library

1. Persuading Administrators to
Better Serve Students
Can Help Preserve Old Books:
A Case for Remote Storage
Bill Myers
University of Kansas Libraries
LAMA-MAES 2005

2. What do we need to know?

3. Who can tell us?

4. How can we get the
information?

5. What will it enable us to do?

6. Objective:
Construct a high density storage facility
for low-use library materials

7. Elements of the Case:
Threats
 Six libraries at or near shelving capacity
 Concurrent reduction of user space
 Diminishing gate count
 Backlogs of unprocessed materials

8. Elements of the Case:
Opportunities
 Tuition enhancement monies
 Provost’s commitment
 Chancellor’s readiness
 Space transformation underway
 Completion of reconfiguration survey
 Completion of space assessment
studies

9. Provost’s suggestions:
 Explain why needed and why de-
accessioning not acceptable
 Compare size/rank with other ARL
libraries
 Address budget
 Emphasize student space/use potential

10. Audience:
Chancellor’s Cabinet
University administrators with responsibility for:
 Budget
 Academics
 Students
 Faculty
 Facilities
 Research
 External Affairs

11. Chancellor’s Priorities
 Student-centered university
 Top 25 public research university

12. Data sources
 LibQUAL+ Survey, Spring 2003
 Watson Library Reconfiguration Survey,
Fall 2002
 Association of Research Libraries (ARL)
 Building Specifications, Costs, and
Financing
 KU Libraries Facilities Master Plan 2001

13. Data sources cont.
 Kansas Board of Regents Library Space
Planning Guidelines
 Cost Study Peer Institutions (6)
 Big Twelve Institutions
 Association of American Universities
Comparison Group (14)
 Photographs

14. Preparing the Case
 Review and evaluate existing data
 Gather additional data
 Draft presentation
 Preview presentation with selected
audiences

15. Previews
 Libraries Dean’s Council
 Provost and Vice Provost for
Information Services
 University Architect and Vice Provost for
Panning and Facilities Management
 Chancellor’s spouse

16. Feedback
 More numbers
 More specs on building

17. University of Kansas
Library Services
Library Spaces
September 22, 2003

18. What Users Want…
• One-stop shopping
• 24/7 access
• Self-reliance
• Technology
• Amenities
• Quiet zones
• Social interaction
• Blurring of home and
office environments
• Scholars’ workstations

19. Our Challenge
Provide KU students, faculty, and staff
with a robust mix of physical and
virtual library resources and spaces
that enhance and stimulate research,
scholarship, and student learning.

20. Changing Library Services
The Card Catalog
was the starting
point….
.

21. Cornell’s Periodicals Room
was hardly used by 2001.
Transformed into a
wired café, the space is
now one of the
campus’s most popular
study and meeting
places.

22. Free Speech Movement Café,
Donated by Library Vendor
University of Iowa Libraries
Food for Thought
Browsers
Coffee Shop at
the University of
Waterloo,
Ontario Canada

23. UNC’s House Library’s Student Lounge, Prior to Renovation

24. Group Study Rooms Support Collaborative Learning
Arizona State University

25. A locked carrel at Ohio State in 1951
Cornell 2002

26. UNC’S Information Commons

27. Restore Grand Reading Room
Columbia University University of Washington

28. Our Challenge
Provide appropriate storage for all
library materials while enabling
faculty, staff, and students to readily
access any item.

29. Collection Growth
• In addition to the growing number of
electronic resources that the KU Libraries
collect, nearly 80,000 print volumes are
added each year.
• The rate of acquisition of print volumes is
not declining.
• The Library Annex, added in 2003, has a
capacity of 80,000 volumes.

30. Shelving Capacity & Stack
Management
• Best practices recommend that cost-effective
stack management occurs at 85% of shelf
capacity (with 15% representing the allowable
margin for circulation of materials).
• In 2000, the Libraries were already operating
at 87% of shelf capacity.
• In 2004, the Libraries are projected to reach
100% of shelf capacity.

31. Seating Capacity for Library
Users
• Best practices recommend seating for
25% of the resident student population.
• In 2000, KU Libraries provided seating
for 13% of the resident student
population (just over 3,000 seats).

32. Library Space
“To make the best use of prime real estate,
libraries are adopting new approaches to
managing large print collections by using
storage centers with delivery services for less
frequently used materials and engaging in
cooperative approaches to long-term
preservation copy retention.”
-ARL Bimonthly Report, December 2002

33. • Lesser-used
materials
• Shared storage
• Preservation tool
• Security asset
• Industrial document
delivery
High-density Storage
Duke University

34. Yale
Southeast Ohio
Indiana

35. University of Missouri
Libraries Depository

36. High Density Storage
Depositories
California Michigan
Minnesota South Carolina
Penn State Texas
Missouri Virginia Tech
Florida Indiana

37. Relative Costs of
Storage/Preservation:
• Microfilming - $50 to $150 per volume
• Photocopying - $50 to $150 per volume
• Digitization - $50 to $80 per volume
• Storage - $5 to $10 per volume
- ARL 2003

38. Circulation of Library Materials
2002
Materials published 1983 or earlier:26.9%
Materials published 1973 or earlier:14.1%

39. Retrievals from Library Annex
Storage space leased May 2003
70,000 volumes in off-site storage
50 items retrieved during first 8 weeks

40. ARL Rank: Volumes in Library
1. Harvard 14.9 million
2. Yale 10.9 million
3. Illinois 9.9 million
6. Texas 8.2 million
8. Michigan 7.6 million
13.Indiana 6.5 million
15.Wisconsin 6.2 million

41. ARL Rank continued
17.Minnesota 6.1 million
19.Ohio State 5.6 million
27.Michigan State 4.5 million
29.Oklahoma 4.3 million
30.Iowa 4.3 million
35.Kansas 3.9 million
53.Missouri 3.1 million

42. Next Steps
• Transform library facilities to support
student and faculty collaborative
learning.
• Revitalize Watson Library as a campus
intellectual center.

43. Watson Commons

44. Watson Commons

45. Next Steps Cont.
• Reconfigure Watson, Anschutz, and Spahr
libraries to function as models for the
integration of virtual and physical collections,
technology resources, and academic support
in a manner that meets the research and
scholarship needs of the KU community.
• Relieve overcrowded shelves and provide at
least ten years’ growth space for new
materials to be added to all of the library
collections in our various spaces.

46. Anschutz Commons

47. Anschutz Commons

48. Spahr stacks

49. Spahr Engineering Library

50. Next Steps Cont.
• Provide less expensive remote storage
and service options for some of the less
frequently used materials currently
housed in our libraries.

51. Library Annex

52. Annex Interior

53. Library Space Transformation
Financial Resources
Anticipated annual allocations:
• from library operating budget
$100,000 - $200,000
• from charitable gifts via KU Endowment
$50,000 - $100,000

54. BARD Costs
• $5.6 million for land and construction in
2005 dollars
• Annual operating costs derived from
reallocations

55. BARD Financing
• 20 years term for bonds
• Debt service approximately
$467,000/year
• Cost to service facility approximately
$33,000/year

56. BARD Specs
• 2.5 acre site
• 7,500 sq. ft. shelving space
• 1.6 million volume capacity

57. KU Libraries Vision
• Ready access to information resources
• Personal research assistance and
service
• Space for library instruction
• Space for individual study
• Space for group collaboration
• Space for socialization and refreshment

58. Why was the case
successful?

59. Right amount
Right purpose
Right time

60. Bill Myers
Director of Library Development
University of Kansas
1425 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence, KS 66045-7544
785.864.8921
bilmyers@ku.edu
www.lib.ku.edu

61. Thanks to:
Stella Bentley, Dean of Libraries
University of Kansas
Sarah Thomas, University Librarian
Cornell University