About the Client
The University of Glasgow is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in 1451, it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland’s four ancient universities. Its Library is one of the largest university libraries in the UK, containing almost two million volumes spread over 40 miles of shelves and 12 floors,
A rich resource for research and teaching, the main library building holds special collections built up over a period of more than 500 years, together with the up-to-date materials needed by students and academics. With a huge number of books and a constantly changing inventory, archiving is a constant activity – moving older monograph and research material into a temperature controlled storage to make way for newer, more widely used publications.
The Issues
With an ever increasing collection, the library was running out of space for its historical collection and needed to consider its options. It was clear there little space within the main library so a space off site was chosen.
With thousands of items to archive the University team turned Rackline to suggest and provide solutions to their storage issue. Any system needed to be high density, hold both the existing collection and have contingency for growth.
The Solution – Mobile Shelving:
Rackline visited the premises and undertook a complete audit of external storage facility. Together with an assessment of the available space the team also investigated the conditions within the building as many of the volumes to be stored would require strictly controlled conditions.
After its investigations were completed, Rackline recommend its Multitrak Mobile Shelving system with Proform shelves. This combination would provide the conditions required for the delicate materials, the capacity required and give contingency for further expansion.
Rackline’s teams installed 2,241 bays of mobile shelving on its robust mobile bases. This solution provides a capacity of over 21,000 linear metres and allows the safe storage of their valuable collection. The manufacture of such a huge amount of mobile shelving and storage was a big undertaking, using 95 tonnes of steel, 3 tonnes of paint and taking 15 truck loads to deliver.
The Result:
The installed mobile shelving/roller racking solution provides an environmentally stable, secure storage facility for the university. The mobile shelving is simple to operate, and allows for the fast archiving and retrieval of items. With its immense capacity and weight capacity, the mobile shelving provided will help the team to protect their valuable documents for many years and the extra capacity means they don not have to worry about space restrictions for a very long time.
Margot O’Donnell, library store manager said, “We hold an immense amount of historical material that must be easily accessible for research purposes, but also kept in temperature controlled conditions due to its age and fragility. Rackline’s previous experience in cases like this has been invaluable – they were able to accommodate all our needs and save us space.”
To find out more about Rackline’s offerings for education, visit the dedicated page here. If you are looking for solutions for your library then Rackline’s shelving and storage can be tailored to your individual needs, again find out more here.