Wizard Marks' recent post questioned the percentage of the collection on open shelves in the new Central Library (now being designed by world-class architect Cesar Pelli). In the current library, only about 15% of the collection is on open shelves; in the new library that percentage will be over 50%.
With approximately 2.6 million books, documents, periodicals, and nonprint items, the Minneapolis Central Library is Minnesota's largest public library. Approximately half of the collection is not found in any other public library in the state. Increasing access to this extraordinary, in-depth collection is one of the main goals of the new Central Library. This will be accomplished through a combination of increased open shelf space and the use of adjacent compact storage, enabling quick retrieval by staff and also allowing direct access for researchers. Of the 2.6 million items in the Central Library collection, many items are non-circulating. The non-circulating collection includes government documents, most periodicals, reference books, Special Collections, and many non-print items including microfilm. About 864,000 items in the book collection are circulating. The new library will accommodate at least one million volumes on the open public shelves, so that most, if not all, of the current circulating collection could be put on the open shelves when the library opens in early 2006. Compare that to the 350,000 items currently on open shelves and you'll see that the new building will, indeed, "show you the books." Susan Tertell Chief of Central Library Minneapolis Public Library _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
