Doing the Sandpoint Shuffle
Left to right: Kirsten Spillum, Alicia Watras
The Libraries is currently working on reshaping physical facilities by expanding and improving the Sandpoint shelving facility with a third room. The Sandpoint addition will help to relieve overcrowding in library stacks in many units and create more space for the ever growing collections and, in some cases, for readers.
One group that is directly affected by this is Suzzallo Circulation with all nine of their staff members and over thirty-five student staff working on the project. The department has been readying itself for the biggest move of materials that they’ve seen in a long time. The Sandpoint third room will be able to accommodate approximately 500,000 volumes in the 26,600 square feet (that’s about 18 average houses!). How does all the material dance its way out to Sandpoint?
Here’s how the shuffle works…
Two years ago, Suzzallo Circulation received estimates from libraries around the system of how many books they wanted to send to Sandpoint. Suzzallo circ staff began taking books and squeezing them in, on a daily basis, into both Suzzallo and Sandpoint. Kirsten Spillum, Manager of Suzzallo Circulation, decides what can fit in, and Alicia Watras, Library Technician II, verifies that the items are arriving. Kirsten contacts smaller units that have items that will fit in spaces in Suzzallo and Sandpoint, created by shifting. “I started with the Art Library and continued from there, and was pleasantly surprised at what we could squeeze in!” she recounts. “The more we add in now at Suzzallo, the less work it will be when we begin moving things out to Sandpoint, and putting them in order there.”
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Alicia receives the boxes of materials and has to deal with the books physically by measuring them, and verifying that the computer records have been changed. “It takes time every day,” she explains, “but at least it helps build muscles carrying those folios!” Almost all of the folios have been transferred from the libraries now. As the projected completion date of early 2008 looms nearer and nearer, we can be glad that these staff members are keeping things moving- both literally and figuratively! To date, approximately 2,273 linear feet has already been taken from other libraries (this is almost equal to two empire state buildings in height!). Kirsten, Alicia and the circ staff have mastered the “Sandpoint Shuffle”.
Story coordinated & developed by Jewel Evenson, Suzzallo Circulation
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