When you enter the newly renovated Central Library, you’ll quickly notice how open the improved Schlessman Hall feels, the added grand staircase, new carpets, and much more. You likely won’t see that 100% of the regular collection was moved around during the renovation. At least, not at first. The shifting of over 250,000 materials results from the countless hours of organizing, planning, and cart pushing by the Library’s Books & Borrowing Department, a team of staff that maintains the collection and shelves and circulates library materials. While shifting the collection was necessary to accommodate the incredible changes to the building, the work of the Books & Borrowing team was just as impressive, taking charge of improving the library user experience during the renovation.
Meticulous planning with the need for lots and lots of flexibility: Library teams worked closely with construction teams to stay in tune with any planned work, but it wasn’t always possible to work on schedule. Renovation plans were moved up or changed completely, and the team had to change course and act fast. The popular media collection moved a record six times and counting. Often, the collection settled wherever it was easiest to access “They'll have to be shifted and adjusted again… keeping it out of the way of the construction workers, but still having them accessible to staff because we are still pulling [library material] holds for the entire system and Central customers,” explains Jennifer Hoffman, Manager of the Books & Borrowing Department.
An elaborate shelving plan developed by Denver Public Library staffer Ashara Lyor to keep the shelving work organized
The most impactful change to the library collections was made when a portion of the second floor was removed to create the Park View event space. Not only did it impact collections on the second floor, but it also affected collections on adjacent floors. Bobby Erskine, a Library Supervisor for the Books & Borrowing Department, explains, “Because of the weight distribution, we had to have everything above [the second floor] cleared off temporarily while they broke through the floor.” All the collections housed in the area would need to be transferred onto library carts and pushed to a new home.
Pushing carts of library materials around the building was made difficult when each of the building’s elevators was upgraded and replaced. “There were times when there was one elevator available…We were sharing [the elevator] with the construction workers, so you'd wait forever,” describes Bobby.
Maintaining collection order amidst the chaos: Regardless of whether the Central Library would have stayed open or not during renovation, the Books & Borrowing team planned to take the opportunity to improve the collection. In the circulating collection, you’ll find the latest BookTok recommendations, classic literature, and even titles originating from the first iteration of the Denver Public Library, dating back to the 1800s. This highlights the importance of regular collection maintenance. Older books found may get transferred to the Library’s Special Collections and Archives.
Books can also get lost in all this shuffle, getting misshelved or escaping the catalog system. It’s bound to happen in a collection of 250,000 materials. The Central Library’s renovation allowed the shelving team to do deeper collection maintenance. “In the process of doing that, we thought we would find a lot more status issues than we did, so it was affirming that things are where they're supposed to be. And it also helped us spot things that weren't in the catalog anymore and add those back if we needed to do that,” says Jennifer.
Carts full of books waiting to be reshelved to their new permanent homes.
One of the more notable changes to the collection’s presentation is how library users will navigate materials. “The collections on the upper floors went from east to west, but that kind of felt like you weren't reading left to right when you were reading the call numbers… it's now on the opposite side and running in a different direction… it's more intuitive for customers,” Jennifer explains. Similar collections are now grouped together. For example, poetry, plays, and short stories are now closer to general fiction. The architecture and design group working on the Central Library, studiotrope Design Collective, dubs this section on the second floor the "literary ledge" because it overlooks the first floor’s Commons.
Central’s popular curbside service also improved the library user experience during the renovation. Although the service arose during the pandemic, occasional library closures for heavy-duty renovation periods made the service vital to avoid interruptions to core library services. The service has created nearly 750 new library cards and checked out almost 140,000 items since its inception!
Staying open during the renovation may have complicated daily routines, but Bobby thinks it’s been worth it. “It would have been easier [to be closed] because we wouldn't have to traverse things, but harder for my heart to have a massive collection literally inaccessible to customers.”
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The Central Library will temporarily close starting September 20 and reopen on November 3 with a free grand celebration full of fun performances and activities. During the temporary closure, curbside services will continue to be available at regular hours. Visit each month for more Reno-Revelations, and head to the Explore Central page for regular updates on the Central Library!