Campus Libraries Transformed by Off-site Library Facility

Two Universities Cooperate to Consolidate Library Materials

Campus libraries have always been the center of intellectual life at colleges and universities. While that fact still holds true, teaching and learning methods are changing, and so are the physical spaces that surround and support scholarship. That means that while campus libraries continue to carefully maintain paper-based collections and acquire paper-based books, journals, maps, and other materials, many universities are deciding to consolidate these collections in order to free up space to create new spaces in which to teach and learn.

Two vibrant Atlanta institutions – Emory University and Georgia Tech University – recently entered into a partnership to help modernize their respective libraries. Central to that endeavor was the construction of a new, off-site library shelving facility. The Library Service Center (LSC) was constructed on Emory’s Briarwood campus, near the historic Briarwood Mansion. Georgia Tech moved nearly 95 percent of its collection there, while Emory moved more than 1.5 million of its own materials to the space. The facility continues to accept new materials, and the site has room to build a second module when the first reaches capacity.

Laying the Groundwork for Change

The newly constructed off-site library building was carefully designed to fit the neighborhood aesthetic and support a variety of functions. Inside, the space boasts a covered loading dock, processing area, a flash freezer, and soaring high-bay shelving on a polished concrete floor.

The materials in the LSC are stored at 55 degrees Fahrenheit and 30 percent humidity in a 30,000 square foot space called “the Archive Module.” This precise climate control provides optimal, long-term preservation and retention for print and microform collections. In fact, with these conditions, the libraries’ books, papers, and documents can be preserved for hundreds of years.