Off-Site Storage: “New Texas A&M-University of Texas Systems Joint Library Facility Proving Broadly Successful”

From TAMUtimes (Texas A&M University):

The new library facility jointly operated by The Texas A&M University System and The University of Texas System — a cost-saving endeavor described as representing “unprecedented collaboration”— was designed to accommodate one million volumes with an option to expand to handle an additional two million volumes.  As volumes pour in more quickly than anticipated, that option may be exercised sooner than expected — and from unforeseen sources, including UT Southwestern Medical School, which sent almost its entire hard-bound collection.
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The facility, operated by Texas A&M faculty and staff, is located about 10 miles northwest of the university’s main campus at what was formerly Bryan Air Force Base.
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More than 350,000 volumes will be housed in the 18,000-square-foot building by the end of the year, with an additional 100,000 at the facility waiting to be processed, predicts Texas A&M Libraries Dean David Carlson.
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The shared storage facility, which opened in late spring 2013, is formally and simply named the Joint Library Facility (JLF).
A 2010 study was cited  showing the  cost of storing a single volume in an open library stacks facility is $4.26 per year, taking into account personnel, lighting, maintenance and heating and cooling costs. The cost is pegged at 86 cents per volume for storage at a facility such as the one jointly operated by the Texas A&M and University of Texas Systems – representing a savings of $3.40 per volume.

Read the Complete Article
See Also: Joint Library Facility Web Page
See Also: Joint Library Facility Statistics (as of 9/1/2014)
See Also: C&RL PREPRINT: Off-Site Storage and Special Collections: Study in Use and Impact in ARL Libraries in U.S.

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Associations and Organizations, Libraries, School Libraries