bd96ea3369a6112a4da569fa28bfd784.jpg

Three-library storage facility expansion nears completion in Plainsboro

By Katie Wagner, Staff Writer
   PLAINSBORO — Work is nearing completion on an addition to a major book storage facility on the Princeton Forrestal campus that is used by Princeton University Library and two New York libraries.
   The fifth module of the Research Collection and Preservation Consortium is a shared project of Princeton University with New York Public Library and Columbia University.
   The book storage facility, abbreviated as ReCAP, is designed to provide high-density, environmentally controlled shelving for library items from the three institutions which own and operate it.
   The facility consists of a library materials receiving and processing center and four book storage modules, which together can hold approximately 7 million volumes. The first three modules were completed and occupied in 2001 and the fourth storage module was completed in 2004 and is nearly full. The processing center is 23,956 square feet and 25 feet tall. The four modules are each 14,840 square feet and 40 feet tall.
   ReCAP received approval for construction of Phase 2 of the project from the Plainsboro Township Planning Board in July 2006, which includes construction of three larger book storage modules, totaling 81,090 square feet, with heights of 22 feet.
   Construction work for Phase 2 began in August 2006, with the fourth module likely to be complete and ready to accept books by spring 2008, according to Bob Rittenhouse, principal, director of development for Aegis Property Group, the real estate property developers of ReCAP. The fourth module should be filled by the time the fifth opens, he added. He declined to speculate on construction dates regarding modules six and seven.
   Prior to beginning construction of the fifth module, partial demolition and removal of an existing building occurred. The remainder of the building will need to be demolished and removed prior to building the sixth module. The fifth and sixth modules will each be 115 feet in width and 233 feet long and contain 19 aisles. The seventh module will be 216 feet wide and 233 feet long and contain 11 aisles. Architectural drawings for ReCAP show areas for possible photovoltaic flat panels to generate electricity.
   In 1999, Princeton, Columbia and New York Public Library agreed to build and share the high-tech, automated book storage facility for infrequently used volumes.
   Most items are sorted by size and placed in open-top trays, which are stored on an appropriate-sized shelf, in order to store the maximum number of items in the minimum floor area. An inventory control system keeps track of item locations and produces picking lists for requested items, which are identified in local catalogs with a direct Web link to a request form. Items are distributed to a requestor within 24 hours of the request.
   Eileen Henthorne, executive director of ReCAP, said, Princeton University was not allowing her to speak to the press about the facility. David Knight, spokesman for Princeton-Forrestal, the real estate development division of Princeton University, declined to provide updates on the project.