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August 6, 2007
Emory libraries donate renovation reusables to rural communities

By Kelly Gray

Reduce, recycle and reuse are familiar words seen on recycling receptacles around Emory’s campuses — including its libraries. And several campus libraries are recycling and reusing more than just white paper and plastic bottles.

Emory’s Woodruff Library was up to the challenge when its renovation project began and there was spare shelving and furniture.

The Woodruff Library Stack Tower Level 6 Renovation Project donated more than 480 linear feet of metal shelving and surplus furniture to the Rural Library Project, a nonprofit organization committed to establishing new, small libraries in rural areas.

“This is the first time Emory libraries have donated shelving to the Rural Libraries Project,” said Emory Libraries’ Planning Officer Charles Forrest. “The project has reused items from Emory surplus property before, including wooden tables from Woodruff Library. With this donation, Emory libraries can help support the development of public libraries in rural Georgia where previously there were none, or where library equipment was scarce.”

Emory libraries have nowhere to reuse the shelving and nowhere to store it. Arrangements had been made to have the metal shelving replaced by new compact moveable shelving, and the old steel shelving that was going to be recycled has found a more useful new home.

The donation was distributed among five communities in Georgia to help create new libraries. The communities receiving the donation included the cities of Walnut Grove, Plains, Whitesburg and Milner. Quitman County also received library furnishings.

The Rural Library Project collaborates with citizens, public library systems and governments in rural areas to raise funds and build libraries in towns and communities. For more information about this project and the communities it serves, visit www.rurallibraryproject.org.

Stack improvements under way in library

A conversion to compact shelving will increase shelving capacity in the Woodruff Library Stack Tower in order to keep as much of the library’s collection as possible on the central campus and accessible to users. Level 6 is currently closed for renovation, expected to reopen in January 2008.

This is the third phase of a multi-year project; Levels 4 and 5 were renovated in 2004 and 2006, respectively. Materials previously stored on Level 6 can be requested through the EUCLID library catalog and delivered to Woodruff Library.

Stack Tower improvements will include: moveable compact shelving; a lounge area; carpet; new paint; improved lighting; sprinkler system; American Disabled Act-compliant restroom; increased electrical outlets; and group study spaces.

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