Book Project Phase 2: Book Receipt (February 25–March 30, 2021)

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!