It’s Not Over Until the Last Book is on the Shelf
By Gary Hall
It started with an idea. You obtained the support of your board and your
patrons. You lobbied, raised funds, and exhausted every possible
option. You selected an architect, the designs were drawn, and the
budgets set. You selected a construction manager and contracts were let,
bids were evaluated and construction contracts signed, permits were
filed and schedules determined, the walls went up, fixtures were hung
and shelving installed. You attended an endless stream of
construction meetings and answered a myriad of daily questions about the
project. You fought tooth and nail to get everything you could for your
new library. But the project isn’t complete until the last book is put
on the shelf.
When does the transition/relocation process begin? It should start
long before a shovel is put in the ground. And if not, it should at
least be considered at the time budgets are created. The move is
one of the last sizable costs for your construction or renovation
project. You don’t want to have to reduce your furniture and equipment
budgets to afford to move into your new facility or worse, have to move
everything yourselves.
A “Transition/Relocation Team” should be created while you are
discussing the construction requirements of the project. A
transition team serves many purposes. They evaluate your patron
service needs during the renovation and construction process, they help
determine the requirements for a temporary site or sites if the existing
facility has to be raised or abandoned, they relate information to
patrons and staff during the project. The team can help evaluate
proposed new equipment, furniture and shelving components as well as the
vendors who provide them. The transition team establishes the relocation
requirements of the project, determining whether the library needs to
have several phased moves during the project or will occupy a temporary
site. They will raise questions such as: will collections need to be
stored, is access needed to all collections, what programs need to be
provided, and what are your customers’ needs?
The transition team can be made up of administrative staff, board
members, and facilities personnel and should include a professional
library mover or relocation consultant. The size and make up of
the transition team is dependent on the various tasks you want them to
undertake. If a “Relocation Consultant” is being considered you
can look to the various professional library relocation companies that
offer that service. The vast experience we at American have as
library-moving specialists can be useful in anticipating some of the
issues that can arise miles before the move takes place. The team
oversees the three phases of the moving process, Planning, Scheduling
and the Logistics of the move.
Planning the various facets of the relocation process can be rife with
pitfalls. While aiding the “Team” in the planning phase we subscribe to
“O’Toole’s Rule” and that rule is “Murphy” was an optimist. During
your original project evaluation you anticipate construction schedules
so that shelving, furniture and equipment can be purchased and delivered
on time. If schedules are too early, the manufacturers may attempt
delivery prior to construction of your new facility being substantially
completed. This could mean incurring additional expenses for
storage or other delay costs. Your team can help plan the ordering of
shelving and furniture to correspond to the eventual delays in the
proposed construction schedule. At best, moving dates cannot be
determined until a month prior to completion of construction.
Having a professional mover on board your team can help anticipate
delays in that schedule.
Books are still the basic ingredient in a library. Have your team make
sure there is enough shelf space included in your library design for
existing collections as well as growth. Having a library mover on your
team can help aid in evaluating the space allocated in the new facility.
Helping plot the collection flow and shelf fill ratios is another value
a professional library relocation company can bring to your team.
Scheduling of the move along with the various other vendors who require
access to the completed facility can be a daunting endeavor.
Having vendors vying for entranceways and elevators at the end of a
project is like watching the sand in an hourglass. You can call upon the
experience of your library mover to help create a coordinated schedule.
Suggestions such as scheduling dedications and grand openings after a
soft opening when construction is completed is another decision that can
be decided with your team. The experience that a professional
library mover has in moving collections and installing shelving systems
can be invaluable in determining the time necessary to move your
library. As a member of your team they can evaluate your ability
to provide continued limited patron services during the move.
As similar as some projects seem, each has its own unique requirements
and each demands its own logistical techniques that need to be employed
to resolve those varied circumstances. Egress limitations may
require that an outside elevator be employed to expedite the flow of
collection materials from one location to another. Interior
mezzanines or multi-tier shelving systems that have no elevator access
present their own challenges. Parking and building operations can impact
access times.
Integration or purges of collection items may have to be incorporated in
the relocation process. Main branches in regional library systems
usually require that IT and financial services move at specific times to
avoid downtime at the other branch facilities. As a professional
library relocation company we at American have encountered many of these
circumstances and some even more unique. For example, having to
construct interior walls to create office space because the partition
system included in the move wouldn’t meet fire codes in the temporary
facility, or consolidating the seven libraries of a University in to
three libraries and placing the remainder in an off site facility, or
re-shelving during a move while changing the sequential order from the
Dewey system to the Library of Congress classification system.
Each had their unique requirements requiring various logistical
techniques to complete the task. Having a professional library
mover on your team can help you develop the logistics necessary to make
your move efficient and successful.
Your project started with an idea but it’s not finished until the last
book is placed on the shelf. By creating a “Transition Team” and
including a professional library mover on that team you can make the end
of the project as rewarding as the idea itself.