Library Suggestion Blog

The Children's Literature section of the library is extremely disorganized. As a student that was in the elementary ed program and is now working on my masters in teaching, it is upsetting to come to the shelves time and again and find all the books in complete disarray. There are books on the floor, stacked on top of each other, books that have fallen behind the shelves, and more. On the end of the shelves, where students put the books that they have looked at to be reshelved, I have seen a book sit for 3-4 weeks without being reshelved. It is quite often that I cannot find a book in this section either, even when it is listed as "normal on-shelf."

I wish I knew about this suggestion area before because I would have made a comment a year ago. Please please please do anything you can to help this sad section of shelves. I know that myself, along with many other graduate and undergraduate students would greatly appreciate a clean and easy to browse section as this area of the library is of great use to me in my education.
From: a graduate student

Patricia Selinger, Head, Preservation Department, responds....
The Juvenile/Young Adult Collection has not received significant attention in a few years and so many books were out of order that reshelving became nearly impossible. Staff have been shelf-reading the Juvenile/Young Adult Collection since January. A shelf-read consists of reviewing each shelf to ensure the books are in the correct order and then shifting to alleviate overcrowding. Staff is also identifying damaged books and faded labels during the shelf-read; these items will be repaired as quickly as possible. This project is labor-intensive due to the size and format of the collection.

As you noted, some sections of the Juvenile/Young Adult Collection are significantly out of order. These sections may be moved to the third floor sorting area where the reshelving can be staged easier and faster.

In reviewing this section, we realized the bookends on these shelves are missing. We will put some in place to correct this situation.

VCU Libraries is working toward a better Juvenile/Young Adult Collection and regret the inconvenience the shelf-read and sort has caused. If there is a particular book VCU Libraries owns that you cannot locate, please use the "Request" button in the catalog. We are making this area a priority and expect you will see improvement soon.

Thanks for your interest!

Posted by Donna E. Coghill at 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I would like to see book number ranges added to the sides of the shelving units on the third and fourth floor, like on the first floor. Even if it was just the letters and first numbers, it would make it a lot easier to find the books I'm looking for quicker.
From:a graduate student

Patricia Palmer Selinger, Head, Preservation Department, VCU Libraries, responds....
We shifted both the 3rd and 4th floors this year and the signs came down because they weren't correct. The call number signs will be replaced as soon as possible. Thank you for telling us they are helpful!

Posted by Donna E. Coghill at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Often I need books beginning with the call number F1219. When I look for
books in this section, I can rarely find them. Books are stacked on the
floor, crammed in behind or on top of other books on the shelves. Often
I have to fill out a search form for books that are listed as available
in the catalogue. If somebody would take the time to organize and/or
expand this section, so that all the books fit on the shelves, it would
probably save everyone involved a lot of time.
From: Crista Pack

Thank you for using the Item Request Form to request books you can’t find. This form initiates a search for the book and a replacement decision if the book is missing. The collections in the E and F call numbers have experienced much growth recently. The Libraries has been relocating lesser-used materials and duplicates to make room. The Stacks Manager is aware of this section and we hope you have seen improvement already.
We hope you have a positive experience at Cabell Library this semester!

Patricia Selinger
Head, Preservation Dept.

Posted by at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am writing to express my concern for the serious need in the James
Branch Cabell Library for more staff to help with shelving books. My
recent experience may point up how extreme this need is. On December 9 I
returned 5 or 6 books that I had been using for a project. Because I
would not have time to work on the project until after the holidays, I
thought it best to return the books in case another patron might need
one of them. On January 10 I returned to the library to find the books
and get back to my project. When I reached the 4th floor (I am using art
books) I was shocked at the level of disarray I found: the reshelving
shelves were overflowing, books were stacked on the floor, books had
been jammed sideways on top of books that were shelved (these were not
even in the area of the correct call number), the shelves were in total
disarray. None of the books I had returned were on the shelf even though
all showed as being available for circulation. In a last shot effort, I
checked the shelving station on the 3rd floor. There I found most, but
not all of the books I had returned. It was clear that in a month's time
they had never made it back to the shelf. While I understand that staff
is reduced when the students leave for the holidays, this experience
only points out something that is ALWAYS a problem. The state of the
stacks, especially in the art section, is always a serious mess. Not
only are the shelves physically a mess, but far too many volumes are
badly misshelved. These books are as good as lost. Frequently when I
look for volumes that show up in the catalog as being available, the
book cannot be found at all. If I come in with a list of books, it is
not unusual to be unable to locate half of the books. I have some
experience working in an academic library, and I have been a patron of
both academic and public libraries. I have never found a library that is
more frustrating to use that the James Branch Cabell Library. Thank you
for taking time to read of my experience. I hope this account will be
useful. Please feel free to contact me. Sarah Masters
From: Sarah Masters

Cabell Library depends on students to reshelve books in the library. While we hired the same number of students in the fall semester as we did last year, fewer of them worked in December and January. This led to backlogs you describe. Last fall we did not experience any reshelving backlogs at all during December and January. We employ one full time person for the stacks. Additional full time staff would lead to more stable reshelving patterns and we hope to add to the full-time staff in the near future.

The Arts Collection (N-NX and TR) is a heavily browsed and circulated collection. Much of the misshelving is due to overcrowded conditions in the stacks. The Libraries does not want to reduce user space to add shelving so we are transferring duplicates to keep the crowded shelves under control. If there is a specific book you are looking for, please complete the Item Request Form at http://www.library.vcu.edu/forms/itemreq.html. This form initiates a search and a replacement decision if the book is missing. You will be notified when the book is available.
We hope you have a positive experience at Cabell Library this semester!

Patricia Selinger
Head, Preservation Dept

Posted by at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)