Central Access Services

Oak Street Library Facility

The Oak Street Library Facility (OSLF) opened on October 29, 2004 and primarily  houses items with low circulation history. "High-density" describes the particular type of shelving and shelving arrangement utilized to accommodate considerably more material than could possibly be housed on regular library shelving or even in moveable, compact shelving. Rather than being shelved in call number order, materials of like size are placed in trays that are shelved on 40-foot high racks of industrial shelving. An item’s location on the shelves is tracked through a special inventory program that utilizes barcode technology and interfaces with the Library’s online catalog.

This facility will greatly ease crowded conditions in the Main stacks and in many of our departmental libraries. There are currently two modules and additional modules are planned to provide space for up to 7 million volumes. With its state-of-the-art climate control system, the Oak Street facility is a major component in the Library's efforts to preserve its rich print collections.

 

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