If you have tried unsuccessfully to find a book or journal volume in the library stacks, it is possible that it may have been sent to the Library Annex in late summer of 2009.  InfoHawk records are being updated to indicate which books are in that facility and a retrieval service will enable you to have them brought back to campus for your use.  While we are in the process of updating InfoHawk, it may be necessary to use our Interlibrary Loan services to get access to some needed titles until this work has been completed. 

This situation came about through a series of events resulting from 2008 flood and the recent economic downturn.   The flood of 2008 required us to move the Music and Art Libraries temporarily into the already overcrowded Main Library.  To make matters worse, the recent economic downturn deferred indefinitely the construction of a planned collection storage facility.  To help alleviated the added overcrowding in the meantime, the University decided to lease a warehouse in the Iowa City area to house the lesser used collection overflow.  FEMA agreed to cover some of the leasing costs and the cost of moving and shelving, but all the work had to be completed by August 20, just weeks after a warehouse was found and leased.  As a result, several hundred thousand volumes were moved in about two weeks, leaving no time for a truly organized relocation.  While criteria were used to identify volumes for transfer based on low usage, availability of electronic versions, and age, the planned review of individual titles by library liaisons and faculty could not be completed in time for the FEMA deadline.

Library staff have been working continuously this fall to organize the materials at the leased facility and to change the location records in InfoHawk.  This is an enormous task that will require many weeks to complete.  We are also aware that a few books may have been sent to the Annex which should have remained in the stacks. If you think a volume may have been sent in error, send a note with as much bibliographic information as possible and the reason for your request to Edward Shreeves, Associate University Librarian and Director of Collections & Scholarly Communication.