A Bookshelf 153 Miles Long

by Stephen J. Gertz

The Bodleian Library's new BSF, where books will be stored
in a state-of-the-art facility.
Photo credit: John Lawrence/The Independent.

Oxford's  Bodleian Library has a new home for its collection of six million books and more than 1.2 million maps, with room to spare for another two million.

The new Book Storage Facility (BSF) looks like a warehouse on the outside. On the inside it has the equivalent of 153 miles of storage shelf space.

Residing in a salt mine for the last few years, over the next twelve months the Bodleian's books, excluding its most popular and historic volumes, will be transferred to the BSF.

"The BSF will prove a long-awaited solution to the space problem that has long challenged the Bodleian," said its head librarian Dr Sarah Thomas. "We have been running out of space since the 1970s and the situation has become increasingly desperate in the last few years."

It was important to preserve all the books, Dr Thomas continued, "so that future generations will have access to the recorded information of the past."

"Now we can look to the future with confidence that we are preserving one of the world's most complete records of the written word in state-of-the-art secure archival conditions," she added.

The 153 miles of storage space includes 37 foot-high racks on 31 narrow aisles, each of which are 233 feet long. There are a total of 3,224 bays with 95,000 shelf levels in the warehouse, as well as 600 map cabinets.

If you request a book - and the Bodleian anticipates 200,000 requests a year - at 10 AM, it will be in your hands in Oxford by 3PM the next day.

If late, free pizza from Domino's?
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Full story at The Independent.

With thanks to LISNews for the lead.
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The Rare Book Guy wrote about storing books in salt mines, the perfect way to store them.
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Hey, Rare Book Guy! What’s The Perfect Way To Store Books?

The Rare Books Guy’s mailbox held an emergency supply of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and not much else this week; nothing to satisfy the Rare Book Guy’s insatiable hunger for challenging questions.

But the Rare Book Guy is always on the lookout for red book-meat to chew on and then present to readers in predigested form. He works the salt-mines to dig up info of interest to you, the fellowship of the rarebookeratti. Today’s question is a common one but in yesterday’s news brought to you today, a unique, optimal - if somewhat radical - method to store and protect books has caught the Rare Book Guy’s attention.

The Rare Book Guy working a salt mine.

I’d been in the salt mines so long I didn’t recognize that the answer to today’s question had been right in front of me - and above, below, and on all sides.

Manchester Central Library.
 

While undergoing renovations, the Manchester Central Library is storing its books - 1.5 million of them, the equivalent of twenty-two miles of shelves - in an underground storage facility named DeepStore, maintained by the town of Winsford. It’s a rock salt mine, the U.K.'s largest.

 Miner in one of DeepStore's tunnels.

Approximately 44,000 volumes published before 1850 and more than 30 works dating back to the 15th Century will be among the books deep-salined 493 feet underground for an estimated three years while the library is being worked on.

DeepStore possesses optimal conditions for storing books: Consistent temperature (57ºF), humidity (65%), protection from ultra-violet light, vermin and floods. Book worms are helpless. And bookworms may find accessing their collection a bit inconvenient.

Inside DeepStore's salt mine storage facility.

Neil MacInnes, head of library services, said "With so many rare and precious books of significant historical importance being temporarily removed from Central Library, it is vital that they are stored securely and in the best conditions....The salt mines are an absolutely invaluable resource for this. The team at DeepStore are extremely experienced and we have the peace of mind that the collection will be kept safely until they can be returned to the library."

"I like my books well-seasoned."

There are other advantages left unspoken: According to celebrity chef and cookbook author Emeril Lagasse, a little salt brings out the zest in prose, BAM! And after three years of preservation in salt the volumes should make for tasty book-jerky, an excellent way to carry otherwise weighty tomes while on a long trek and handy when quick intellectual sustenance is required to get you over the next hill.

After the Library’s renovations are complete patrons on a low-sodium diet may wish to consult their physicians before checking books out.

Should anyone doubt the Rare Book Guy's veracity, the story is such a big chunk of rock crystal that Self-Storage News has covered it as The Ultimate Climate-Controlled Storage: Salt Mines. If you can't trust Self-Storage News, who can you trust?

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Original, full story at Yorkshire Evening Post.
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Have a question for the Rare Book Guy? He's here to help but first you must read the details.