Description of Facility
The University Library Book Depository is a remote facility located 2.5 miles from the main campus of the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. It serves as a high-density storage area for low-activity library materials. This amazing facility is able to accommodate the equivalent in conventional library shelving terms of 165,000 - 200,000 linear book feet by shelving items by size. Depending on the actual characteristics of the collections housed at the Depository, the storage area can house between 1.2 and 1.7 million volumes. This high-tech, low-cost building features the most modern technology for storing and retrieving enormous quantities of books in an economical and efficient manner, while at the same time providing a physically secure and optimum preservation environment for little used yet permanent and important parts of the libraries' collections.
Library materials are shelved in a climate-controlled area where a cooler temperature and lower humidity is steadily maintained. The lights in the storage module are low ambient sodium quartz lamps and books are stored in acid-free cardboard trays. This combination of features all contribute to the long-term preservation of stored materials. Depending on the actual characteristics of the collections housed at the Depository, the storage area can house between 1.2 and 1.7 million volumes. Within the 9,000 square foot, 36 foot high, single-story, high bay structure are four rows of specially designed metal shelving units, each 175 feet long, configured from floor to ceiling. The shelving itself is 32 feet high and 6 feet deep, comprised of two 36 inch sections back to back. A commercial battery-powered forklift unit provides access to the 32 foot high shelving and allows complete vertical and horizontal mobility for a custom designed work platform that slides over the lifts forks and which measures 80 inches long by 40 inches wide. Guide rails are situated around the shelving and provide for automatic steering of the unit.