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TARGET: Sheila Chouinard wrote:
> Does anyone have an estimate on how many hours it would take to  
> pack and unpack 5,000 library books? We need to pack it all up and  
> clear it out for paint and carpet.

Thank you to all who shared there knowledge! You are appreciated.
Sheila

HIT:
Here are some recommendation as to how long it would take!
--------
24 working hours is the number. This would include inventory (scanning),
weeding, and (un)boxing. 24 hours would be if one person did all the
labor - more hands would make less hours.
--------
I had moms, library aides, myself and my library assistant to do
15,500 books and it took all of us about two and 1/2 weeks.
---------
I just packed my library for a renovation project.  With a full time  
aide to help, we packed 10,000 books in 8 days.
--------
Our collection of about 20,000 volumes took us about 2.5 full school  
days (20 hours or so ... just collection, not workroom/offices,  
etc.).  We had four librarians and crews of three parent volunteers  
working in shifts for the entire school day.
--------
We are in the same situation with 15000 books. We shrink wrapped 1000  
books per day on average. We shrinkwrapped 1/3 of a shelf of books at  
a time and then placed them on pallets and wrapped again with shrink  
wrap before being moved to the gym.

We got 3 inch wrap from uline. We used 1200 feet per 1000 books.  
Uline has a case of wrap for around $60. We wrapped each set of books  
4 times across the face and 4 times top to bottom. It went fast, but  
was definitely a 2 person job.
--------
We just spent about a month packing up 16,000 books for paint and  
carpet.
--------
Packing is much faster than unpacking.  If all the boxes are made,  
you can pack the library in 1 day with the help of 3 people (4 in  
total)  To unpack with take days, weeks, etc -- moving books to new  
locations, boxes taht are found in an 'off' order....it's a mess.  I  
have done it twice and my collection was a bit larger, yet still  
under 10K books.

Please note that 4 knowledgable people working together to accomplish  
this in one day can do it -- you alone, a week.
--------
I just packed up my library---13,000---volumes in preparation for  
moving in to a new building.  It took me a good week to pack it in  
call number order.  I am hoping to have a Boy Scout Eagle project  
unpack it in one day.  Now that will be a major feat and I will  
definitely report to the list when it is finished.
We were really lucky to get some great boxes donated---legal storage  
boxes with removable lids.  I had about 250 of those and used  
probably 100 18 x 18 x 12 boxes in addition.
Hope this helps.
-------
I think that it took me 80 hours to unpack a collection of 8,000  
books. But I had to remerge the collection (some had been in use  
during our renovation year and some had been in storage.)  I had two  
helpers.
-------
Don't know if this will help but last summer the library was getting  
new carpeting and painting.  I was faced with moving 14,000 books and  
the shelves.  After getting estimates, I quickly realized we couldn't  
afford to have an outside company do it for us.  So, we came up with  
a plan.  Rather than pack up the books and move them and the shelves  
only to have to move it all back in, we decided to shrink wrap the  
shelves and move them.  It took about 2 hours to get all the books/ 
shelves into the cafeteria and about that time to get it all back.
--------
My aide and I Just packed up 25,000+ titles and everything else in my
office, etc. for new carpeting and painting. My principal gave us the
entire month of May. We needed it.
--------
We packed and moved the library in less than a week.  We have 17,000  
titles.  We used a company that had 40 or so...big wooden book trucks  
larger than the typical metal ones that most of us use.  These sat  
out in the hallways before we completed our new building for the  
Christmas holidays and the slated opening of the new building for the  
new year.  It worked pretty well.
---------
Only a day or two if the boxes are pre-made.  Remember to put the call
number of the first and last book you put in each box.  It won't matter
when you are placing them back on the shelves, the boxes can be placed
on carts or the floor, opened easily, books removed, and placed on the
shelves quickly.
--------
I just finished packing up a library - grade school k-4 - appr. 5800  
books. It took about another week to pack the books.
-------
I moved more then 10,000 boks two summers ago and it took me the  
better part of 6 weeks to pack up and unpack- I only worked fom about  
9-3,with a break for lunch. I did have a college student helping me  
about half of every day-
-------
It could be done in one day with the right kind of help.
-------
It took us under 3 weeks to pack and move and unpack our entire library,
with considerably more in it's collection.  If you have 5000 volumes,  
and
you worked hard with a helper or 2, you can have it packed and  
unpacked in 3
days.  If you are by yourself, I'd figure on 2 days of packing, 2  
days of
unpacking.
-------
Depends on the size of the books. I'm grades 7-12, and it took about  
a week for me to empty my library for paint and carpet. Of course, I  
was working completely by myself, except for when one of the  
maintenance guys would come in to help me take down the upper stacks.
--------
      It depends on how you do it.  I can tell you that it takes a lot
LESS time if you do what I did when my library was recarpeted and NOT
box up and unbox the books.  Wrapping the books to the shelves was much
cheaper and more efficient.  Here are the directions I posted to the
list:

I had to pack up my 12,000 volume library and move everything out for
re-carpeting a few years ago, and I didn't use boxes at all.  We looked
into the cost of boxes ($2-$3 each!), and then disposal of them
afterwards, etc, and I came up with a better idea.    I first labelled
all runs of bookstacks A-N ( we have 14 runs of shelving), then  went
through and labeled each shelf of books with the letter and a number.
For example, the first row of fiction shelves was A, and the individual
shelves were A1-A32.  The shelf itself was labelled with a white label,
dead-center on the front edge, and I also put a sticker with the same
number on the upright frame where the shelf joined the upright.  Our
custodial department bought 6 rolls of wide cellophane wrap through the
cafeteria people (generic Saran wrap).  Then, we worked in teams of 3
people.  Two people would lift each shelf full of books out and off the
bookcase, holding the books upright from each end.  They would set the
shelf of books on a tall stool, while the third person wrapped the books
right to the shelf with the cellophane.  The "wrapper" would walk around
and around the shelf to support the books, and then up and over the
shelf to anchor the books to the shelf.  You could still read the label
stuck on the front of the shelf through the wrap. Boxcutters were used
to cut the wrap from the roll, and the labelled shelves were stacked on
dollies, to be rolled down the hall to a classroom.   We had emptied a
classroom of its desks and put long buffet tables around the perimeter
of the room.  Wrapped shelves of books were stacked 2-3 high under
tables on the floor, as well as on top of the tables.  My whole library
of 12,000 volumes fit in the one classroom!  Then, the empty bookcases
were moved out into the halls, and the room was recarpeted.  After the
carpeting was installed the bookcases were put back, and then the real
beauty of this plan emerged.  The wrapped shelves were stacked back on
the dollies and brought back to the library, in no particular order.
But, when a worker grabbed a wrapped shelf of books labelled E22, for
example, he knew exactly which bookcase run  to go to and where the
shelf belonged on that run of shelving (which is why the uprights needed
labels matching those on the shelves).  Boxcutters were carefully used
to slash the plastic wrap, the shelf was replaced, and voila.  We had
one big trash bag of plastic wrap to dispose of at the end of the whole
project.
----------

Sheila Chouinard
Library/Technology
Independent School, Billings, MT
chouinard@independent.k12.mt.us




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