UBC Library has officially opened its newest facility, the Library Preservation and Archives (Library PARC), a high-density storage building to house library collections and University records. The facility is located at 6049 Nurseries Road within UBC Vancouver’s South Campus Research precinct.
Designed to provide more than 2,200 square metres of collection storage, the facility is capable of holding about 1.6 million volumes. Library PARC also houses a campus-wide records management service, a small book cleaning station, a reading room and a staff work area.
“Library PARC is key in helping us house our collections and providing innovative spaces worthy of a 21st-century research library,” said Ingrid Parent, University Librarian at the official opening, which took place in late October. She added that the movement of collections from branches to PARC frees up physical spaces for other emerging uses such as student research services, informal learning areas, study spaces and multimedia labs.
Library PARC’s careful climate-controlled environment will extend the life of collections up to seven times, ensuring their availability to current and future generations of students, scholars and lifelong learners. The building cost $10.5 million, shared between the Library and UBC.
Storage facilities of this kind are a proven, economical means of housing research collections for the long term. The first were established at Harvard in the 1980s, and more than 40 such facilities currently exist across North America.
Library PARC is the Library’s second storage facility on campus. The Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS), developed in 2005 and known as the “library robot,” can retrieve books in as little as two minutes and also offers closed climate-controlled storage. Located in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, the ASRS is equipped to hold up to two million items and is now nearing full capacity, making the launch of Library PARC a much-needed solution.
Project management for this facility was provided by UBC Properties Trust and partners included UBC Campus and Community Planning, DGBK Architects and Wales McLelland Construction.
For more information about Library PARC, please contact:
Rue Ramirez, Associate University Librarian
604.822.5241
For media inquiries, tours and photo shoots, please contact:
Linda Ong, Director, Communications and Marketing
604.827.4831