Roughing It

Abstract

A n infamous rite of passage for students each fall is to write a paper about what they did during their summer break. Charged with the same task, we can report that we closed and moved a library. The Ward E. Barnes closed for the last time on May 16, 2014. The closure started a project that the UMSL Libraries staff won't soon forget. In addition to renting a 14' truck for the move, the UMSL Libraries rented 45 large wooden book carts, each capable of transporting 8 full shelves of books at a time. Staff and students loaded these carts non-stop for a period of nearly 6 weeks, moving some materials to the Thomas Jef-ferson Library on the North Campus , and others to offsite storage within an annex in the Information Technology Enterprise (ITE) building located a couple of miles west of North Campus. In total, over 830 loaded carts were transported between library buildings during the entirety of the move. The Barnes Library primarily served the Colleges of Education , Optometry, and Nursing. Books and reserve items supporting those programs now reside at the Thomas Jefferson Library. To accommodate this influx of materials, print journals from 1999 and older have been relocated to the ITE Annex. Realizing that we've taken away a service point, as well as easy access to some of our print collections , the UMSL Libraries are providing new services to accommodate all faculty members. We are happy to provide electronic delivery of any print articles in our collection. We will scan journal articles, located either at the Thomas Jefferson Library, or held in collections at the ITE Annex, and deliver them to you via e-mail. The book drop located outside the former Barnes Library will remain operational for the next year, allowing South Campus patrons a convenient place to return library materials. The same friendly librarians that provided personalized service at the Barnes Library are still available to assist with your library needs; they've simply relocated! While never an easy decision, the closure of the Barnes Library should be viewed as a strategic restructuring of library resources and staffing to meet the challenges of the current economic and educational environment. No jobs were lost, and access to all library materials has been preserved. As the UMSL Libraries move forward, we will continue to provide our faculty with the tools and resources to make …