Steelcase Library

On Sunday, April 10, I had the opportunity to tour the Steelcase Library located on Grand Valley State University's downtown Grand Rapids campus with the West Michigan chapter of ALA@Wayne. It was an amazing day.

As it was my first road trip bespectacled, I found the drive very relaxing and loved being able to see. (Incredibly cliché, I know.)

This library features an automated retrieval system (ARS) -- think Redbox on steroids. (Holy cats!) The carriers, or bins, are stacked on top of each other, which house the library's collection. The room that houses the carriers is four stories tall! Imagine how large the library would need to be if the collection was housed traditionally in stacks (shelves, to non-library folk)?!

The process really did not deviate much from that of any closed-stack library -- the librarian completes a brief reference interview and inputs the requested book into the computerized catalog. Rather than physically walking to the stacks, the computer directs a device that resembles a forklift to the appropriate bin, which is subsequently pulled and ferried to the work area in mere seconds. A computer display breaks the bin down into a grid display and indicates which sector that the requested book will be located.

Books are cataloged and classified via LCC, but are not stored in any specific order. In fact, the books are actually organized by their size -- not subject. For example: If a borrowed book is returned and a bin (or carrier) is currently present in the work area, and if the book's dimensions are appropriate, it will be placed in that location regardless of the subject. Several sensors are located on the carrier's track to detect if a book is over-height or if the contents shifted causing materials to no longer be contained in the carrier.

As I previously mentioned, the automated system certainly condenses collection size -- it is perfect for a landlocked location, such as the Steelcase Library. Overall, the library's size was miniscule compared to many of the other academic libraries I have both visited and frequented over the years, but if you think about it...a large space is not needed if the collection is housed in a condensed format. In all actuality, all that would be needed: a work room, reference desk, bathrooms, and a reading room -- which basically sums up Steelcase Library.

Will librarians have jobs if this technology is implemented on a large scale? My stance: indeed. Because the collection is not available to browse, meaning books are not shelved by subject and openly available like a traditional academic library, students who have not conducted their own independent research will need assistance with finding a range of works on a specific subject. What will change: the physical size of the library will decrease and the amount of staff in the building at any given time will likely be reduced. Pages won't be needed to shelve books.

And the rest of the photos from the visit...

P.S. I changed my Facebook language setting to Deutsch. Guten Nacht, meine Freunde!