Libraries have long been associated with books, books, and more books. Yet today’s libraries are also community hubs, home to digital collections and technological tools. To meet expanding patron expectations, many libraries need to reimagine their spaces — and library mobile shelving can help your institution to be more flexible and innovative.
The modern library is a trusted, neutral, safe space. It's a place where people physically check out books, access digital collections, or engage with new technology. Today's library patrons can utilize community meeting rooms, maker spaces, 3D printers, and more.
But each of these activities needs room. To create adaptive, modern spaces, today’s libraries must find new ways to store their traditional catalog. Modern library shelving can optimize space and allow more adaptable layouts to accommodate the transformation.
Types of Library Shelving
Whether your library's located in the city, on a college campus, or even in a rural landscape, you'll typically find one of two types of mobile library shelving:
- High-density mobile shelving, also known as compact library shelving, mounts a system of shelves on carriages that can slide open and close on floor rails.
- Bookshelves on wheels, also known as movable or portable library shelving - can be quickly moved from place to place, but they also hold fewer materials.
High-density Mobile Library Shelving
No matter how much or little room the library has, there’s always interest in making the most out of your available space. High-density shelving systems optimize storage by eliminating unnecessary aisles and saving up to 50 percent of floor space.
With fewer fixed aisles but expanded shelving, these storage systems enable libraries to grow and evolve. By incorporating adaptable, reconfigurable high-density solutions, your collections can expand without increasing their physical footprint.
Select from manual assist, mechanical assist, or electrical-powered systems to meet specific space needs while suiting the library’s budget. For libraries that keep part of their catalog in off-site facilities, mobile high-bay shelving can make the most of their vertical space.
When Wake Forest wanted to make its campus library a more dynamic, social space, it adopted mobile shelving for its collection warehouse. Taking advantage of the building’s 54-foot ceiling, Patterson Pope installed an XTend® High-Bay System from Spacesaver with 30 tiers of shelves and a projected capacity of 300,000 volumes to accommodate the ever-growing collection.
Movable Cantilever Library Shelving
Movable library shelving, typically constructed with library cantilever shelving, offers versatility in form and function. Designed to handle frequent shifts, cantilever shelving is easily reconfigurable. Offering pleasing aesthetics as well as adaptability, Spacesaver Cantilever Shelving and Library Media Display Shelving suit academic, corporate, public, and legal libraries.
By adding sturdy caster wheels, libraries can simplify storage access and enable smooth movement and repositioning. Adding pull-out bins or other accessories can also add convenience by customizing the shelving to each library’s particular needs.
Transformation in Action
At Patterson Pope, we regularly partner with libraries to reconfigure their existing space or make the most of the move into a new library building. Take the Embry Riddle University Library. After housing its collection in a temporary, makeshift location with space constrictions, the opportunity to plan out a functional, expandable new system with mobile shelving was a welcome change.
Our team worked with Embry Riddle’s interior designers/planners to design and install Spacesaver Eclipse Powered Mobile units to hold the library’s collection of nearly 76,000 volumes. Choosing compact shelving maximized the space, said Melanie West, Embry-Riddle’s associate director for access services. “And through doing that, we were able to maximize the rest of the space for collaborative learning, student meetings, and those more interactive services of a library.”
When Bullitt County just south of Louisville, Kentucky, was designing its 45,000-square-foot new central library, achieving “future flexibility” was a top priority. While doubling the library’s footprint, the project planners wanted to leave room for adults, families, and teenagers to have more robust experiences onsite.
Patterson Pope provided cantilever library shelving that scales up in size as the reader’s age increases. Adjustable shelves make it easy to accommodate the changing book heights too.
“The collections are browsable and user-friendly,” said Jennifer Nippert, Associate Director, Bullitt County Public Library. Plus, “We can get things out very quickly, and the fixtures themselves are great because we can easily get around them and we can do our maintenance on the collection pretty easily.”
Make More of Your Library Space
Storage may sound dull, but library mobile shelving has proved truly transformative for many of our partners. Installing an innovative design can help libraries optimize space, enhance organization, and maximize storage capacity while maintaining accessibility
As more libraries look to expand their role in their communities, library mobile shelving can support the transformation from a home of dusty tomes to a hub for community education and experience. To learn more, contact a representative from Patterson Pope today.
