipated

23. Get those shelves down NOW • Students pass Circ in clearing central shelves • Time Crunch; Need shelves down NOW • Decision to do additional weeds of materials left on central shelves • Monographic series • Oversize • Another electronic backfile became available • Clear the remaining central shelves for offsite storage by piling on floor behind Circ

24. We’ll deal with it later…

25. Where are we now? Our new lab is open! And functional! We love it for teaching • Students use it much more than our old lab.

26. More study space!! • Although we lost space, we have as much (soon to be a bit more) study space than before the renovations. • Incorporated into the middle of journal and book stacks to minimize noise • Soon, we’ll have a nice quiet corner in the far east corner • We have the middle of our library back!

27. Off site Material • For journals pre-1986, patrons can complete a request form and the material can be obtained within two days • There have been more requests than we had anticipated • First week, a patron wanted an entire run of a journal for a historical paper!

28. Historical, Oversize, Etc. • Historical overflow (used to be beside journals) is now at the end of the bookstacks • Will be a weed of historical in the coming months and all historical material will be housed in the Roberts room or incorporated into the bookstacks • Opportunity – weeded oversize material and shelved at the end of bookstacks. Catalogue records are still being updated • Monographic Series and Journal Backfiles in back room still to be dealt with

29. The old lab Plans still up in the air Currently – ½ used for staff space, ½ used for storage

30. Any questions? Acknowledgements: • Thank you to Linda Barnett for providing pictures • Thank you to Lindsay Glynn for providing information on dealing with the Architect • Thank you to our students for being so patient with our renovations!