The original posting followed by a summary of responses:
Appalachian State is in the process of building a $42MM library. Someday
it will be completed and we will move into the new facility. Any
recommendations for Library collection movers that do good work? Any
advice about spec'ing the request for bid? If you have had negative
experiences, pls let me know off-list at: abbottjp_at_appstate.edu
Thanks.
John
===
Summary of responses:
The number of responses was generous and some people asked that
no attribution be assigned, so I am only posting the names of
movers who received good marks. A reader pointed me to the page
on the ALA website listing (w/o endorsement) Library movers and a
bibliography of articles re: collection moving.
http://www.ala.org/library/fact14.html
Specific companies mentioned positively by colldv-l readers are:
John Crane, John.G.Crane_at_Dartmouth.EDU
Hallett Movers, Summit, Illinois - 2
Jack Kloke Transport, 10 E. Belt Blvd, Richmond, VA 23224, Jack Kloke (owner)
Library Movers of America, near Indianapolis, IN. Cecil Maness, in charge.
Library Relocation Consultants, Bloomington, Indiana, Ted Sowder (Owner) - 2
Comments:
The company that we used ...[was] the cheapest, we had trouble
with them from day 1. They didn't treat the collection with respect in
terms of handling them and basically throwing them into their removalist
bins, which consequently had some books damaged. This is several months
after they had finished the job and we were not impressed at all with them.
So don't settle for the cheapest one as it is not always the ones that do
the best job for you.
Our library moved in stages as new additions were opened and portions of the
old building were remodeled. For our first move we hired the firm below....
They brought only 2-3 supervisors on site and hired temporary workers to do
the physical labor. For our second and subsequent moves, we used the
techniques we had observed ... and moved the rest of the collection
ourselves - about 500,000 volumes.
We had a truly wonderful experience.... The entire move
was completed in slightly less than three weeks.
We recently put out a bid for collection movers for our (much more modest)
renovation....the major complicating factor was the elevator access to upper
floors, which is solely through two rickety and small ( e.g. one book truck)
elevators while the renovation is happening and other elevators are being
torn down/reconstructed. This drove the price up considerably since the work
has to be done in off-hours while we are not open.
--
John P. Abbott
Coordinator, Collection Development
University Library
Appalachian State University
325 College Street
Boone, NC 28608
828-262-2821
828-262-3001 (fax)
abbottjp_at_appstate.edu
http://www.hhgproject.org/honda.jpg
Received on Thu Feb 21 2002 - 07:43:43 EST
