FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATE          DATE: 6/20/03

CONTACT: EMILY SILVERMAN, (413) 545-0995

PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING LIBRARY
TO CLOSE FOR AUGUST

     The Physical Sciences and Engineering Library in Lederle will close for renovations during the month of August. Improvements slated for the Library include a new lobby, fresh paint, new carpeting and furnishings, and alterations to allow public access to the elevator.

     Prior to the renovation, Library staff and student staff members are working every day, from 8:30 a.m. - 12 noon, to move 100,000 volumes out of the Library. Their goal is to pull, box, and process at least 2,500 volumes a day, and send them up to the Five College Library Depository (aka "the bunker") on "the Notch." The move will allow for the merging of the Biological Sciences Library into the Physical Sciences and Engineering Library in January 2004.

     There are several critical steps involved in such a move. First, materials in the Depository are arranged by size, not by subject or call number. The books must be packed into size-appropriate boxes, as books are not shelved individually. Each item's record in the Library catalog must be updated, so when a researcher seeks one of the relocated items, a new location (FC Depository) will appear. A link to an online form will enable users to request delivery of materials from the Depository. The usual turn around time on requests is 24 hours during weekdays.

     Items moving to the Depository are lesser-used materials. Lists of the specific titles scheduled for transfer to the Depository are available at http://www.library.umass.edu/whatsnew/transfers.html. Materials at the Depository may also be consulted on site by appointment. Contact the Depository at bunker@fivecolleges.edu or (413) 542-8231.

     In March 2003, the Faculty Senate voted to support the Research Library Council's recommendation to consolidate and reorganize the Biological Sciences Library in Morrill and the Physical Sciences and Engineering Library into a single Integrated Sciences and Engineering Library. The report stated that the best site for the integrated library is the space currently occupied by the Physical Sciences and Engineering Library in Lederle lowrise.