2023 – Upgrade Shelving in TCGHS Library – Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society

2023
Library Shelving Upgrade

For over forty-five years Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society (TCGHS) had provided the public a place to research local & family history – by 2023 we had collected over 14,000 books. Our shelves were literally "bursting at the seams".

So, we decided to upgrade our static book shelving to high-capacity mobile shelving, allowing us to utilize the space formerly lost to the aisles between our fixed shelving units – almost doubling our linear shelving space.

Before

After

As you can imagine, this process totally disrupted our floorplan, requiring us to close the library from April 5 through 17, 2023.

We had to temporarily move our book collection from the static shelving, then remove the old shelving, replacing it with the mobile shelving, and, finally, return our collection to the new shelving - all without getting anything out of order!

Curious how we moved 14,000 Books?
- Press the Play Button -

<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 35);">After 45 years of collecting,</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 35);">our stacks were stuffed, and</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><strong>kind of a cluttered mess!</strong></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><br><strong>But, where do we temporarily move 14,000 Books?</strong><br><br></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 35);">Empty out the Research Room!</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);">now, move each book, in order,</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);">off the old shelves...</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);">onto carts...</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);">Label & roll the carts to the</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);">Research Room,</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);">keeping everything in order</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);">As soon as an aisle is empty</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);">the old shelving can be taken apart.</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);">Process continues</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);">until the entire collection is staged<br>in the Research Room!</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><strong>Next, load up the old shelving,</strong></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);">take it upstairs, and</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);">store it in the Attic.</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><strong>The new shelving has arrived!</strong></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);">The mobile shelving is built on</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);">carriages that roll left & right on rails</span></strong></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><strong>First, all the rails & carriages are laid out.</strong></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><strong>Next, the first aisle of shelves is built on carriages,</strong></span></div> <div> </div>
<div> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><strong>Rinse & repeat</strong></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><strong>until all the aisles have been built</strong></span></div> <div> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><strong>Next, the wood facing and the control handles are added</strong></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><strong>until everything is complete!</strong></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><strong>Finally, move the books back to the new shelving.</strong></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><strong>Nice & Neat!</strong></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><strong>The End!</strong></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><strong>(until we run out of space again)</strong></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(156, 6, 33);"><strong>Push the Play button to Watch Again</strong></span></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div>