黑料福利网

Collection management

Managing a large collection of books and journals is no mean feat. Most of you probably know our staff behind the library desk in MetaForum 鈥� your first point of contact. But behind the scenes, multiple teams work on all aspects and services of the library. The majority of the library collection is now available online, but we still have a large physical collection, and new materials are still being acquired as well.

Once a book or a journal is purchased and placed on a shelf, the journey of that material is far from over. One of the library鈥檚 main tasks is managing and organizing the collection, which often creates (unexpected) challenges and situations. We want our collection to be used as much as possible, but we also want to preserve it for posterity. This is why, as a library, we try to prepare ourselves as best we can for various scenarios that may occur in our collection.

Various scenarios

There are three different levels of scenarios that can affect our collection:

1. Incidents
2. Calamities
3. Disasters

An incident is a small event which we can solve easily within our library team. A cup of coffee that has been spilled over a journal, or a book that has a damaged spine. Our staff is trained for these kind of situations and we have the materials needed to fix this on hand.

A calamity is a bigger event, such as a burst water pipe in MetaForum. When that happens we need our colleagues from Real Estate to fix the leak. We can then focus on our affected collection and take the actions that are necessary.

The final scenario is disaster, such as a fire in the building, or a flood. We are unable to take immediate action for our collection. Only when the fire department or other authorities give permission to enter the building can we assess the impact on the collection and take the steps that will be needed to save as much as possible.

Incidents and emergencies in our collection

Our campus is beautiful and green, but also quite wet due to the Dommel river which runs across campus. That can cause a lot of trouble, especially when there is a high water level. Water can sometimes seep through the basement walls into the Atlas building, and while these leaks are very small they can do a lot of damage over time. We had a number of such leaks in 2023. They often went unnoticed until it was already too late and the rolling cabinets in the stackroom couldn鈥檛 be opened or closed anymore. So it鈥檚 difficult to prevent this entirely. Luckily, these incidents can be resolved through internal maintenance. The blocked cabinet will be emptied and repaired, which means that 88 meters of books need to be moved before the cabinet can be repaired.

Unfortunately, it didn鈥檛 stop at water damage due to small leaks. Around Christmas 2023, there was a major leak in the bicycle storage area, which is located above the stackroom. As a result, water flowed into the stackroom, causing significant damage. Parts of our collection got wet; books and journals were severely damaged and started to mold over time. Books swelled due to the moisture, causing the shelves to collapse. The subfloor of the rolling cabinets was made of wood, and it warped in several places.

Measures taken

We used fans to reduce the humidity level in the basement. We also investigated whether it was safe to work in the basement due to the mold. Fortunately, it was safe, but we were unable to work or lend any materials during the investigation.

After these initial measures, we were able to investigate the collection. We began by mapping the 鈥漚ffected areas鈥�, in these areas we had to check all the books and journals one by one. If they were damaged, they were removed and taken out of our collection. At least 150 meters of books and journals were so badly damaged that they could not be salvaged.

Renovation

In addition to removing the damaged books, we had to renovate the rolling cabinets, which meant that we had to relocate our collection. We collaborated with Real Estate and our cleaning services to execute this project. The books and journals were stored at an external location, the stackroom was cleaned in all its nooks and crannies, and the wooden floorboards were replaced with metal sheets. All our books were subsequently moved back in. In total, the entire process 鈥� from the beginning of the water damage until the completion of the renovation 鈥� spanned over eighteen months. The stackroom has been back in full use since the beginning of the 2025 academic year.

Collection emergency assistance plan

Incidents and calamities in the reading room or stackroom cannot be prevented. Materials disappear, are put back on the wrong shelf, or are subject to wear and tear and all manner of other external factors. What we can do, however, is try to prepare ourselves. Together with other 黑料福利网 services we drew up a collection emergency assistance plan (collectiehulpverleningsplan), which gives (library) staff tools to handle any type of incident or calamity. We will also train colleagues using this document. This enables us to mitigate the consequences of an incident or calamity going forward, and to ensure that our collection remains available for future generations.