Tampa...We Do Not Have a Problem

It has been a full few weeks at the USF Tampa Library overall, but in Stacks Management there has been even more work completed than usual. The entire Juvenile Collection has been shifted into a series of ranges with greater shelving allowing for more space to open-up in the Stacks on the Fourth floor. The plan is to shift the entire Fourth floor collection to allow for more space to be created in the ever-expanding Art and Architecture sections to ensure better quality in collection maintenance. As would seem logical, the signage on the ends of the Juvenile ranges has been relabeled to indicate the correct call numbers on each shelf. All Oversized material within the library has been relocated to what will be its permanent new home also located on the Fourth floor, in the range just next to the Classics collection. This consolidation has not previously been attempted in the library and the material, though culled and compiled, is not yet in call number order. This task will be completed once all cataloging records for the Oversized items are updated and new shelving put in place to better accommodate the collection's new location. The Music Score collection on the Second floor has also been completely shifted, (though it remains within the same shelving ranges: to the right of the Current Periodical browsing space), and shelf-read.

1 Month at a Time...

It has been a full month since the last blog update on this page. Our apologies. Though, take comfort in our lack of communication by knowing that a great amount of focus has been placed into work that has been done in recent weeks. The management setup has been an adaptation that all appear to have worked with in a positive manner. (Apologies extended to anyone who dealt with confusion because of this process.) A large amount of material that exists in duplicate format online through both JSTOR and Project Muse are being collected, boxed, and placed into Basement Storage and a large-scale shift is underway on the 4th Floor within the Children's Material to help alleviate the crunch problem that exists within the Art and Architecture areas in the Circulating Collection. One might notice a large number of Student Assistants within the building now, as the number rose from barely 10 in Stacks Management to 45 in the period of a week thanks to the efforts of all SA supervisors. In the coming weeks, there will be a project beginning to reduce the amount of duplicate Microform material held on the 2nd Floor by using the ERIC database's holdings and removing the (relatively) small amount of material to be retained while casting out the un-needed cards. Will this reduce the nostalgic vinegar smell in the Microform Room? Time will tell. A new timeclock system is being sought after and will hopefully be installed by the Summer session to allow greater ease for the payment of SAs amidst multiple areas as will the addition of the new Stacks Management Handbook be towards the management of SAs. Also, the Reference Collection will be undergoing a redistribution as 1/3 of the collection is sent to the new Reference area, 1/3 sent to the Circulating Collection, and 1/3 sent into the Reference Annex. Patience is requested by all during these processes as this change will require large shifts and the addition of new ranges.

Change Ups Up Here...

The Fifth Floor of the USF Tampa Library is the home of the Stacks Management offices and there are some new developments in staffing and organization. Long-time Stacks Supervisor, John Stanley, has relocated and is now the Bookroom Supervisor while Jessi Hurd is the new Stacks Supervisor with Andrew Beman-Cavallaro retaining his current position as Assistant Stacks Supervisor. Dennis Smith who is Manager of Access Services is now the direct supervisor of all Student Assistants who work primarily on the First Floor, i.e. former Media and current Circulation SAs. John Stanley and Jessi Hurd will both be reporting directly to Dennis Smith from this point.

Spring is Upon Us in Winter...

Welcome to the Spring Semester all. Anything the USF Tampa Library can do to help satiate your information acquisition needs, please feel free to ask.

New Year, New Projects...

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the Second Decade of the First Century of the Third Millennium and the USF Tampa Library has undergone, (and is currently undergoing), several large changes. The Media collection has been moved successfully to the 2nd Floor in the open area when one enters the Periodicals area while the Circulation desk is currently being reconfigured to accommodate better flows of patron service. The Reference Desk will be moving into the old Media Resources area within the next few months, along with the Reference Collection which will be weeded down to a more streamline and efficient number of volumes. There will also be new furniture and flooring developing and being placed throughout the entire building amidst the Spring Semester.

Of course the largest update to remember is that the USF Tampa Library will be opening for 24 hours a day 5 DAYS A WEEK starting 1/11/10. The library will open from Noon on Sundays to 6pm on Fridays then 10-6 on Saturdays before reopening again at Noon Sunday. In the coming months new doors will also be installed to allow for a card access system of entering the library facility.