But . . . Where Are the Books?

Subtitled "As academic libraries evolve beyond information storage, institutions turn to space-saving automated retrieval systems" and written by Melissa Ezarik, this University Business report addresses the current evolutionary path of college libraries. It includes case studies from Santa Clara University (CA) and the University of Louisville (KY).

The evolution of libraries to meet a range of needs leaves librarians in a quandary. If space must go toward so many things besides books, where is the ever-expanding print collection supposed to fit?

“A knee-jerk reaction of putting everything on single shelves seems indefensible,” says Ron Danielson, vice provost for information services at Santa Clara University (Calif.). No one has the space for that.

“Shelving no longer drives planning,” explained consultant Scott Bennett, principal of Urbana, Ill.,-based Library Space Planning, during a session at a SCUP regional conference held at Yale in March. Bennett is also seeing libraries become less transactional and more instructional.