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Warehouse & Distribution

<p>Libraries and <a href="/education" aria-label="education storage solutions">educational institutions</a> are evolving into dynamic knowledge, collaboration, and learning hubs. As these spaces transform, so do their storage needs. Traditional shelving systems are no longer sufficient to meet the demands of modern libraries, which require versatile, efficient, and user-friendly storage solutions. Enter <a href="/products/shelving/flexible-shelving" aria-label="flexible shelving product details">Spacesaver's Flexible Shelving</a> - designed specifically to address the unique challenges of today's educational environments. Explore how this innovative shelving solution enhances libraries by offering adaptability, maximizing space, and improving user experience.</p>

<h4>Why is Flexible Shelving Essential for Libraries and Educational Spaces?</h4>
<p>In today's <a href="/libraries" aria-label="library storage solutions">libraries</a>, storage systems must go beyond merely holding books. They must support a variety of media, adapt to changing needs, and contribute to a welcoming environment. <a href="/products/shelving/flexible-shelving" aria-label="flexible shelving product details">Spacesaver's Flexible Shelving</a> is designed with these requirements in mind, offering a solution as dynamic as the institutions it serves. This versatile shelving unit is adjustable and can accommodate books and various media formats such as DVDs, CDs, and periodicals. Its adaptability allows for easy reconfiguration as library needs change over time, and its durable design ensures longevity. Additionally, the aesthetics of the shelving contribute to a pleasant and welcoming environment for library patrons, enhancing their overall experience.</p>

<h2>Types of Adjustable Shelving Systems</h2>
<h5>Cantilever and 4-Post Shelving: Maximizing Adaptability and Efficiency</h5>
<p>Designed for versatile use, <a href="/products/shelving/cantilever-shelving" aria-label="cantilever shelving product details">Cantilever Shelving</a> offers exceptional adaptability. These shelving units can be easily reconfigured, relocated, or expanded as your storage requirements change. This makes them ideal for limited space, and frequently shifting storage needs.</p>
<p><a href="/products/shelving/4-post-case-type-shelving" aria-label="4-post shelving product details">4-Post Shelving</a> provides a robust and secure storage solution. Its heavy-duty construction offers stability and organization, ensuring your items remain secure and accessible. This configurable solution is also perfect for makerspaces and your library of things storage which can often be varied sizes and weights.</p>
<h5>Adaptability for Evolving Needs</h5>
<p>One of the standout features of <a href="/products/shelving/flexible-shelving" aria-label="flexible shelving product details">Spacesaver's Flexible Shelving</a>, is its adaptability. Educational institutions are constantly in flux, with curricula, technology, and student needs continuously evolving. This shelving unit is engineered to be reconfigured, relocated, and expanded as these needs change.</p>
<p>For example, a library that once focused on print media might find itself in need of a solution that can also accommodate digital media and collaborative workspaces. With Flexible Shelving, librarians can easily adjust the configuration of their shelving units without requiring costly renovations or new fixtures. This adaptability ensures the library remains functional and relevant, even as the institution grows and changes.</p>

<h2>Maximizing Space Efficiency</h2>
<p>Space is often premium in educational environments, especially in urban settings. <a href="/products/shelving/flexible-shelving" aria-label="flexible shelving product details">Flexible Shelving</a> from Spacesaver helps maximize available space with various configuration options tailored to any layout. The dynamic, movable storage solutions can be reconfigured or relocated to create dynamic workspace.</p>
<p>This mobility is particularly beneficial in multi-use spaces. For instance, a library might need to convert a reading area into a collaborative workspace or an event venue. With Flexible Shelving, it can adapt without sacrificing storage capacity by moving the shelving units. This flexibility is crucial for modern educational spaces that must balance storage with multi-functionality.</p>

<2>Enhancing Accessibility and User Experience</h2>
<p>Libraries are designed to be inviting spaces where students, faculty, and the public can easily access resources. Spacesaver's adjustable shelving solutions enhance accessibility by incorporating features that make finding and retrieving materials easier.</p>
<p>For example, shelving can be outfitted with illuminated shelves that draw attention to the stacks, making it easier for users to locate books and media. Pull-out browsing bins offer a convenient way to store and display media collections, such as CDs and DVDs, allowing users to access them quickly and efficiently. These features improve the user experience and contribute to the library's aesthetic appeal, encouraging patrons to engage more with the materials.</p>

<h2>Versatility for All Media Types</h2>
<p>In today's digital age, libraries need to store and display a variety of media. <a href="/products/shelving" aria-label="shelving product details">Spacesaver's shelving solutions</a> accommodate all forms, from traditional books to digital archives and multimedia collections. Their versatile design ensures libraries can adapt to changing media storage demands while maintaining an organized and accessible environment.</p>

<h6>Case Study: Mount Royal University's Library Transformation</h6>
<p><a href="/case-study/undergraduate-library-design" aria-label="install story">Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta,</a> offers a compelling example of how adaptable shelving can revolutionize library spaces. The university's library, originally built in the early 1970s, struggled to accommodate a growing collection and an increasing student population as the institution expanded.</p>
<p>Recognizing the need for a modern, functional library, the university undertook a complete redesign. Spacesaver's versatile solutions played a crucial role in this transformation, providing visually appealing and highly functional stacks that enhanced the building's aesthetic and improved accessibility.</p>
<p>The new library design incorporated pull-out browsing bins for its music collection, making it easier for students and faculty to access CDs and other materials. This thoughtful integration of versatile shelving solutions ensured the library could meet the university's evolving needs while providing a welcoming, user-friendly environment.</p>

<h3>Supporting Modern Library Needs with Spacesaver Customizable Shelving</h3>
<p>Spacesaver's adjustable shelving is not just about storage - it's about creating a space that supports learning, collaboration, and exploration. With its robust construction, limitless configuration options, and innovative design features, these adaptable solutions are poised to become the cornerstone of modern library and <a href="/education" aria-label="education storage solutions">educational space storage</a>.</p>
<p>Whether your <a href="/libraries" aria-label="libary storage solutions">library</a> is expanding its collection, enhancing accessibility, or creating a more engaging environment, the need for adaptable, efficient, and user-friendly storage solutions becomes more critical. Spacesaver's versatile shelving provides a comprehensive solution that meets these demands, offering durable, versatile, and configurable options that can grow and change with your institution.</p>

 

A more adaptable learning environment is a more productive learning environment. See what Spacesaver’s adjustable storage solutions can do for your space.

Customizable Shelving Solutions for Modern Libraries

Enhance Library Efficiency and Flexibility with Adjustable and Configurable Shelving

<h3>The Most Active Place On Campus</h3>
<p>When you hear this phrase, you’re most likely thinking of a commons area or perhaps the <a href="/athletics/collegiate-sports" aria-label="collegiate sport storage solutions">fieldhouse</a>. Both great guesses, but if you really want the opportunity to experience a wide array of activities, the library is where it’s at.</p>
<p>What makes the stacks the place to be? So much more than the books and shelves you may be picturing. Today’s <a href="/libraries/academic-library" aria-label="academic library storage details">campus libraries</a> have a myriad of resources to offer students, staff, and visitors. From a place to meet, create, or just simply access the internet, the library has all you need to grow and advance.</p>
<p>But it also has a finite amount of space to do these activities in, which means that flexible and efficient storage solutions are a must to create the right mix of fit and function for the task at hand.</p>
<h3>Campus Safety (And Security) First</h3>
<p>Academic achievement requires a great deal of material consumption. From the food and drinks necessary to fuel minds to the tools of the trades being used to teach and learn, library patrons are going to have stuff. To ensure that stuff and the learning materials within the library are protected and kept secure, libraries are turning to <a href="/products/lockers/day-use-locker" aria-label="day use locker product details">Day Use Lockers</a> for temporary storage of personal belongings.</p>
<p>These versatile and configurable solutions are ideal helping to avoid theft, loss, and damage of library users’ invaluable personal belongings. Available in multiple sizes and orientations, lockers can be customized to fit each library’s demand. Offering further versatility and security, <a href="/products/lockers/day-use-locker" aria-label="day use locker product details">Day Use Lockers</a> can be outfitted with locking mechanisms from several of the industry's leading manufacturers.</p>
<h3>Creating the Capacity for More</h3>
<p>Learning is a lifelong process. So, as each generation continues to uncover the latest and greatest information, the next generation’s resource pool continues to fill up. <a href="/products/shelving" aria-label="shelivng product details">Static shelving</a>, while effective in storing these ever-growing materials, is inefficient in the space it utilizes. And, with a finite amount of available floorspace in each campus’ library, space utilization is a major concern. Here is where <a href="/products/high-density-mobile-systems" aria-label="mobile system product details">High-Density Mobile Storage systems</a> mark their mark.</p>
<p><a href="/products/high-density-mobile-systems" aria-label="mobile system product details">High-Density Mobile Storage systems</a>, which feature a movable aisle format, allow libraries to double capacity in their current footprint or reduce their current storage footprint by half. This space-saving solution frees up space for flexible use, helping libraries to adapt to advances in technology and supporting progressive student learning. In addition to optimizing footprint, <a href="/products/high-density-mobile-systems" aria-label="mobile system product details">High-Density Mobile Storage systems</a> can be equipped with to offer increased protection for staff, visitors, and students – especially those looking to go viral by testing the safety stop.</p>
<h3>Flexible Shelving: Here Today, There Tomorrow</h3>
<p>Increased flexibility is always a top demand from library staff and administration. Driven by an ever-growing set of learning tools and methods, the ability to offer multi-purpose space for varied use is invaluable to your campus’ library. Incorporating <a href="/products/shelving/flexible-shelving" aria-label="flexible shelving product details">Flexible Shelving</a> units into your campus library’s storage mix allows staff to create the optimal layout for the need at hand.</p>
<p>The perfect balance of the storage capacity of a static shelf and the versatility of a <a href="/products/shelving/flexible-shelving" aria-label="flexible shelving product details">library cart, Flexible Shelving</a> allows users to access information at its point of use. When equipped with locking casters, the units can be set into place when in use. Additionally, a variety of end panels – wood, laminate, acrylic, and resin – can be sourced through <a href="/partners" aria-label="spacesaver local network">Spacesaver’s nationwide network of local distributors</a> to ensure the units fit your university’s exact design requirements.</p>

Campus libraries are evolving and require versatile storage systems that can adapt to their changing needs.

Highlighting Campus Library Storage

Spacesaver provides insights and installs geared toward advancing your campus library’s impact.

<p>In the evolving landscape of libraries, the transition to high-density shelving is a pivotal step. Spacesaver stands as a trusted partner, assisting architects, planners, administrators, and library professionals in comprehending the intricacies involved in planning and designing off-site facilities.</p>
<h2>Optimizing Space Usage<h2>
<p>Leveraging an expansive network of local affiliates, Spacesaver offers specialized space consultants who grasp the distinct requirements of libraries and archives. The initial stride towards renewing your space and establishing a facility that aligns seamlessly with your institution's needs involves reaching out to Spacesaver for a complimentary space assessment.</p>
<h2>Guidance in Designing Your Vision</h2>
<p>Ensuring your project is executed flawlessly, your designated Spacesaver design consultant accompanies you throughout the entire process. From brainstorming concepts in the pre-design phase to finalizing design, overseeing installation, and handling maintenance, your local consultant is your dedicated guide. They deeply comprehend your institution's requirements and act as a crucial bridge between end users, architects, designers, contractors, Spacesaver's engineering team, and the manufacturing facility located in Wisconsin, USA.</p>
<h2>Seamless Procurement Process</h2> 
<p>When contemplating a purchase from Spacesaver, understanding the available procurement options is essential. Spacesaver offers a range of contracts, partnerships, and teaming agreements, granting you the flexibility to choose the most suitable method to procure your storage systems.</p>
<p>Embarking on a journey to enhance your university library spaces is a strategic decision. With Spacesaver as your partner, navigating the complexities of high-density shelving and transforming your library into an efficient and accommodating space becomes an informed and efficient endeavor. Reach out to Spacesaver to take the first step in reimagining your library's future.</p>

Discover how Spacesaver provides expert consultants to optimize space and design solutions for libraries and more.

Enhancing Library Spaces with Spacesaver

Your trusted partners

<p>Libraries, both in the public and academic setting have seen large changes in recent years. What was previously a quiet space built is now a place for collaboration and community outreach.  Spacesaver understands this evolution and has the offering to support the need for a space that can transform from rows of books to kids laughing during story time to chair yoga or a woodcarving demonstration. Along with the products necessary, we also have a wide range of resources to help you in designing and planning these spaces.</p>
<h2>Partners in Transformation</h2>
<p>Spacesaver understands that as a designer for the changing space in libraries, there are challenges that you face which go beyond the capabilities of structural design.  This is where the proper usage of furniture, fixtures, and equipment can be leveraged to reduce the amount of space needed for book storage, without eliminating parts of the collection, while meeting the needs that librarians and program directors are looking for. It is that balance of storage and functionality that Spacesaver can help you meet.</p>
<h3>Resources to support your designs</h3>
<p>We understand that your library projects entail much more than storage, which is why we have created a resource library to help support your projects.  We will handle the nuts and bolts of the storage portion of your project, from our Day Use Lockers supporting the safe storage of your patrons goods, to the cantilever shelving on mobile, allowing your customer to store their books in half the space.</p>
<h6>BIMobject</h6>
<p>With a robust library of over 100 Revit models, you can create the layouts and visuals needed to ensure that your projects keep moving forward.</p>
<h6>CSI Specifications</h6>
<p>Find CSI specification documents linked here or hosted on SpecLink.  This resource can help you quickly and easily build the storage portions of your proposal, letting you focus energy on winning the bid.</p>
<h6>Continuing Education Courses</h6>
<p>Our AIA and IDCEC-approved courses bring projects to life, providing inspiration along with credits. Reach out to schedule a Lunch & Learn today.</p>
<h6>Project Planning</h6>
<p>Find all our resources to help you with your project planning from floor loading to sustainability to accessibility compliance here.</p>
<h2>Inspiration for Your Next Project</h2>
<p>With over 50 years’ experience pioneering the mobile storage industry, storage and space planning is all we think about. Spacesaver understands who our customers are, what they care about, and what they need to build new spaces from the ground up or retrofit existing ones. Our teams have been working with the AEC community on projects like this for over 50 years as well</p>

Find resources for architects, including information about the functions that are typically performed in a high-bay library shelving facility.

Library Resources for Architects

Designing to evolve with the changing needs of library patrons.

<p>Every university and library is different, so it’s important to take the broadest view possible when considering a high-bay shelving facility to meet their needs – and those of their community. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, for instance, established committees to recommend strategies that would strengthen core library functions, redesign campus spaces to create new learning environments, locate related collections closer together, and streamline processes.</p>
<p>“We’re taking libraries back to what they originally were: spaces to create the scholarship of the future surrounded by the scholarship of the past.”</p>
<p>-Catherine Murray-Rust, Creating the Next Research Library, ALA Midwinter Meeting, January 2017</p>
<p>As you look to move beyond the traditional library setting of reading tables and rows of books on shelves, it is important to note that physical learning tools can’t go away completely. Students still need access to these resources; however, the library also needs to have room for the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>Collaborative workspaces 
<li>Tech-enabled learning spaces 
<li>Makerspaces 
<li>Visualization labs 
<li>Special events space 
<li>Print materials,/li>
</ul>
<h2>Acquiring Funding</h2>
<p>As you consider funding for your project, keep in mind that contracts can offer a powerful purchasing option. Contracts are systems set up by state governments and other organizations to evaluate products and negotiate pricing with esteemed vendors – a process that in turn allows government, education, non-profit, and other organizations to save time and money when purchasing those vendors’ products. Most libraries and archives in the U.S. and Canada can purchase Spacesaver products at a deep discount by using NJPA, National IPA, and/or state contracts.</p>
<p>“You don’t get political support without great customer service. And political support is what gets you funding.”</p>
<p>-Catherine Murray-Rust, Creating the Next Research Library, ALA Midwinter Meeting, January 2017</p>
<h2>Gathering Data</h2>
<p>Consolidating the content of a complex, campus-wide library network into off-site shelving requires a deliberate plan of action. And in a process that can sometimes get emotional, it’s important to gather the facts.</p>
<p>This includes:</p>
<ul>
<li>Circulation statistics</li>
<li>Gate counts</li>
<li>Shelf space</li>
<li>Square footage of various libraries</li>
<li>Library services currently offered and desired</li>
<li>Staffing levels and job descriptions currently offered and desired</li>
<li>Current budgets for various libraries around campus</li>
<li>Preferred storage conditions – temperature, relative humidity, etc.</li>
<li>Current costs of off-site storage, if applicable</li>
</ul>
<h4>Building A More Economical Solution</h4>
<p>Wake Forest University decided to build an on-site high-bay shelving facility due to the expense and inconvenience of renting space off campus. In its previous arrangement, the university was charged by the linear foot for storing books and had to pay a fee anytime a book was retrieved, and again when it was returned to the storage facility. “That was cost-prohibitive,” said Mary Beth Lock, Director of Access Services at Z. Smith Reynolds Library. “It really wasn’t a model that we could continue to use.”</p>
<h4>Evolving Roles</h4>
<p>As library materials shift, so do the roles of library professionals. While their work centers on knowledge and information, library professionals at the UW-Madison are spending less time helping patrons find printed materials and more time helping students and researchers discover, evaluate, understand, and share information from a variety of sources.</p>
<ul>
<li>Assisting students with electronic research tools, including bibliographic management tools</li>
<li>Helping students, faculty, and other researchers develop data management plans and research portfolios</li>
<li>Supporting digital scholarship and sharing new ways of disseminating scholarship</li>
<li>Teaching students about informational literacy concepts, copyright laws, and intellectual property concerns</li>
 </ul>
<p>“Librarians can’t sit in the building and wait for people to come in and engage. They need to get out on campus and be more entrepreneurial. That’s a completely different job. We’re asking them to be different kinds of people.”</p>
<p>-Catherine Murray-Rust, Creating the Next Research Library, ALA Midwinter Meeting, January 2017</p>

Steps to planning and financing a library collection high-bay solution.

High-Bay Shelving Facility

Is your campus ready for the transformation that a new high-bay facility will bring?

<p><strong>Texas State University took a creative approach to storing printed volumes and archival materials in a new off-site high-bay facility.</strong></p>
<p>Campus libraries are transforming to accommodate new ways to teach and learn. Texas State University, for instance, needed to free up space in the main campus library for collaboration areas, quiet study rooms, presentation rooms, and new technology. But faculty and staff also wanted to consolidate and preserve printed volumes from the library’s collection and artwork and other items from the university’s archives.</p>
<p>The Archives and Research Center was designed to meet those goals in creative ways. Because the large off-site facility stores materials with different preservation requirements, it was designed to maintain temperature and humidity levels in three separate environments. <a href="/markets/library-shelving-solutions/library-transformation/high-bay-facility-design/" target="_self">Learn More About High-bay Facility Design</a>.</p>


	
	<h3>Arts and Artifacts Area</h3>
<p>This room is kept at 65 degrees and 45% relative humidity.</p>
<p>It houses a variety of three-dimensional objects from the university archives in Spacesaver <a href="/products/high-density-mobile-shelving/standard-high-density-mobile-storage/">high-density mobile shelving</a>.</p>
<p>Hanging art is stored on Spacesaver <a href="/products/museum-storage-products/art-racks/">art racks</a>. </p>

	
	<h3>High-bay Area</h3>
<p>This massive room is kept at 50 degrees and 30% relative humidity. Soaring <a href="/products/high-density-mobile-shelving/off-site-archival-storage/">Spacesaver High-Bay Shelving</a> stores books, journals, and other materials. The system was designed to optimize space from floor to ceiling and it integrates with fire safety sprinklers and ductwork for climate control.</p>
<p>An <a href="/products/high-density-mobile-shelving/heavy-duty-mobile-racking/">ActivRAC® Storage System</a> houses framed art and boxed materials from the university archives in the same room as the high-bay shelving.</p>


	
	<h3>Work Areas</h3>
<p>The facility also provides places for faculty, staff, students, and visiting researchers to work. The study area, offices, and processing areas are kept at comfortable temperatures and humidity levels for the people working there.</p>
<p>Moving low-circulating volumes and valuable archival materials off-site freed up space in the main campus library for study rooms, meeting rooms, media production studios, and more. The Archives and Research Center was a crucial step along the way to modernizing the main library on campus while also giving the collections room to grow.</p>

<h3>Connect with the experts in high-bay library facility design</h3>
<p>A high-bay facility is much more than a “warehouse” or a “box of books!” It’s a complex process that involves a variety of systems. Contact us to get in touch with our high-bay specialists, who can design efficient shelving and other storage systems to meet your institution’s unique needs.</p>







Creating three “zones” for preservation and research.

Designing A High-Bay Library Facility

<p>In an era when technology is dominating the conversation in higher education, it’s easy to assume that campus libraries could become irrelevant. But as we’re seeing, the opposite is true; academic libraries are alive and well – perhaps even more popular than in the past – but for new and ever-evolving reasons.</p>

<p>From individual study space and group project meeting rooms to technology, software, and space for unique learning environments, the physical library space has been shaped by new student expectations. While helping students navigate information is still central to academic libraries’ missions, that practice now involves less physical books and more digital reference materials, software, and hands-on learning. Though these changes are sometimes unpopular among faculty who wish to keep physical collections on hand, there’s no doubt that academic library design will continue to include fewer long rows of shelves and more spaces intended to inspire new ways of learning.</p>

<h3>Flexibility is Paramount</h3>

<p>With so much discussion around “<a href="/markets/library-shelving-solutions/library-transformation/">the transformation of libraries</a>”
    and the rapid pace of change on campuses, it only makes sense that academic
    libraries are looking for flexibility in their space, furniture, and equipment.
    A flexible space not only helps prepare for unknown future needs, but also
    allows students and staff to rearrange based on events, activities, and
    personal study preferences.</p>
<p>On a small scale, this can look like adding casters to all your shelving
    to make it mobile, allowing you to rearrange the space as needed.</p>
    
    <p>On a larger scale, this could look like incorporating large multipurpose spaces, like a Learning Commons that can be used for events, private study, or conversation. These spaces can be even more effective if they offer temporary dividers, such as <strong>moveable walls</strong> that slide on floor rails to create <strong>custom-sized meeting rooms</strong> on the fly.</p>
    
    	<h3>Collections on the move</h3>
<p>To make room for all these new library functions like tutoring, media, meeting space, cafes, and even active learning classrooms, something has to go – and that something is usually books. Most libraries opt to pare back on items that don’t circulate often, reduce duplicate copies, and offer digital versions whenever possible. Some books are moved to other libraries on campus, but many are moved to <a href="/markets/library-shelving-solutions/off-site-library-shelving/">off-site storage facilities</a>, which may even be shared with other nearby institutions.</p>

<h3>One thing that’s not changing: Special Collections</h3>

<p>For all the evolution that academic libraries are experiencing, one thing
    that hasn’t changed is the importance of special collections. Many university
    and college libraries pride themselves on the historic books, documents,
    and even 3D objects that they care for, whether they stay in the library
    or get moved to an off-site facility. These collections are usually one-of-a-kind
    and therefore offer unique opportunities for exhibits, research, curricular
    involvement, and even fundraising efforts.</p>
    
    <p>These collections often require special conditions when it comes to ventilation, temperature, humidity, and even security. Rather than typical library shelving, it’s best to think of these special collections as you would museum collections. Using <a href="/products/museum-storage-products/archival-flat-file-storage/">museum-grade cabinets</a> for larger objects, maps, and architectural drawings can help keep them secure and protected from day-to-day damage and large-scale disasters like flooding or fire.</p>
    
    <p>For nearly 50 years, Spacesaver has been a trusted partner in helping higher education architects, administrators, and others understand the complexities involved in planning and designing effective learning spaces. Our network of local distributors offers space planning services, product installation, and ongoing service and maintenance by factory-certified technicians.</p>

How academic libraries’ changing role is influencing design.