1 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:19,810 Hi everyone. I'm Shelly Hypes and I am the Resource Development & Access Librarian at J. Murrey Atkins Library, at UNC Charlotte. 2 00:00:19,970 --> 00:00:25,290 I'm Brad Arnold. I am the manager of the Collections Maintenance department at UNC Charlotte. 3 00:00:25,390 --> 00:00:31,050 I'm Pablo Best. I am the Offsite Coordinator within the Collections Maintenance department. 4 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:48,860 Near the beginning of the pandemic, our library received a sudden influx of funding from the CARES Act. That funding made it possible for us to initiate two long-awaited projects requiring collaborative work to rearrange or somehow change nearly everything in our physical collections. 5 00:00:49,060 --> 00:00:58,300 We leased an Offsite Storage Facility and received approval to initiate the renovation of our library’s tower elevators for ADA compliance. 6 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:10,100 Brad and Pablo will talk about how we have rearranged or changed thousands of physical items in our Atkins collections to implement these projects. 7 00:01:10,300 --> 00:01:27,100 We had seen the need to either expand the existing building or find somewhere outside the building to store collections by 2012. 8 00:01:27,500 --> 00:02:00,680 By 2018, we had a target of how many monographs and periodicals needed to move and we had criteria of how to determine what would be moved and how to go about the process. Nonetheless, at the time it seemed like a pretty unlikely thing as the expense was prohibitive. 9 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:21,560 The CARES Act gave us a sudden influx of money and a justification of providing more physically distanced study space in the building. Having a plan and criteria predetermined, we were able to execute the selection process relatively quickly. 10 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:32,460 Finding a space proved to be problematic but we finally settled on a newly opened business park 15 minutes from campus. 11 00:02:32,660 --> 00:02:59,560 Besides collections, we needed to make sure that there was space for the necessary staff to support the collections. We decided on a full-time Coordinator to make sure that the operation ran smoothly and a work space for members of our Collections Services department who would need to work on various projects involving the collections and a scanner and workspace for ILL staff to fulfill patron requests. 12 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:05,640 We also added a conference room and a break room for the use of the staff in the facility. 13 00:03:06,620 --> 00:03:29,200 I joined the Collections Maintenance department in April of 2021, at which point the setup of Offsite was nearly complete. The moving company wrapped 2 months behind schedule due in large part to COVID related staffing difficulties, and even had to return a couple months later to fix a last-minute mistake; in their rush to wrap up the project, two ranges worth of monographs that belonged on campus ended up Offsite. 14 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:35,760 By that point they had already begun work on a new project and had to come back from another project to fix the mistake! 15 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:46,480 The debacle with the misplaced monographs is a great example of the nature of a project like this. No matter how concise your planning is, you will run into instances where the plan will have to be tweaked. 16 00:03:46,680 --> 00:04:04,580 I have held the Offsite Coordinator position since July of 2022. We have a van to deliver materials back and forth between the facility and Atkins. On any given day the delivery could lead to the transfer of anywhere from 1/2 a storage tote of items-5 heavily packed totes! 17 00:04:04,780 --> 00:04:13,380 Facility upkeep is managed by Atkins' Facilities Manager in collaboration with our department. Facilities upkeep includes coordinating with 3rd party vendors and contractors. 18 00:04:13,580 --> 00:04:26,540 We have a student assistant who helps with shelving, ILL scans, and a variety of other tasks. Having an assistant here frees me up to do outreach with the rest of the library, which is a job in itself due to the physical distance! 19 00:04:26,740 --> 00:04:34,820 With the foundational operations of the facility mostly established, I am beginning to focus on increasing use of the office space by other library departments. 20 00:04:35,020 --> 00:04:42,020 Thank you for your time! We would love to answer any questions you may have. 21 00:04:42,300 --> 00:04:44,300 *Photos provided by Erika Boardman and Dan Eakle.*