Timeline Stories

After all collections were received from Milne Library, the library staff worked to sort books and shelve them into their proper location, scan barcodes of books in the main and TERC collections to ensure an accurate inventory, and shift all books in all collections so each area in the collection occupied a footprint that would accommodate current holdings and allow space for future growth. This phase of the project took the longest, and required a great deal of space planning to measure and mark where each collection and each Library of Congress class and subclass would be located in the Fraser and Schrader stacks.

Library staff signed up for two-hour shifts to scan barcodes and sort books into order. Staff in Access Services and Collection Management units worked several hours each day to shift books and complete a rough sort so books were generally in order before other library staff finely sorted books into exact order. Sorting a single unit of books (six shelves) took one staff member about one hour. Library staff spent more than 1,500 hours scanning barcodes and sorting books.

In the process of moving books and assembling the shelving in Fraser and Schrader, the Library’s bookends were lost. Rather than invest dollars into purchasing new bookends, staff members contacted libraries in the region to ask if they had spare bookends that they would be willing to give to the Library. Staff made trips to SUNY Brockport, RIT Libraries, Twelve Corners Middle School, and the Richard and Ronay Menschel Library at the Eastman Museum to retrieve bookends.

After much anticipation and space planning, print books and other physical materials from Milne were cleaned of asbestos and delivered to Fraser and Schrader Halls. Materials from the College Archives and Special Collections arrived first as these items required the greatest care.  Researchers were notified as soon as materials were available, as these collections had been inaccessible to users for more than a year. 

Books were delivered to Fraser Hall on book trucks twice a day. Library staff worked furiously to unload the books onto shelves so the asbestos contractors could bring the empty trucks with them back to Milne and reload the trucks with more books. Staff emptied between 30 and 70 trucks a day, depending on truck capacity. If trucks were not emptied by the next delivery, contractors would fall behind schedule and the project would risk missing its deadline (which would incur a severe financial penalty). 

The trucks themselves often arrived out of order, so staff lined up book-laden trucks, unloaded the trucks, and queued the trucks so contractors could grab them and go back to Milne. The project was scheduled for 30 days. Library staff spent an estimated 500+ hours receiving and shelving books from Milne.

The movers even thought to bring over our old friend, Minerva!

Crews were now turning their efforts toward installing shelving in Fraser’s closed stacks area (as well as in Schrader), in preparation for the much-anticipated books that would soon be moved from Milne. 

Planning and Construction secured two locations to store print books for the duration of the Library’s occupancy of Fraser Hall: the former periodicals room in Fraser Hall (Fraser 210) and a satellite location in Schrader Hall. Books would be requestable in the library catalog (GLOCAT) and library staff would retrieve materials and make them available for checkout at the Service Desk. 

In preparation, the former periodicals room was cleared of debris and the former pool in Schrader Hall was filled with geofoam blocks and secured with concrete, and shelving was installed in both locations.