RELOCATING YOUR LIBRARY Dr Suzanne ... - ALIA conferences

Dr Suzanne Lewis* 

Librarian 

Central Coast Health 

PO Box 361 Gosford NSW 2250 

Tel (02) 43203853 

Fax (02) 43203860 

Email slewis@doh.health.nsw.gov.au 

Ms Lisa Cotter 

Information Services Officer (Librarian) 

The University of Newcastle 

Based at Central Coast Health 

PO Box 361 Gosford NSW 2250 

Tel (02) 43203859 

Fax (02) 43203860 

Email lisa.cotter@newcastle.edu.au 

www.newcastle.edu.au/library/gosford/ 

RELOCATING YOUR LIBRARY 

Suzanne Lewis is Reference Librarian at the Information Resources Library, Central Coast 

Health in NSW. She has worked there since 1998, including two years as Acting Manager. 

She has participated in four library relocations, two of which she coordinated. She holds a 

Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and PhD from the University of Sydney and a Postgraduate 

Diploma of Arts (Library & Information Science) from Charles Sturt University. 

Lisa Cotter is Information Services Officer (Librarian) with the University of Newcastle in 

NSW, based at the Gosford Hospital campus. She coordinates information service delivery to 

the University of Newcastle health sciences students based at Gosford Hospital. She has 

participated in the three relocations of the library at Gosford Hospital - in 2000, 2002 and 

2003. 

ABSTRACT 

The paperless library is not a reality. The electronic library coexists with hard copy resources. 

Therefore moving a library – whether it is across town or just across the road – is a daunting 

task. If it can be accomplished with minimum stress to library staff and disruption to clients it 

has been successful. If it can be used as an opportunity to weed resources, reorganise 

equipment and layout, or improve service delivery, that is a bonus. 

The keys to successful relocation are planning and communication. Every minute spent on 

planning before the move will pay off during and after the move. This paper discusses the 

relocation process in four main stages – initial planning, intensive planning, the move and 

after the move. A Relocation Checklist for library managers or relocation project managers is 

included in Appendix 1. 

The library at Gosford Hospital, part of Central Coast Health (CCH), has relocated three 

times in three years; the smaller branch library at Wyong Hospital relocated in February 

2003 and will move again in approximately two years. These changes have been necessary 

due to major redevelopments of both Gosford and Wyong Hospitals. 

Moving a library - whether it is across town or just across the road - is a daunting task. If it 

can be accomplished with minimum stress to library staff and disruption to clients it has been 

RELOCATING YOUR LIBRARY 1

10th Asia Pacific Special Health and Law Librarians Conference – Adelaide 24–27 Aug 2003 

successful. If it can be used as an opportunity to weed resources, reorganise equipment and 

layout, or improve service delivery, that is a bonus. 

The keys to successful relocation are planning and communication. Every minute spent on 

planning before the move will pay off during and after the move. Measure twice (or three or 

four times) and move once. Time spent communicating with staff, removalists, 

subcontractors, other departments within your organisation, and clients will also pay 

dividends providing the communication is clear, non-contradictory and well documented. 

Nobody involved in the relocation should be able to say 'I didn't know' or 'I wasn't told'. 

STAGE 1 – INITIAL PLANNING 

Destination 

A library may move to a brand new, purpose built facility, to a fully renovated area, or to a 

temporary location where no modification of the physical space is possible. 

Whatever the scenario, try to have as much input as possible into your final destination – 

both the actual location and the configuration of the space available. For a special library 

such as ours, proximity to clinical areas was an important consideration. At present we are 

separated from the main clinical areas by a large building site and client numbers have fallen 

accordingly. However we have noticed a concurrent rise in telephone and email enquiries. 

Eventually, when the Gosford redevelopment is complete, access from clinical areas to the 

library will be significantly easier. 

Budget 

A relocation budget should be determined as soon as possible. The cost of the relocation 

may be considerable depending on the size of your library and access for the removalists. 

Therefore, the relocation should be budgeted for separately from construction and fit out of 

the new area. 

Don’t be tempted to make the budget stretch further by using library staff or volunteers to 

carry out the actual move. Use of untrained, unsuitable labour has significant occupational 

health and safety risks and may leave the library or its parent organisation liable to injury 

claims. 

Occupational Health and Safety 

Occupational health and safety issues should be a priority throughout the planning and 

implementation of the relocation. Use of volunteer or unsuitable labour has been discussed 

above. Other issues include the following: 

Minimise hazards which may exist along the planned route of the move; 

Establish a clear understanding of what the library’s (or its parent organisation’s) 

insurance policy covers and what the removal company’s policy covers; 

Address safety issues such as the weight limit of lifts or inclinators; 

Ensure that everyone involved in the move takes frequent breaks. 



Project Manager 

A Project Manager should be appointed to plan and manage the relocation. In our small 

library this was the Library Manager. If the Project Manager is not the Library Manager, clear 

lines of communication between these two people is vital. In larger libraries there may be a 

relocation committee rather than a single Project Manager; or, the planning of the entire 

move may be outsourced to a relocation consultant. Committee or consultant – once again 

communication is the key to success. 

The Project Manager is the key point of communication between all the stakeholders in the 

move. 

The Project Manager should be a good communicator, and should be able to utilise the best 

form of communication for reaching each stakeholder group. Newsletters, email, meetings 

and signage can all be used to reach various groups such as library staff, staff of the parent 

organisation, library clients and related organisations such as other libraries. 

It is also vital that the Project Manager keep detailed records in case someone else has to 

take over this position. For example, an address book or database of names, phone numbers 

and email addresses of all contractors, suppliers, organisations, departments and individuals 

involved in the relocation is invaluable. A portable concertina file with plans, minutes of 

meetings, etc may be useful for attending site meetings during construction of the new 

library. 

The Project Manager should know the library and its parent organisation well, and should be 

given the authority to make decisions relevant to the relocation. If the Project Manager has to 

make a decision ‘on the run’, the rest of the team should be informed as soon as possible. 

The Project Manager may wish to assign clearly defined areas of responsibility to individuals 

or teams, while retaining overall responsibility for the relocation. For example, each time the 

CCH Library has moved, one library staff member has taken responsibility for serials, one 

for monographs, one for IT hardware and furniture, and one for the Information Desk and 

staff office, with each reporting to the Project Manager. 

Time frame for the move 

A date for the relocation should be set as early as possible to allow for effective planning. 

Ideally some flexibility should be maintained to allow for unforseen circumstances. However, 

once a date has been agreed upon with a removalist, renegotiating another date may be 

difficult. 

The timing of the relocation should take into account external factors, such as when the new 

building will be finished or when the library has to vacate its existing premises. Internal 

factors, such as whether there is a quiet time of year when a move would cause least 

disruption to library clients, are also important. For example, the CCH Library provides 

services to University of Newcastle medical and nursing students. Therefore all our 

relocations took place during semester breaks. 

Surveying clients 

Before and after a move are ideal times to survey library clients. A pre-move survey is a 

good opportunity to discover what your clients really want from your library, as well as 



serving as advance publicity for the move. A post-relocation survey can be used to assess 

how smoothly (or otherwise) the relocation proceeded, how the service is functioning in the 

new premises, and how much of the 'wish list' identified in the pre-move survey has been 

delivered. 

Selecting the removalist 

Obtain quotes from at least three removal companies, preferably companies that specialise 

in library or corporate relocations. Providing as much detail as possible will ensure that the 

quotes are as accurate as possible. A consultant from each company should do a site visit 

before providing a quotation, and at least one follow up visit once the quote has been 

accepted. 

You will be required to sign a contract or an acceptance of the quotation with the successful 

company. It is very important at this stage for the Project Manager and the removalist's 

consultant to specify in writing each organisation's responsibilities regarding the relocation. 

Areas to be clarified may include the following: 

Who will dismantle and reassemble joinery items such as service counters 

Who will move sensitive items such as PCs and photocopiers? (Usually, if an item such 

as a photocopier is leased or subject to a maintenance contract, the leasing company 

should move it, not the removalists.) 

Who will set up PCs, printers, etc in the new location and ensure that they are working 

properly - the library staff, the IT staff of the parent organisation or a subcontractor 

provided by the removalist? 

The lines of supervision and communication between the removal staff, the library staff, 

the removalist’s team leader or consultant and the library’s Project Manager should be 

clear. For example, during each of our moves we had one library staff member assigned 

to supervise each removalist. 

As with the selection of almost any product or service, personal recommendations should be 

sought regarding removal companies. Most companies will provide contact details for former 

customers. 

STAGE 2 – INTENSIVE PLANNING 

Timetable 

During the intensive planning stage the Project Manager should create a timetable and a 

checklist or series of checklists. In fact, as the Project Manager works through the 

checklist/s, organising deliveries, installations and so on, the timetable is built up as a result. 

The timetable for the move itself, for example, will be largely dependent on how quickly the 

shelving can be cleared, disassembled, relocated and reassembled. We found that we had to 

allow a day in between packing and moving the books and journals for the shelving to be 

made ready. (This was for a medium sized library comprising approximately 6800 books and 

videos, and 160 current journal subscriptions). 



If the move is straightforward, a simple chronological schedule of events may be sufficient. 

However if the move is complex, a scheduling tool such as a Gantt chart may be useful. 

Software for creating Gantt charts can be purchased or downloaded from the Web for a free 

trial. 

A checklist such as the example in Appendix 1 should be drawn up by the Project Manager 

for the whole relocation, and more specific checklists may also be required for each library 

staff member with responsibility for a particular aspect of the relocation. 

Think carefully about when you schedule deliveries. If you are fortunate enough to be 

purchasing new IT hardware, for example, don’t have it delivered until the furniture that will 

be housing it has been installed. Similarly, the sequence in which items are moved is 

important. Try to keep the book trolleys or cartons in the truck until the shelving is ready 

because unless you have a lot of room you will find that the spot where the removalists leave 

the trolleys is exactly the spot where the shelving contractor is about to assemble the 

shelving. 

Access and egress 

The Project Manager should walk the route of the relocation (if on site), or at least egress 

from the old location and access to the new location if the two sites are a significant distance 

from each other. The Project Manager should be accompanied by the removal company's 

consultant on at least one of these occasions. Factors which should be addressed include 

the following: 

Barriers to access such as 

1. steps, 

2. narrow doors, 

3. locked doors (including who holds the key), 

4. doors with alarms (which may need to be propped open), 

5. narrow roads, 

6. low ceilings, 

7. overhanging tree branches, 

8. low porticoes, 

9. traffic congestion, 

10. parking for the removalists’ truck outside the old and new locations. 

Potential hazards such as trip points, uneven surfaces, having to move material through 

public access areas or areas occupied by other departments. 

The route should be planned so that loading and unloading the trucks can take place 

regardless of the weather. 

Layout plan 

Once the Project Manager has obtained a floor plan of the new premises, the functional 

requirements of the library service can be fitted in to the space provided. If the relocation is a 

large one, particularly into purpose-built premises, this task will be carried out by the architect 

in consultation with library management and staff. However in a small library, or a relocation 

into temporary premises, this may be the responsibility of the Project Manager. 

This can be done using a floor plan drawn to scale and items of furniture, shelving, etc also 

drawn to scale and stuck on with Blu-Tac. This tried and true method has the advantage that 



in the initial stages of layout planning, items can be moved around on paper to see where 

they will best fit. For this reason it is a useful tool to have available in planning meetings. 

There are also many CAD (Computer Aided Design) software packages available which will 

replicate this process on the PC. The CCH Library Service used a package downloaded for 

free trial from the Web. Using software such as this allows the Project Manager to produce 

many different versions of the basic layout . These may include: 

Separate plans of each floor or area or room 

A furniture layout plan for each room or area. Copies of this plan should be provided to 

each library staff member, the team leader of the removalist crew, and taped prominently 

in key locations. In addition, this plan or relevant sections of it should be taped to each 

piece of furniture, with the position of the item marked with an X on the plan. This way, 

the final destination of each chair, carrel and PC desk can be identified by the person 

moving the item. 

A layout plan for IT hardware for each room or area. Each PC, printer, etc should be 

labelled so that modems and printers stay with the PC for which they were configured, 

and a layout plan generated indicating the location of each item 

A layout plan indicating the position of each power point, voice and data outlet for each 

room or area or floor. This will be required by cabling contractors and electricians. 

A shelf plan indicating the position of each bay of shelving. This will be used to record the 

shelf labelling system explained below. 

A layout plan customised for each contractor who needs to work in the library. For 

example, a plan indicating the position of each set of security gates can be provided to 

the contractor who will install these. 

A CAD software package also makes use of a colour coding system very easy. For example, 

the Project Manager may decide to assign a colour to every floor, area or room, and then 

produce coloured labels for each item to go to that floor, area or room. 

Power, voice, data 

The library cannot relocate until these services are in place. Moreover, they must be in the 

right place. As discussed above, these can be marked on the layout plan after the most 

functional furniture and shelving layout has been achieved. Service delivery and efficient use 

of space should determine the location of voice, data and power, not the other way around. 

Careful thought must be given to the number and location of voice, data and power points to 

meet the library's current and future needs. It is reasonable to expect that more and more 

library users will bring their own laptop PCs to the library and therefore adequate numbers of 

power and data points should be provided adjacent to study desks. Provision should be 

made for additional library staff members in the future. 

Shelf labelling 

A shelf labelling system will ensure that relocated material is shelved correctly in the new 

library. It is useful to break the collection down into smaller units such as the loan collection, 

reference collection, journal collection, and so on. 



Measure the size of each collection in linear metres. For anything other than a very small 

collection, this is best done by estimating from a sample. 

The size of the collection in linear metres must then be compared to the amount of shelf 

space (also in linear metres) available in the new library. 

Fortunate libraries may find themselves in the position of being asked how much shelf space 

they require. If this is the case, add an estimate of five to ten years’ growth space to the size 

of the present collection. Estimating growth space for journals is a matter of measuring how 

many shelves are required to hold the previous five or ten years issues of each journal. 

Estimating growth space for books and other items is less straightforward and is influenced 

by factors such as 

Whether the library has a collection development policy which sets out parameters for 

weeding the collection; and 

How strongly the library is collecting in hard copy format compared to electronic format. 

Less fortunate libraries are informed of the amount of floor space allocated to their new 

premises and must then work out how much of this space should hold shelving. It is then a 

matter of seeing how to fit the present collection into the space allocated. This is best done 

by calculating the amount of space the collection currently occupies as a percentage of the 

total shelf space that will be available: 

Shelf space currently occupied 100 

------------------- ---- 

shelf space available in new location X 1 

For example, if the shelf space currently occupied is 200 linear metres, and the new location 

provides 250 linear metres of shelf space, then the collection will occupy 80% of the new 

shelf space. Therefore, for the purposes of a relocation, every fifth shelf in the new location 

should be left empty to accommodate growth of the collection. 

Once these calculations are complete, the Project Manager will be able to set up a shelf 

labelling system in which each shelf in the old location corresponds to a shelf labelled exactly 

the same in the new location. In the new location some shelves will have no corresponding 

shelf in the old location because they will be left empty for future growth. 

The CCH Library Service used a simple shelf labelling system in which each bay in the new 

location was assigned a number starting from 1, 2, 3… and so on, and each shelf in each 

bay was assigned a letter. With five shelves to a bay, we ended up with a labelling system as 

follows: 

Bay 1 – shelf – 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E 

Bay 2 – shelf – 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E 

Other stakeholders - IT, maintenance, security, co-tenants, other groups 

The Project Manager should ensure that other stakeholders in the library's relocation are 

kept fully informed, as the success of the move is dependent on the cooperation of these 

groups. Stakeholders may include: 



The organisation's IT department, which may be responsible for voice and data cabling in 

the new location, and decommissioning and reinstalling IT hardware; 

The Maintenance department, which may be required to disassemble and reassemble 

joinery items, hang clocks and whiteboards, and carry out other repairs and installations; 

The organisation's Security Officers, who should be consulted regarding parking, access 

to specific areas for electrical or cabling contractors, changing locks, obtaining keys, fire 

safety and security of goods in transit; 

If the library is sharing a building with other tenants, in either the old or new location, their 

cooperation and understanding should be sought for the move. These departments will 

experience some inconvenience, but will put up with it much more willingly if they are 

kept fully informed and their concerns addressed; 

The organisation's Domestic or Environmental Services department should be contacted 

to organise cleaning of the new premises, and to be advised of the likelihood of extra 

rubbish requiring removal during the relocation; 

Mail and other deliveries for the library should be put on hold at least until the unpacking 

part of the relocation. Try to time delivery of bulky items such as photocopy paper so that 

supplies are run down just prior to the move and the next large delivery can be made to 

the new location; 

Other stakeholders in the relocation include any libraries, organisations or networks with 

which your library has a service agreement. In the case of the CCH Library these 

included the University of Newcastle and the GratisNet Inter-library loan network of 

Australian health. 

Weeding 

Basic housekeeping should be carried out prior to the relocation. Library staff should be 

encouraged to tidy their own workstations and discard unwanted items. Furniture and 

supplies identified as not being required in the new premises should be removed before the 

relocation starts. The collection should also be weeded if time allows. A sale of weeded items 

may provide good publicity for the upcoming move. 

Inventory 

An inventory of furniture, IT hardware and other items such as trolleys, display stands, etc 

should be carried out before and after the move. 

Publicity 

The publicity campaign regarding the library's relocation should intensify as the moving date 

draws nearer. Email and notices should be used to reach clients in the wider organisation. A 

handout, perhaps in the form of a bookmark, summarising the closure period, new location, 

moving date and other relevant information, should accompany each item loaned in the 

weeks leading up to the move. 

Temporary signage should be used in the relocation period to direct removalists, 

subcontractors, and deliveries to both the old and new locations. Permanent signage 

indicating the new library site should be in place as soon as possible after the relocation. 



Permanent signage in the old location should be removed and a temporary sign redirecting 

clients to the new library should remain for at least several weeks after the move. 

STAGE 3 – THE MOVE 

Inspecting the premises and handover 

The library should not relocate into new premises until all construction and fit out work is 

complete. This is particularly important if the building or renovation work has been carried out 

by a contractor outside the organisation. Logistically, it is extremely difficult to relocate if 

removalists, library staff and workmen have to dodge around each other. 

Maintaining a skeleton service 

Ideally, the library should be closed for the duration of the relocation. Allow plenty of time for 

the move because if you underestimate and then have to extend the closure period, this can 

be a public relations disaster for the library. If, on the other hand, the library reopens in its 

new location ahead of schedule, you can announce the fact proudly to your clients. 

During our relocations, CCH staff were advised that Wyong Hospital Library would maintain a 

service during the period that Gosford Hospital Library was relocating and vice versa. Interlibrary 

loans were restricted to urgent patient care and limited reference assistance was 

available. 

Some removalists offer night or weekend removals in order to minimise the time the library 

will be closed. However this option is expensive, and requires library staff to work extra 

hours. 

Working with removalists and subcontractors 

The CCH experience of working with removalists and subcontractors during relocations was 

that supervision and clear communication produce the best results. Clear shelf labelling and 

layout plans are all useful tools, but do not replace the need for library staff to be watching 

what goes where. It is also important to ensure that different library staff are not giving 

different instructions to removalists and subcontractors. If there is any doubt, the query 

should be referred to the Project Manager. 

Maintaining communication 

During the move you will have library staff working at both the new and old locations and the 

Project Manager moving between the two. It is essential to maintain effective communication 

during this time. The Project Manager should have a mobile phone (although in a hospital 

setting you may be limited by where it can be used). There should be at least one working 

phone at both the old and new locations, and all staff should be advised of the numbers. This 

is not as straightforward as it sounds because your telecommunications department or 

contractor may plan to just reroute all the existing numbers to the new location at one time. 

Plan the changeover of telecommunications carefully, and use mobile phones or pagers if 

necessary. 

Boxes, book trolleys and trucks 

Boxes and book trolleys are the two main means of packing a library collection for removal. 

Book trolleys are preferable for the collections as items can be kept in shelf order going on 



and off the trolley. However the use of trolleys requires a level route from the library to the 

truck. Most specialist removalists will have a truck with a height adjustable stage or ramp that 

can be lowered to ground level to allow a trolley to be wheeled on to it and then raised to the 

level of the interior of the truck. 

If your relocation route is not suitable for book trolleys then boxes are the alternative. Make 

sure the boxes supplied by your removalist are sturdy and not too large. The two main 

drawbacks of boxes are the amount of manual handling involved, and the fact that if books 

are packed in shelf order they will be unpacked in reverse shelf order. One way to overcome 

this is to ask your removalists to pack in reverse shelf order so that (theoretically) the books 

come out of the box in sequence. We tried this with our last move with a reasonable amount 

of success. The bottom line with boxes is that shelf order is not maintained nearly as well as 

with book trolleys and a greater amount of post-relocation shelf checking will be needed. 

All library staff should pack the contents of their work stations into cartons. Each staff 

member should be supplied with a few pages of labels bearing their name and should apply 

these to their cartons plus any other equipment and furniture that belongs to their 

workstation. As each workstation is assembled in the new location, a sign should be attached 

to it with the name of the person who will be working there. This way, all the removalists have 

to do is match the name on the carton or PC or chair with the name on the workstation. 

STAGE 4 – AFTER THE MOVE 

Evaluation 

Conducting a post-relocation survey of library clients has already been discussed. It is also 

useful to hold a debriefing of the library staff to discuss what worked and what didn't. Take 

notes and write them up in case you have to move again! It is also important to keep a 

photographic record of the move. This may form the basis of a display in the new library and 

boost the publicity campaign for the relocation. 

Ironing out the glitches 

There will be glitches to deal with after any relocation but if enough work has been done at 

the planning stage there should not be too many. Be prepared for a period of adjustment, 

and try to be flexible. You will almost certainly have to rethink the way you deliver some 

services or carry out some functions. 

The party 

If you have moved to a new, purpose built facility there will almost certainly be an official 

dedication of the new library involving senior management within the organization. You might 

like to offer tours of the new library to your clients. It is equally important to have an 

‘unofficial’ celebration as a way of recognizing the hard work of the library staff and marking 

the fact that you all survived relocating your library. 



APPENDIX 1 : LIBRARY RELOCATION CHECKLIST 

ITEM ACTION RESPONSIBILITY NOTES 

Air conditioning 

Cabling – telephones and fax 

Cabling – data 

Deliveries 

Domestic Services 

Cleaning 

Rubbish removal 

Electrical wiring 

Fittings and fixtures 

Carpet 

Blinds/curtains 

lights 

Floor plans/layout 

Furniture 

IT Department 

installation of PCs 

Mail deliveries 

Occupational Health and 

Safety 

Photocopiers 

Publicity 

clients 

organization 

stakeholders 

Removalist 

quotes 

contract 

date set 

Security 

keys 

alarms 

access 

Security gates (library) 

removal 

installation 

Stakeholders 

other departments 

external 

networks 

Subcontractors 

Timetable

RELOCATING YOUR LIBRARY Dr Suzanne ... - ALIA conferences

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?