Books Coming Back

Today's Daily Egyptian reports that the books in the McLafferty Annex soon will be returned to the Morris Library building. I'm excited about the books coming back. Since my first couple months at SIU, I've looked forward to the day that I no longer have to answer the question, "What part of the building is the McLafferty Annex?" As excited as I am, I try not to grin too widely in front of Dean Carlson.

The McLafferty Annex is just one of the storage facilities that the library has. The renovation and expansion was not designed to be big enough to hold all the materials in those other buildings. "Another concern is two of the storage areas are in horrible shape, he said, causing recent mold problems to affect thousands of books. Although the books have been taken care of this time, Carlson said he worries about more problems it may cause. He said the storage facility on Marion Street has caused the most trouble and is in the worst condition. Carlson said these buildings were only intended for short-term storage." On top of that, with the 6th and 7th floors of the library incomplete, space for new books will run out within a few years.

The dean's hope was that after the books were returned from McLafferty, the library could continue to have McLafferty for storage. Materials in the other storage buildings could be moved to McLafferty Annex building, and the library could vacate the other storage buildings.  Fisheries labs are going to move to the basement of the McLafferty Annex. Other units on campus eying the McLafferty building for their own space needs, including to get out of other buildings that are in horrible shape. Prospects for the library being able to keep the rest of the McLafferty building do not look good.