1.   ESTIMATE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR STORAGE

The following are some suggestions as to estimating the number of books and other materials that would have to be stored in a storage facility.

       A.   BOOKS TO REMOVE TO FREE UP LIBRARY SHELVES
The first step is to determine the quantity of books which would have to be removed from the shelving in each library area to provide 20% fallow bookshelf space for new accessions.

       B.   SPACE REQUIRED FOR OTHER ACTIVITIES
Libraries are currently looking at the option of removing shelving to make space available for patron activities such as additional reading rooms and space for computer workstations. The number of books which will have to be removed from the library for addition of these functions then added.

       C.   ESTIMATE THE NUMBER OF ACCESSIONS
The number of accessions by year for the next 5-10 years should be added to the total.

       D.   ESTIMATE THE AMOUNT OF OTHER MATERIALS
Materials such as boxed archives, files, flat materials and other media including microfilm, photographs, and non-color moving picture film can be efficiently stored in the high-density storage system.

2.  DETERMINE THE SIZE OF A HIGH-DENSITY STORAGE FACILITY

This step involves making some estimates of the sizes of the books and other materials which will be stored and the estimating the numbers of shelves and their vertical spacing required for storage. From this data we can estimate the size of a proposed high-density storage facility.

3.  DETERMINE THE SIZE OF THE PROCESSING AREA

A processing area is required to sort books by size and enter plus verify the bar code data for each volume, the book tray in which it will be stored. The processing area is also used for processing of items for circulations and other activities such as book cleaning, wrapping and application of bar codes. The size of the processing area is dependent upon the level of accessions. In many cases there is an immediate need to remove a great number of books from a library for construction activities and these books will have to be quickly processed into the storage facility. This will require that the processing facility accommodate multiple processing operations this makes it necessary to provide additional space for processing.

4.  INVESTIGATE THE AVAILABILITY OF SITES

Once a size has been determined, the next question is where a high-density storage facility can be constructed. On some campuses there are available sites very close to the libraries. This makes it possible to deliver retrieved materials more than once per day. In urban areas, although it is difficult to find a close-in site, it is usually possible to find a site from which daily deliveries can be made. The site should have the capability of expansion. It is surprising how many of these high-density storage facilities have already had to expand.

5.  SECURE FINANCING FOR PROJECT

This step is obvious, but it is included here in order to suggest the following points which may be used to justify the project.

   a.  Use of high-density storage is by far the least expensive way to store books. Costs of construction and land vary from area to area, but in many cases we are finding that the total cost per book of capacity is in the range of $1.40 - $2.00. Compared with the cost of construction of additional conventional library space for storage of books are orders of magnitude higher. Addition of compact shelving is also substantially higher.

   b.  A high-density storage facility provides the safest and best environment for storage of cellulose materials. Most of the new high-density storage facilities and systems keep the environment at 50 F. degrees and 30-35% relative humidity. Studies have indicated that this combination of temperature and humidity will extend the life of books by 3-4 times versus the temperature that libraries have to maintain to accommodate their patrons. The modern fire protection systems and the fact that very few people have access to the storage room make the high-density system much safer for the collection.