Designing A High-Bay Library Facility

Creating three “zones” for preservation and research.

June 28th, 2021 - 2 min read

Texas State University took a creative approach to storing printed volumes and archival materials in a new off-site high-bay facility.

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.

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. Learn More About High-bay Facility Design.

Arts and Artifacts Area

This room is kept at 65 degrees and 45% relative humidity.

It houses a variety of three-dimensional objects from the university archives in Spacesaver high-density mobile shelving.

Hanging art is stored on Spacesaver art racks.

High-bay Area

This massive room is kept at 50 degrees and 30% relative humidity. Soaring Spacesaver High-Bay Shelving 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.

An ActivRAC® Storage System houses framed art and boxed materials from the university archives in the same room as the high-bay shelving.

Work Areas

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.

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.