The
Stacks operation maintains the collection in Pattee Library and Paterno
Library. Stacks personnel also respond to requests from the Penn State
Branch Libraries to assist with collection redistribution and other
projects. The operation is responsible for maintaining materials on
more than 28 miles of shelves in Pattee and Paterno.
Every
day the staff works in the main sorting area. Here books that have
been returned are separated before being taken to their proper places
on the shelves. The staff also goes to every floor and shelves the
material for use by patrons. When classes are in session the staff
handles an average of 15,500 books per week. During the final days
of each semester the number of books being returned and used in the
buildings skyrockets.Other daily duties include:
- Preparing
the building for use
- Retrieving
books from the book return
- Transferring
new and rebound material to their proper locations
- Returning
the materials used daily by Interlibrary Loan to their places
on the shelves
- Remaining
alert for mechanical, safety and security problems
In
addition to the daily duties, the staff also engages in ongoing projects
and responds to problems affecting the availability of the collection.
The two main projects of this type are shelf reading and shifting.
If
materials are not in proper sequence they become lost amid over 28
miles of material. When shelf reading, the staff goes through large
areas of the collection checking every book to make sure that it falls
in its proper sequence on the shelves, so that patrons can find it
with ease.
Every
two years the staff measures the entire collection. The unit supervisor
then uses the gathered data to calculate collection growth and dynamics.
For such a large amount of material the collection is surprisingly
fluid and experiences constant growth and movement. Shifting is the
project that responds to the collection's need for physical space.
When an area gets crowded or congested the materials may become damaged.
The staff "shifts" the collection according to the space
projections so that the life span of the materials is not shortened.
In
short, the overall job of the Stacks operation is to make sure that
the collection can be accessed by all patrons with the greatest possible
ease. Whether a piece of material is new, has been used in-house,
or has circulated outside the Libraries, the Stacks staff will have
handled it at some point.
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Page updated:
9/28/07
by Rich Cowen
© 2001, The Pennsylvania State University. All rights reserved.
U.Ed. LIB 02-161
The Stacks