In a few days’ time, we will formally complete the transfer of the Chemistry Library to the main library. It’s been an eighteen-month project, and a memorable one. The books are all here; everything is done, except for one final task. Like turning off the light and locking the door that last time after you’ve sold your house, we will bid farewell and formally close the Chemistry Library by removing the “Chemistry Library” location from the library catalog. The Martin Chemistry Library will then be part of the library’s, and the college’s, history.
Moving a library is a lot like moving from one house to another, except with a library, we have to track and account for each volume, at every stage of the process. Imagine having to track each each spoon, each pot lid, each drinking glass when you are moving house!
What did it take to move the Chemistry Library books into the main library?
Here are some interesting facts about the move:
Not one move, but several
Every book that we retained in the collection was moved at least four times during the course of the project: from Martin to temporary shelves near the Reference collection in Little; from those temporary shelves to processing shelves in the staff area; from the staff area to temporary shelving on top of the microform cabinets in the basement; from the microform cabinets to each book’s permanent home in the LC stacks.
Thousands of details
Both the books and the catalog records that describe them were carefully evaluated, checked, and updated. We evaluated the condition of each book and checked each title against lists of core and recommended books for chemistry collections. With the assistance of the Chemistry faculty and other faculty members, we identified titles to be retained, titles to be withdrawn, and titles that needed to be updated with newer editions or publications. Every book that we integrated into the main collection was then reclassified and assigned an LC call number. Every library catalog record for every book had to be updated to reflect the new call number and new location for each volume. Every book needed a new spine label.
Many hands
Each book was handled by no fewer than five people over the course of the year and a-half. Some books were handled by as many as seven or more staff. Maintaining print collections is labor intensive indeed! In fact, moving a library involves considerable physical and intellectual labor.
I want to give a shout out to those who helped with this big project:
- Alice Sloop, Acquisitions Assistant
Alice reclassified, relabeled, and updated the records for every book that we kept. She and I probably know the Chemistry Library collection better than anyone else! - The Chemistry faculty
- Jean Coates, Assistant Director for Access and Acquisitions
- Michael Forney, Building Service Worker
- Susan Kerr, Systems Librarian
- Kim Sanderson, Metadata and Cataloging Librarian
- Denise Sherrill, Assistant Director for Operations, Finance, & Facilities
- Denise Torrence, Building Service Worker
- Our great student shelvers, including Ellyson Glance, Emma Kenney, Monica Nelson, Vera Shulman and Meredith Pintler, who spent much of the summer shifting the LC collection to make room for the Chemistry books.
- The staff at Hilldrup Moving & Storage
Thanks to everyone who helped mind and move the Qs and Ts.1 It was a real team effort!
1 In the Library of Congress Classification System, call numbers beginning with “Q” designate books in the sciences and mathematics; “T” call numbers are assigned to books in technology fields. More specifically, most chemistry books have “QD” call numbers; chemical engineering texts are in the “TPs.”
