Main Library reopens; reshelving in full force

	Main Library reopened Wednesday, July 9, after nearly a monthlong closure because of floodwaters. Photo by Tom Jorgensen.

On Wednesday, July 9, the University of Iowa Main Library opened its doors to the public for the first time since the Iowa River spilled over its banks and into buildings on the UI campus.

There was no fanfare, no spectacle made of the event. Rather, the feeling around the building was more “business as usual,” says Nancy Baker, University librarian.

A quiet library—another sign of a return to normalcy on the UI campus? It’s a start, Baker says.

“We still have lots of collections from the basement all over the library,” she says. “But we wanted to open Main Library before everything was back in place to make it easier for students enrolled in summer session, faculty who are teaching or conducting research this summer, and faculty who are planning their fall courses. 

“We thought they would appreciate access to the collections and services, even if we still have a lot to put away.”

The library will be open on a modified summer schedule (see box at right), and many services are functioning at normal or near-normal levels:

• Books on the fourth and fifth floors are available for checkout.
• Course reserve materials are available; some materials from storage will be inaccessible for the immediate future.
• Media materials in course reserves are available. The DVD collection is available for checkout, although some films may be inaccessible for the immediate future.
• Reference and instruction librarians are available—in person, through online chat, via e-mail, and on the telephone.
• Special Collections librarians are available to help researchers with reference questions. Take note: much of the collection from storage is inaccessible.
• Food for Thought Library Café reopened Monday, July 14.

Study space is one area that was impacted, as seating throughout the Main Library will be limited for the duration of the summer. It’s not that study space sustained significant flood damage, but a great deal of space on the library’s upper floors is housing the large number of materials evacuated from the lower level.

“The reshelving is going to take a long time,” Baker says. “Because there is a fair amount of resorting that must occur before we can move the materials back to the basement, it will likely take weeks to move most of it and ensure that it is back in order.”

Baker hopes to have the films and manuscripts returned sometime this week, while books will likely be moving throughout the summer. This might cause some inconvenience to users who use the elevators, as two of the four cars will be used to transport materials back to their original location. “The goal is to complete the job by fall semester,” she says.

The second-floor Instructional Technology Center is also out of commission, a victim of a damaged transformer in the basement mechanical room. Computers accessible to the public will be limited to first-floor machines during the summer.

Staff coming back home

The reopening is momentous for staff and users alike. The 150 staff members who normally work in Main Library were relocated to other branch libraries or working from home during the flood closure. Although Baker says everyone was “very cooperative and good-natured” during this period of displacement, there’s something nice about being home and settling back into routines.

Amy Paulus, head of Access Services (which includes the interlibrary loan/document delivery, circulation, reserve, and bookstacks departments), was absolutely thrilled to return to her office, even if the building’s climate at times “feels a bit tropical.”

“Our storage area in the basement looks great after all of the careful cleaning, and other areas are getting a thorough painting and cleaning,” she says. “We are returning to a wonderful environment with zero signs of damage or flooding.”

During the displacement, Paulus spent time between the two locations where her staff were located—Hardin Library for the Health Sciences and the Lichtenberger Engineering Library. She misses the camaraderie experienced at these branches: “They were wonderful hosts and it was nice to spend time with everyone in those libraries.”

Now Paulus is returning to regular Access Services duties while also meeting to discuss flood-related issues—including how to help users who rely on collections at the Art Library and Rita Benton Music Library, both of which are closed. Additionally, she is volunteering time to sort through old book collections, which has provided a nice refresher on the Dewey Decimal system (most of the UI collection is sorted using the Library of Congress classification system).

“These books are older—I can honestly say I have sneezed more often than normal while working with these books,” she says with a laugh.

Not everything is routine, however. Ellen Jones, Main Library reserve supervisor, finds herself spending three to four hours each day moving and sorting books destined for the basement—not exactly part of the everyday job description.

"It's good to be back, but we are not yet back in routine," Jones says.

Work yet to be done

Baker is appreciative of the efforts of volunteers who helped evacuate collections from the basement on June 13, not to mention the work of staff members like Jones, and she hopes to see more of that generous spirit in the weeks to come as the reshelving process continues.

“We are very grateful for all the help that faculty and staff provided June 13 when we had to move so much material quickly from the basement,” Baker says. “While we cannot use more than a few volunteers at any one time now, we really could use help with moving these collections back to the basement during the next few weeks.”

UI employees who might be interested in volunteering can call the Information Desk at (33)5-5299 or stop by the desk to sign up for a shift to move materials.

Despite the flood damage and interruption of some services, Baker considers the Main Library “very lucky” in terms of the level of flooding the building incurred.

“It certainly could have been more serious,” she says. “We still had many collections in the basement that we really could not move. This experience demonstrates more than ever how badly University Libraries needs the off-site archival facility that is currently in planning so we can get our collections out of the basement.”

by Christopher Clair