Out with the Old, in with the New: Making Space for a Digital Studio in R. M. Cooper Library by Derek Wilmott (Collections Management Librarian, Clemson University)

Introduction The purpose of this article is to describe the of their time spent on their Large Space reclamation and repurpose process involved in successfully completing a primary responsibilities in projects occur with some frequency for many massive discard and relocation project in a 14- acquisitions and processing donated materials. academic libraries. Yet, not much is available week period, from August to November 2014. The objective was to discard, relocate, and in the literature that addresses the process part Four members of the Technical Services & shift approximately 45,150 print volumes, of the work. What are the challenges to con- Collection Management Unit and four student representing call number ranges from Q to sider? What kind of planning and preparation workers were assigned to what became known QA, from Cooper Library’s fifth floor between are involved with organizing a project? Who as the “Fifth Floor Project.” Approximately August and early December. Serials were the are the stakeholders involved in a discarding 10,000 serials were relocated to the high-den- majority of the collection designated to discard and relocation project? This article revisits sity stacks at the Library Depot, an off-site and relocate. The Dean of Libraries had con- a 2014 large-scale discard, relocation, and legacy print storage facility, nine miles from the veyed the need to have the space cleared by shifting project in the R. M. Cooper Library main campus and another 15,000 volumes were December for contractors to build the Adobe at Clemson University. Clemson University discarded and sent to the University’s recycling Digital Studio beginning in January 2015. is a Carnegie R1 academic research institution. facility. The remaining monographs and serials The eScience Librarian prepared for this The University Libraries played a vital role in were shifted into the main collection on the fifth project by creating a spreadsheet to review helping achieve that level of national recogni- floor of Cooper Library. The coordination a list of serials, call number range from Q1 tion. From 2010 to 2014, the University Li- and speed to complete this work served as a — QA901 in the affected area. The eScience braries went through a series of organizational template for future large-scale discarding and Librarian emailed the spreadsheet to the Project changes to reprioritize staff efforts to improve relocation projects. Coordinator with her final decisions to discard, student outreach, develop pedagogical and Planning and Prepping relocate, or keep in the stacks. He then up- research support technologies, and enhance Past discarding, relocating, and shifting loaded and shared the spreadsheet into Google the student library experience. projects were assigned to ad hoc teams from Sheets with his team. This online spreadsheet The University Libraries forged new various library units. This approach worked served to maintain the team’s progress in “re- partnerships with Clemson Computing well for short-term objectives, although a al-time,” as well as help identify, track, and Technology & Information (CCIT) and major drawback was each new team needed to troubleshoot any issues developed during the the Adobe Systems, Inc., which paved the reinvent the process or had to rely on previous course of the project. The Head of Facilities, way for the development of a digital studio institutional memory. This project offered provided signage around the affected area on the fifth floor of R. M. Cooper Library. an opportunity to change strategies and look alerting patrons of the noise, dust, and traffic. By the spring of 2015, Clemson became the towards developing consistent processes to The Project Coordinator sent announcements first university to provide all students, faculty, manage future projects with a team dedicated to alert library staff about the project and to and staff full use of the Adobe Creative Cloud to that type of work. For this specific project, prepare for any patron questions. Suite. The Adobe Digital Studio included the eScience Librarian reviewed serials from Each library deselection and relocation audio and video production rooms to provide the targeted area. She created a spreadsheet, project presents their own unique problems to students with opportunities to develop their identifying low to non-usage serials to discard solve. The main issues of this project were: digital production skills and the technology or relocate to high-density storage, depend- • Relocating, processing, and acces- to use them. Planning to clear and repurpose ing on their value to the Library’s mission. sioning a large number of serials to the space began in early 2014. A deadline Students and staff shifted the remaining an off-site storage facility (Library for early December was set for completion of serials and monographs back into the main Depot) located nine miles from the the deselection and relocation of over 45,150 collection. This meant we would select serials main campus. monographs and serials, clearing shelves in a beyond the immediate target area for shifting • Processing and discarding a large 2519 sq. ft. (234 meters) area. purposes. number of serials to the university The Technical Services recycling center. & Collection Management • Identifying stakeholders and main- Unit is composed of five taining constant communication teams: Standards Man- throughout the process. agement & Assessment, • Scheduling staff, so they may con- E-Resources, Collection tinue to focus on their primary job Management, Continuing assignments during the week, and Resources & Government work on this project. Documents, and Metadata Student workers were hired, in late August, & Monographs Catalog- to assist in the project. Cooper Library had a ing. The reorganization in large room recently vacated on the third floor, Technical Services opened previously occupied by Acquisitions before unique opportunities for it merged with Cataloging and relocated to collections projects. The the Library Depot. This room was in an ideal E-Resources Catalog Li- location, next to the Mail Room and a staff brarian served as the proj- entrance to a loading/unloading zone on the ect coordinator. Three west side of Cooper Library. Two ranges library staff from the Col- of shelves were installed in the middle of the lection Management Team room, along with six-computer workstations were assigned to work 15- set up to process materials. There were 14 The Old – Fifth floor Cooper Library 20 hours each week on the book carts, of various sizes, assigned to this Before the Relocation Project project, with the remainder continued on page 28

26 Against the Grain / June 2018 one time, two to four computer workstations for pick up. This simple change reduced the Out with the Old, in with the New ... were in use. Staff members updated the Google weight in the bins to roughly 300 lbs., making from page 26 Sheets document as they completed changes them easier to move. Staff easily overcame in Millennium. Students pulled serials from these and other minor roadblocks and the team project. The Libraries’ courier service was shelves, verified barcodes with their assigned completed the project three weeks ahead of through a non-university agency. The Librar- staff member, and then filled a recycling bin or schedule. Construction of the Adobe Digital ies Associate Dean renegotiated the contract, a courier bin. Staff flagged items not found on Studio began in the spring of 2015 and offi- to accommodate the temporary increase of the shelves in the Millennium item record with cially opened that fall. materials relocating from Cooper Library to a note to send to the Standards Management & the Library Depot. The courier service agreed Assessment Team. This helped to reduce time Lessons Learned and Conclusion to transport ten plastic bins in the morning and searching for materials that may have been There were many lessons learned from ten more in the afternoon between locations. misshelved or lost. Staff did some database this initial project. Having a team assigned The Project Coordinator set a collection maintenance during processing, with the Stan- to all discard and relocation projects creates schedule with University Recycling, which dards Management & Assessment Team trou- consistency in planning, processing, and com- included the use of 10-rollout carts that could bleshooting larger database issues. Working in munications. The Fifth Floor Project served hold 350 lbs. of material. Two staff members at conjunction with other teams helped achieve a as a template for future discard and reloca- the Library Depot received and accessioned all constant flow of materials without slowing the tion projects. The Collection Management the materials sent from the Libraries. The plan entire process down. Team is now responsible for all University was to create a manageable supply of processed Libraries large-scale materials for relocation to the Library Depot, discard and relocation as well as send discarded serials to University projects on top of their Recycling. The major challenge was not primary acquisitions, to overwhelm any one group, which could bindery, and catalog- potentially result in unwanted delays. This ing responsibilities. required constant monitoring by the Project Team members closely Coordinator on all aspects of the workflow collaborate with the process and continual communication with all Collection Develop- project stakeholders. ment Librarians to assess and plan dis- Riding the Train card and relocation Once everything was in place, the team projects. Reviewing began their work. The project began slowly, each completed project until everyone became accustomed to the helps identify issues process. Staff paired with student workers in the process to avoid to pull and process the serials and to shift the in the future. Docu- remaining print into the main collection. The menting everything Project Coordinator filled in where staff and facilitates workflows, student workers were unavailable to work their After the Relocation Project aids in planning, and assigned shifts. This flexible schedule helped Everything depended on speed and efficien- provides a foundation for training. Having a to maintain a constant flow of materials from cy. Most days, everything worked smoothly team dedicated to these and other large-scale the shelves to their final destination. with a few exceptions. Early in the process, it projects improves the University Libraries’ Students worked 10-20 hours each week, became apparent that both the courier and the collections and frees up other library staff to Monday-Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, in recycling staff were fatigued at the volume of focus on vital operations. two to four hour blocks of time. Once in the material they were collecting. Simple changes morning and in the afternoon, students and in both processes helped to minimize these Bibliography staff removed 150-200 serials volumes from problems. Students packed and weighed each Lugg, Rick. “Data-Driven Deselection the shelves, processed, and sent to high-den- courier bin to approximately 35 lbs., before for Monographs: A Rules-Based Approach sity storage. Each morning, students and staff placing them in the Mail Room. At times, it to Weeding, Storage, and Shared Print De- followed a similar process to remove 300-400 did create some awkward packing with as few cisions.” Insights: The UKSG Journal 25, serials volumes from shelves to the recycling as four volumes placed in a bin. Students filled no. 2 (07, 2012): 198-204, http://search. rollout bins. Students rolled the full bins to the the recycling rollout bins to approximately ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=- east side of Cooper Library, where University 66% capacity, before taking them outside lih&AN=93318075. Recycling picked them Martin, Jim, Hitoshi Kamada, and Mary up. Clemson Univer- Feeney. “A Systematic Plan for Managing sity Libraries utilizes Physical Collections at the University of Innovative Interfaces’ Arizona Libraries.” Collection Management Millennium Integrated 38, no. 3 (07, 2013): 226-42, http://search. Library System. Staff ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=- and students followed lih&AN=88212472. strict guidelines in pro- cessing library materi- Massis, Bruce E. “”Serendipitous” Brows- als in the Millennium ing Versus Library Space.” New Library World catalog module. Staff 112, no. 3 (05, 2011): 178-82, http://search. updated item records ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=- through a combination lih&AN=67673628. of global changes in Metz, Paul and Caryl Gray. “PERSPEC- the Millennium catalog TIVES ON … : Public Relations and Library module. Staff updat- Weeding.” Journal of Academic Librarianship ed each bibliographic 31, no. 3 (05, 2005): 273-9, http://search. record and holdings ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=- statements at the end lih&AN=17319883. of the process. At any The New – The Adobe Digital Studio After Completion

28 Against the Grain / June 2018