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
What do we need to know?
Who can tell us?
How can we get the
information?
What will it enable us to do?
Objective:
Construct a high density storage facility
for low-use library materials
Elements of the Case:
Threats
Six libraries at or near shelving capacity
 Concurrent reduction of user space
 Diminishing gate count
 Backlogs of unprocessed materials

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

Provost’s suggestions:
Explain why needed and why deaccessioning not acceptable
 Compare size/rank with other ARL
libraries
 Address budget
 Emphasize student space/use potential

Audience:
Chancellor’s Cabinet
University administrators with responsibility for:
 Budget
 Academics
 Students
 Faculty
 Facilities
 Research
 External Affairs
Chancellor’s Priorities

Student-centered university

Top 25 public research university
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

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

Preparing the Case
Review and evaluate existing data
 Gather additional data
 Draft presentation
 Preview presentation with selected
audiences

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

Feedback
More numbers
 More specs on building

University of Kansas
Library Services
Library Spaces
September 22, 2003
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
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.
Changing Library Services
The Card Catalog
was the starting
point….
.
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.
University of Iowa Libraries
Food for Thought
Browsers
Coffee Shop at
the University of
Waterloo,
Ontario Canada
Free Speech Movement Café,
Donated by Library Vendor
UNC’s House Library’s Student Lounge, Prior to Renovation
Group Study Rooms Support Collaborative Learning
Arizona State University
A locked carrel at Ohio State in 1951
Cornell 2002
UNC’S Information Commons
Restore Grand Reading Room
Columbia University
University of Washington
Our Challenge
Provide appropriate storage for all
library materials while enabling
faculty, staff, and students to readily
access any item.
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.
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.
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).
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
High-density Storage
• Lesser-used
materials
• Shared storage
• Preservation tool
• Security asset
• Industrial document
delivery
Duke University
Yale
Indiana
Southeast Ohio
University of Missouri
Libraries Depository
High Density Storage
Depositories
California
Minnesota
Penn State
Missouri
Florida
Michigan
South Carolina
Texas
Virginia Tech
Indiana
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
Circulation of Library Materials
2002
Materials published 1983 or earlier: 26.9%
Materials published 1973 or earlier: 14.1%
Retrievals from Library Annex
Storage space leased May 2003
70,000 volumes in off-site storage
50 items retrieved during first 8 weeks
ARL Rank: Volumes in Library
1. Harvard
2. Yale
3. Illinois
6. Texas
8. Michigan
13. Indiana
15. Wisconsin
14.9 million
10.9 million
9.9 million
8.2 million
7.6 million
6.5 million
6.2 million
ARL Rank continued
17.Minnesota
19. Ohio State
27. Michigan State
29. Oklahoma
30. Iowa
35. Kansas
53. Missouri
6.1 million
5.6 million
4.5 million
4.3 million
4.3 million
3.9 million
3.1 million
Next Steps
• Transform library facilities to support
student and faculty collaborative
learning.
• Revitalize Watson Library as a campus
intellectual center.
Watson Commons
Watson Commons
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.
Anschutz Commons
Anschutz Commons
Spahr stacks
Spahr Engineering Library
Next Steps Cont.
• Provide less expensive remote storage
and service options for some of the less
frequently used materials currently
housed in our libraries.
Library Annex
Annex Interior
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
BARD Costs
• $5.6 million for land and construction in
2005 dollars
• Annual operating costs derived from
reallocations
BARD Financing
•
20 years term for bonds
•
Debt service approximately
$467,000/year
•
Cost to service facility approximately
$33,000/year
BARD Specs
• 2.5 acre site
• 7,500 sq. ft. shelving space
• 1.6 million volume capacity
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
Why was the case
successful?
Right
amount
Right purpose
Right time
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
Thanks to:
Stella Bentley, Dean of Libraries
University of Kansas
Sarah Thomas, University Librarian
Cornell University