It can be done! I did it 3 years ago and it was a great success. Here's what I
wrote about it when asked by the head of our county library services.
Laura Manthey
Los Gatos, CA
lsmant@aol.com
<<I am the library person at Alta Vista School in the Union School District. I
thought you might be interested in what we accomplished last spring. Our new Media
Center being very near completion and the end of the school year looming, I was
faced with moving over 9,000 books from the old room to the new building rather
quickly. After consulting with folks on LM_Net, I decided to forge ahead with my
plan to involve the entire school in the process. In 6 hours all but a few handfuls
of books had been moved and were in place in the new building. All equipment and
supplies had been moved as well. Every teacher and student and many staff members
participated.
This is what I wrote to LM_Netters who requested a final report.
<<The first key was being totally organized beforehand. I had done a thorough
weeding and complete inventory in preparation. I then decided in which order I
wanted the books moved. I clearly labeled each area of the library. After
estimating approximate amounts of shelf space I would need for each section I went
into the new facility and decided where sections would begin and labeled those. I
took over lots of bookends. I made numbered "nametags" for each class and
distributed them to the teachers along with instructions for the move. I placed a
sign up sheet in the teacher's room with half hour slots and two classes per slot.
(I was not at all rigid about the schedule, however. If a class could only carry
one load of books, that was fine. If another class wanted to work an hour or do a
split shift, that was fine.)
The second key was having one parent who was in charge in the old building.
She will never ever be forgotten by me. Amazing woman. I went over the order of the
move with her the day before. (She had just dropped by to see if
she could help and I put her in charge!) I instructed her not to let any person
take more than 6 books no matter how many he/she thought he/she could
carry. And I suggested less for the heavier books and smaller children.
On the day of the event, we had walkie talkies to communicate which was a
huge help. At 8:30 the first class entered in number order and got handed
their books. They filed over to the new building where I was waiting and I
showed them where to place their books. When we would get to a new letter
of the alphabet or a new section, the child holding those books would tell
me. This was the brilliant brainstorm of the parent helper. It really helped me
know where we were in the process as I hardly had time to think.
It was clear from the word go that it was going to work and work beautifully.
I was so thrilled as was the principal and as were all who helped. I think we
only had about 15 minutes during the lunch hour when no one was carrying
books and at 2:45 all but about 3 feet of books had been moved and I carried
those over. The custodian and some parents and the school nurse brought over all
the non book items during the morning so that was all I really had to deal with the
day after the move.
I just cannot tell you how well it worked and how much it meant to everyone
to participate. >>
When our public library moved elementary teachers took their classrooms to
the old library & signed out books (10 per student?) the week before the
move. A week or 2 after the 'new' library opened the classes returned their
books. I believe that a class or 2 at a time returned the books & next
classes on subsequent days, so the library staff had time to clean out the
book returns & shelve the books.
Some teachers also took their students to the library on 'moving day' & the
kids took armfuls (bags? - only what they could carry comfortably) of books
to the new library. It was 3 or 4 blocks from old to new building.
The process seemed to work quite well.
When one of the local high schools moved within the same building...they
filled sample boxes - to see how many books could go in a box (different
for paperbacks, etc) & how long it would take to pack & reshelve a box. The
librarian hired a couple of 'mature' student helpers & wanted to have an
estimate of how many hours it would take them (also what it would cost).
I believe she did something like -
300 paperbacks / 20 books per box = 15 boxes
It took 5 minutes to pack one box...75 minutes (1.25 hours to pack 15 boxes)
It took 7 minutes to reshelve one box...105 minutes (1.75 hours to reshelve
15 boxes)
Thus each student could move about 100 books per hour...
-These numbers are an example only, I really can't recall how long it took
per box or how many books fit in a box (& could easily be lifted) - plus
they only moved to the adjacent room & she realized that the students would
probably need a bit more time than she would have taken doing it herself.
Diana Cockwill, teacher-librarian
Williams Lake, BC
My suggestion would be to start packing up now. We opened a new
library 3 years ago. I was very blessed, in that we ordered virtually
an entire new collection. We brought only about 1500 books from the
former Jr/Sr High school. But I think that I can make some estimates
that will help you.
Here are my suggestions:
First - here is how to pack the majority of the collection. Pack only
about 75% of the collection - the rest will be left out to use during
the transition periods.
1.Be sure that the district purchases heavy duty boxes. The boxes
should be a little shorter than an average book shelf. Pack only 1 shelf
of books per box. Whoever moves the boxes will thank you for not
overloading the boxes. This should work out to between 25 & 30 books
per box. You can see how many boxes you will need.
2. The district can rent a storage container - basically the back of a
semi truck. The boxes of books can be stored there until the new
library is "shelf ready".
3. On the outside of each box - all 4 sides + the top - write the dewey
range contained in the box. Also right a simple number on each box.
For instance, if you start with your first section of fiction, you
should mark the box like this:
F Aaa - F Azz Box #1. You will bless yourself for taking the extra
effort when it comes to unpacking the boxes. It iwll mean that the
boxes can be brought in and placed around the librayr in simple number
order. The district may hire people that have reading problems and they
can handle the simple numbering system much better than the dewey order.
4. Keep a log. So - when you pack box number 1, write number 1 on the
list and write the dewey range next to the number. The only reason for
this is so that if something goes wrong and not all the books arrive,
you will at least know which boxes are missing.
Here is how to keep kids in books during the transition.
1. Leave 25% of your fiction collection on the shelves. You will pick
a variety of reading levels and the most popular books. You will not
pack these books up until just before you make the move. Keep the boxes
seperate from the other boxes so that they are the first books that you
will shelve when the new library is ready.
2. Leave about the same percentage of non-fiction books on the shelves.
Pick the books that are for projects you know usually take place in the
first few months of school. Also leave books that you will need for
projects that will take place between now and the end of the year. As
projects are completed, pack up the boxes.
3. Leave your encylopedias, almanacs, dictionaries, atlases and any
other "essential" basic references on the shelves and pack last.
WHEN YOU GET TO THE NEW LIBRARY
1. Have a floor plan that pictures all the bookcases. Then mark the
bookcases with dewey ranges, so that you have an approximate shelving
plan. You may find that you have to adjust as you go - but at least you
will have a way to get started.
2. Have lots of help - but spread them out so they are not bumping into
each other. 1 or 2 folks can take on the fiction section - 1 or 2 the
first third of non-fiction etc.
When our new books arrived - all 6,000 of them - the book jobber sent 3
people to help. We had a 1 volunteer plus the 2 of us. We were able to
shelve all the new books, plus interfile the 1500 "old" books in 11
hours. It amazed me!
Good luck and have fun. It will be an exciting time for you. If you
would like to look at our new library - go to my home page and click on
the "library pictures" link towards the bottom of the page. The url is
under my signature. The library is small - but we love it. I
especially like the "step" configuration of some of our book stacks. I
think it is rather unique. I also like our zig-zag computer
configuration. WE got a lot of computers into a small space, we can see
all the screens, and kids are not shoulder to shoulder. We love it!
They were custom made by a cabinet maker.
Jacquie
"The Librarian, whose job is to heal ignorance, to keep life safe for
poetry and to put knowledge smack dab in the middle of the American
way."
>From The Philadelphia Inquirer, 9-20-03
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jacquie Henry, MLS
Ruben A. Cirillo High School (GHS)
Gananda Central School District
3195 Wiedrick Road
P.O. Box 609
Macedon, NY 14502
jhenry@gananda.org
http://www.gananda.org/library/mshslibrary/indexgcl.htm
Divide your collection by the number of students in school (allowing for
some absentees) and determine how many books each child has to carry home
to empty the library. Assign DDC numbers to classrooms so that when a
classroom returns books they are in the same 100s. You can return classes
spaced enough to read the collection before attacking the next category.
Kids just might find some interesting books they would never have checked
out otherwise. we packed our books in sequence in numbered boxes;
had them moved, placed them in order around the shelves as laid out in the
new location; then spent a saturday with parents, and kids putting them
onto shelves and giving a final reading. We had a ball!>We had some
30,000 books and they all went up on that one Sat.
I am answering you with a combination of what happened in my school and what
took place in a public libray. My suggestion is this: Allow ALL studetns to
check out the maximum number of books allowed. Close down the library and
box books up being careful to label each box as it is labeled on the shelf.
Move boxed books to new facility. Shelve boxed books loosely. Then allow
students to begin to return and check out books from new facility. This way
students will be helping you with the moving process and be able to have
some reading material at the same time. Hope this makes sense and helps to
some extent. Good luck.
Suzanne Rusnak, media coordinator
Winstead Elementary School
Wilson, NC 27893
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