Storing the National Collection
Anna Abbot demonstrates the stockpicker
Photograph:
Damian McDonald
A storage and removalist contractor takes the
trolley to the stock picker so it contents can be put on the shelves
Photograph: Damian McDonald
The new repository
Photograph: Damian McDonald
O ne of the major challenges facing the National Library of Australia is storing its continually growing collection. Legal deposit requirements mean that an extra three kilometres of shelving is needed each year for new materials coming into the Library. The collection is now an estimated nine million items, occupying more than 240 kilometres of shelving in the main library building and two offsite facilities.
To cope with expansion, on 3 August the Library opened the largest storage facility owned by an Australian library. The purpose-built facility in Hume Canberra, funded by the Australian Government, has custom designed high-rise shelving to store newspapers. Additional features are environmental control and a separate preservation vault for fragile materials. Ecologically sustainable development principles, such as using underground tanks to harvest rainwater for irrigation, have also been employed on the site.
A major task faced by Lawrie Salter, Director Stack Services, was to plan and coordinate the move of items from leased storage premises and from the main National Library of Australia building. The move will take almost four months; it is expected to finish in late November 2006.
According to Lawrie, ‘The move is progressing well. To date all overseas serials published before 1980 have been moved. We are now relocating newspaper collections from the leased premises and the main Library building.’
‘The new Repository will house Australian newspapers published before 2001 and overseas newspapers published before 2006. This will free up considerable space in the main Library building to house more recent collection items,’ he said.
Wire-guided stockpickers are used to access the high rise shelving, and additional staff are being trained in the use of this equipment. Anna Abbott from the Library’s Stack Services Branch has recently received her stockpicker licence. She attended a one-day workshop that included practical and theoretical components, and then honed her newfound skills for a month before sitting the test.
Anna said, ‘Driving the stockpicker was a bit daunting at first but it’s really commonsense. The stockpicker reaches up to 6.6 metres in height, the harness system makes me feel very safe, and I enjoy seeing the results of my work as the shelves fill up so quickly.’
The new facility is expected to provide storage space until 2013, and there is the possibility of future expansion after that.
Judith Dahl Taylor,
Marketing Coordinator
Communications and Marketing