The bookless library - Update

Website claim:

We aim to deliver requested materials within two to four hours using delivery vans running in a continuous loop during library hours.

Reality, according to Penrose library staffer:

It's taking about 24 hours right now.

I suppose those two statements aren't necessarily in conflict; you can aim to do something quickly while in fact doing it very slowly. It's hard to prove intent.

A novel solution for campus libraries?

The University of Chicago thinks they've figured out how to deal with the problem of too many books in too little space: dig down. They've built a 50-foot deep Batcave that can hold 3.5 million books, and they've created an automated retrieval system by which robots bring you your requested book within five minutes. No, this still doesn't help faculty who like to browse the stacks, but at least it's not moving the books miles away.

(h/t: Monkey Cage)

The bookless library in the news

Inside Higher Ed has picked up on the story about DU's library restructure. They note two important points that hadn't received much attention earlier. First, there's been somewhat of a bait-and-switch:

The original plans -- which did not cause alarm -- called for 80 percent of the materials to return to the renovated library, leaving behind seldom-accessed journals and those with digital replacements, government documents, and little-used books.

But the university announced to faculty members last week that the renovated library would now only hold 20 percent of its current collection, much to the surprise of professors.

The second is that something similar was tried two years ago at Syracuse University and met with massive protests by faculty and students, forcing administrators to change course. I have no idea if DU students or faculty will mount a similar push-back -- the campus is not particularly known for its history of political activism.