Library needs interior renovations

Stepping off the elevator onto the 10th floor of the Herman B Wells Library, the stacks look as they should to Graduate Assistant Volkan Sahin. But rounding the corner, things begin to look disorganized at best.\nLooking for a book on American literature is nearly impossible, he said. Piles of books on the floor stand in the way, and when Sahin pulls one book from a shelf, four more come crashing down. As each volume is shoved into the wrong place, he points out, its binding is torn, its call numbers are whittled off, and its cover is ripped. The books are falling apart.\nWith the invention of the computer and online journals, most students don't go searching for books on the research side of the library very often, but when they do, they are constantly faced with this problem.\nBut it's not only students who deal with this problem. Sahin works as an assistant in the library stacks office and confronts the stacks' condition every day.\n"It's really frustrating," Sahin said. "I'm also a user of this library for my studies. I don't know how I could find these books if I didn't work here."\nAnd although Sahin doesn't have much trouble locating and re-shelving books because of his position at the stacks office, it doesn't make his job any easier. The office employs a total of five supervisors and more than 40 staffers to re-shelve books, but it doesn't have enough room to accommodate such a large staff. The office is slightly bigger than a dorm room and has only two computers to monitor every book that is re-shelved in the library. On top of the inadequate conditions, the computer system that tracks re-shelving requires each supervisor to check the re-shelving progress manually, which can take hours. \n"The re-shelving process has to change," Sahin said.\nWhen talking about the problems within the stacks, Sahin points his finger at the new exterior and interior renovations the library is expecting to undergo during the next 10 years. He explained that instead of elaborate and "unnecessary" renovations, library personnel should focus on restructuring the stacks and mending books instead of making the library visually pleasing.\n"Make it more functional than appealing. I don't care how many glass canopies you have," he said, calling attention to the exterior renovations the library will undergo.\nAlthough library renovations might seem elaborate and expensive -- $28.9 million for the beginning phase of renovations and an overall $80 million to complete the total overhaul -- Dean of University Libraries Suzanne Thorin said what concerns Sahin and what will be renovated are part of two separate budgets. \n"It's not a problem," Thorin said. "Within a year, we will have the rest of the books moved to the auxiliary location ... that's all part of the master plan. He just can't see it yet. The canopy has nothing to do with it."\nThorin said this year library staffers have been working to move books from the stacks to the library's auxiliary location -- a vault at the Ruth Lilly Auxiliary Library Facility -- to allow more room. Thorin said completing the move will prompt much relief. She also defended the renovation plans that include a new entrance, book drop, yard and plaza, circle drive, auditorium, faculty and staff research areas and a glass canopy.\n"It's a building that has exceeded its time," Thorin said. "The plans are very practical; the renovations meet a huge need that students and faculty have asked for."\nJunior Matt Duff said he doesn't have trouble locating books in the library. The English major entered the 10th floor and wandered past the piles of books on the floor and disorganized shelves to find a book on Harriet Prescott Spofford. It took him less than two minutes to locate the book he needed to write his 19th Century American Fiction final paper. Although the book was in protective binding because of its old age and poor condition, Duff was pleased he found what he was looking for quickly. \n"That does suck," Duff said eyeing the carts of overflowing books. "This is a resource that is seldom used. I guess you could say you can't judge a book by its cover. I'm satisfied by it."\n-- Contact Senior Writer Katie Schoenbaechler at kmschoen@indiana.edu.