[Publib] Shelving Standards!!??!!

Tue May 15 18:08:49 EDT 2007

Howdy Candice,

In a  past life, I was called 'Manager of Bookstacks' - responsible for
seven floors and 37 miles of shelving in one building and nine floors and 14
miles in another.  My team and I shelved 750,000 items per year and shifted
at least the same amount.  

The more successful we were, the more the job accelerated, because people
could find what they wanted. At the end of each semester, I felt like
Sysiphus, as literally tons of books rolled their way back to us.

There are a few things missing from your description that would be helpful
to know:

Is your building more than one story and if so does it have an elevator that
works well?

How big is your building? What are the walking distances between key points?

What sort of carts do your currently use? Do you have money to spend on high
quality carts?

How tight is your collection? Are the shelves 85% or more full?

Are the books and other materials pre-sorted by the circ staff, or is all
sorting left up to the shelvers?

Is there a well organized sorting area?

How long of a work-day do the shelvers work?

What is your call number and labeling scheme?  Is it consistent throughout
your building?

Are shelvers assigned the task of scanning collections for misplaced
materials when they shelve?  If yes, how far do they go?

Shelving can be extremely physical and includes unnatural and uncomfortable
repetitive activities. Some are the best and fastest shelvers that I ever
employed were very tall.   Reach,  hand size, flexibility and strength can
be major factors affecting productivity. This was particularly true when
shelving and sorting bound periodicals and lifting booktrucks on elevators
that never quite matched up.

*************************************************

Robert L. Balliot

1-401-421-5763

Skype: RBalliot

Bristol, Rhode Island

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xMredXsPMw 

http://oceanstatelibrarian.com/contact.htm

*************************************************

  _____  

From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org]
On Behalf Of candice gwin
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 5:13 PM
To: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Publib] Shelving Standards!!??!!

Hi everyone-

I'm hoping someone out there can help me with some shelving standards.

We are a medium sized public library where the children's items are located
on the lower level and the adult items are on the main and upper levels.
Our circulation and shelving staff performs approximately 27,000 check-in's
per month.  Our children's items typically account for 50-55% of the monthly
circulation.

We have a drive up bookdrop outside the Library, 2 walk-up bookdrops that
empty into bins in the lobby and 1 drop box near the Circulation Desk.
Patrons also return books directly to the Circ Staff and there are
re-shelving carts throughout the Library.  

For a standard 19 hour a week shelving position; 

*How many carts would you expect a Shelver to empty during a typical 8 hour
shift?  

*What size carts do you recommend that we use?

*Is there a time difference/standard between shelving Children's item, Adult
items and AV?  

*Do you have a staff member always assigned to one area for continuity or do
you rotate the staff?

*If the Library opens at 9am, what time do the Shelvers begin their shift?

I'm looking for a "Best Practices" type of approach so any and all
suggestions are welcome!  Please feel free to contact me off-line if
necessary.  

I look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks, 

Candice Gwin

IT & Marketing Mgr. 

Kirkwood Public Library

140 E. Jefferson Ave

Kirkwood, MO 63122

314-821-5770, ext 11

 <mailto:cgwin at real.more.net> cgwin at real.more.net

bamacyg at yahoo.com

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