Shelving Facility

Library off-site high-density storage facility

UPDATE:  The transfer of Sawyer journals to the storage facility started in January 2009. The relocation will take several month to complete.  Transfer Schedule.  For details on the Sawyer journals relocation project, see more info

To accommodate short and long term library storage needs, Williams College constructed a high-density storage facility.  The new Library Shelving Facility (LSF) is located a mile and a half north of campus onSimonds Road (Route 7). Construction began in July 2007 and was completed on schedule in May 2008.   In July 2008, National Library Relocations transfered Stetson collections to be housed in the LSF.

The Library Shelving Facility is a high-density storage building designed to maximize  floor efficiency.  Materials in the LSF are organized by size in high-shelving and are retrieved through an automated system.

“This building, which is essentially a concrete box, will eventually store about 900,000 volumes in 10,000 square feet of environmentally controlled space, on shelving 30-feet high. The materials will be stored on trays, and stacked according to size, not subject, to allow for the most efficient packing possible. It will be accessed via fork lifts.”
“Holding the Overflow”, The Berkshire Eagle, June 30th, 2008.

 

From 2008-2011 the LSF will be the temporary home to the bulk of Archives and Chapin Library collections.  Upon completion of the new library, most of the Archives and Chapin materials will return to campus.

The LSF will be the permanent home to the back issues of Sawyer library journals.  Articles from journals in the LSF will be paged and delivered electronically to users.  Bound volumes will also be available for paging.

Historic journals housed in Stetson were moved to LSF in July 2008 and will be unavailable until January 2009.  During that time period, materials from these journals must be requested via Interlibrary Loan.

The transfer  of back runs of journals currently housed in Sawyer will begin gradually in January 2009. Move schedule.

PB130005 PB130004 PB130003 PB130002 PB130001

Construction photos