If you have spent much time in Renne Library, you know that its shelves are filled to capacity. Since an addition to the building is not likely anytime in the near future, one solution to address collection storage was to install some high-density mobile compact shelving.

What is Compact Shelving?

Mobile compact shelving consists of standard library cantilevered shelving that is mounted on wheeled carriages which travel on rails that have been installed onto the floor.

This arrangement means that fixed aisles are not required between every stack: the stacks can be compressed into a smaller space and a single aisle is created as needed by rolling the stacks apart to access a specific range. Moving the stacks is accomplished by using an electrical motorized drive system. A compact shelving system can hold approximately three times as many books as conventional shelving in the same floor area. Consequently it is also three times as heavy! The only space in Renne which is currently capable of bearing this additional load is the slab basement floor, which is where we installed this system. Materials will then be relocated to the basement freeing up space on the upper floors.

What Materials are on Compact Shelving?

The following materials have been moved to compact shelving as of March 2011:

  • Documents: The government documents print collection (the documents microforms are up on the 4th floor)
  • Periodicals: As many periodicals beginning at the beginning of the LC run as the shelving will accommodate (i.e. these periodicals will be separated from the main STACKS collection). Not all periodicals will fit on the compact shelving so some will remain in the regular stacks.
Compact Shelving

How to Operate the Compact Shelving

 

Compact Shelving
    1. Before moving a stack, first check that there is not anyone or anything in the aisle currently open.

    1. Press the STOP/RESET button at the end of the aisle currently open. The system must be reset every time before stacks are able to be moved. If the red LED is illuminated the aisle must be cleared with a STOP/RESET.

  1. Press the MOVE button to the left or right of the aisle you wish to access. The LED must glow green before stacks can be moved. Wait until stacks stop moving before entering the aisle.
Although stacks will stop moving on their own when the selected aisle has been fully opened, they can be manually stopped any time by pressing the STOP/RESET button.

NOTE: Every aisle has a floor-level and aisle-entry safety photo sensor. The system will not operate or reset if somebody is in an aisle. The system will automatically stop if somebody enters a closing aisle.

Compact Shelving
Compact Shelving