C&RL News September 2017 440

The University of Illinois-Chicago is an ARL member library with a collection of 
2.3 million volumes. While we have access 
to many electronic resources, we still have 
a substantial collection of physical items to 
manage in several buildings. Many of those 
volumes are held at the Richard J. Daley 
Library on our east campus, where nonhealth-
related academic programs are located. Late 
in 2015, the head of the Daley Circulation 
Department announced his retirement after 
more than 30 years in that position. The 
department was a typical academic library 
circulation unit, including circulation desk, 
shelving, reserves, and interlibrary loan. Most 
of the two dozen staff members had been 
with the department for many years. 

I am head of the Resource Management 
and Acquisition (RAM) Department, which 
could be described as our technical services 
department (cataloging, acquisitions, serials, 
electronic resources management). I was 
asked to step in and supervise parts of the 
circulation department while we recruited 
a new department head. I worked with the 
interlibrary loan and stacks maintenance 
units, while a colleague took on the reserves 
and circulation desk units. We served as co-
managers of the department for eight months, 
during which time we restructured the depart-
ment in several ways. One major change was 
creating a new Collection Maintenance Unit, 
which was added to the RAM Department. 

I had considered new ways to manage our 
physical collections for some time. I was origi-
nally inspired by a discussion with Richard 

Kong about the reorganization of the Skokie 
Public Library, where he is now the director. 
He described how a single department was 
responsible for physical items through their 
whole life cycle, from purchasing through 
cataloging, processing, shelving, and finally 
withdrawal. It made sense to have the people 
doing these tasks work together closely. In 
our earlier organization, shelving, shifting, 
and repair were managed in one department 
while cataloging, processing, and bindery 
were managed in another. Combining these 
tasks in one department would surely encour-
age cooperation. When I got the opportunity 
to work with the circulation department units, 
I was determined to investigate how such a 
setup could work in our academic library 
setting. 

I found little mention of this type of 
organization in the professional literature, 
although a 2011 article about a reorganization 
joining circulation and reference1 presented 
some interesting ideas. I began by learning 
more about the tasks of the current units 
through talking with staff and studying their 
workflow. I also looked at jobs done by other 
parts of the circulation department. Repair 
of items from the circulating collection had 
ended up in the circulation department after 
staff changes some years earlier, and was 

Gwen M. Gregory

For the duration
Creating a collection maintenance unit in technical services

Gwen M. Gregory is head of resources acquisition 
and management at the University of Illinois-Chicago 
Library, email: ggregory@uic.edu
 
© 2017 Gwen M. Gregory

mailto:ggregory%40uic.edu?subject=


September 2017 441 C&RL News

done by a few staff members with little pro-
fessional oversight. On the other hand, some 
tasks of the current units were clearly able 
to be combined with those of other units of 
the circulation department, such as staffing 
the desks at the entry doors and monitoring 
the building during the hours of operation. 
Working closely with my comanager and with 
current staff members, I developed a new 
model for a smaller Collection Maintenance 
Unit to be added to the RAM Department, 
incorporating four staff members from cir-
culation and one from RAM as well as 15 to 
20 student workers. 

The new 
Collection 
M a i n t e -
nance Unit 
is respon-
s i b l e  f o r 
s h e l v i n g , 
s h i f t i n g , 
withdraw-
a l s ,  m a n -
agement of 
collections 
i n  w a r e -
house and 
s t o r a g e 
spaces, re-
pairs, bind-
e r y ,  a n d 
processing 
new mate-
rials for the 
D a l e y  L i -
brary. Some 
o f  t h e s e 
tasks were previously done in circulation, 
some were done in RAM, and some were 
done jointly. 

For example, items for withdrawal were 
often pulled by circulation staff and deliv-
ered to RAM, where RAM staff removed 
items from online systems. The Collection 
Maintenance Unit incorporates the smaller 
Database Maintenance Unit from RAM, which 
focused on processing items and withdrawals 
and had one full-time staff member and five 

student workers. We now have more staff to 
work on these tasks, as needed, as well as a 
larger pool of students who can be trained 
for a variety of tasks. We are training more 
students for shelving so that they can do this 
at crunch times like the end of the semester. 

As the RAM department head, I supervise 
the Collection Maintenance Unit directly. 
Other units in the RAM department handle 
the purchase and cataloging of new materi-
als, so we cover the full life cycle of many 
items. Tasks that remain with the Daley 
Circulation Department include staffing the 
desks, assignment and management of library 

carrels, and 
monitoring 
the floors.

T h e 
t r a n s i t i o n 
took place 
in August 
2016, just 
before the 
beginning 
of the fall 
s e m e s t e r. 
Four staf f 
m e m b e r s 
m o v e d  t o 
t h e  R A M 
work area 
on the sec-
ond floor, 
which pro-
vided phys-
ical distance 
b e t w e e n 
t h e m  a n d 

their old work location and colleagues. This 
enabled them to focus on their new duties. 
The reshelving area, where materials ac-
cumulate for shelving as they are returned, 
remained on the first floor behind the circula-
tion desk. We had four empty workstations in 
RAM due to previous elimination of positions, 
so we had ample desk space. We created 
a dedicated repair area, with two tables, a 
number of shelves, and special repair equip-
ment and supplies. 

Previous Circulation Department organization.



C&RL News September 2017 442

We initiated a new workflow for repairs, 
which are now either delivered to the second 
floor by circulation staff or picked up by RAM 
in the first floor circulation area. We created 
a paper slip to enhance communication 
between departments, enable monitoring of 
treatment options, and minimize time out of 
circulation. One library clerk has taken over 
most of the repair work, and other staff mem-
bers have been trained to perform repairs 
when needed. None of them previously did 
these tasks. I have previous experience with 
book repair and preservation, so I led this 
effort and trained the staff. For a few months, 
w e  g o t 
t o g e t h -
e r  e a c h 
m o r n i n g 
to review 
i t e m s 
n e e d i n g 
repair and 
to discuss 
t h e  b e s t 
o p t i o n s . 
There was 
a backlog 
of items, 
w h i c h 
g a v e  u s 
plenty to 
review. 

A f t e r 
this initial 
t r a i n i n g 
p e r i o d , 
the staff members are now able to diagnose 
and repair most items immediately, and they 
bring questions to me. We have started send-
ing a limited number of items for rebinding 
at a commercial bindery which we had not 
done at all for the past several years. Items 
needing repair now move through the work-
flow quickly, either being fixed, sent to the 
bindery, or routed to subject liaisons for re-
view if they are unfixable or may no longer 
be needed. We repair rush items immediately 
and are careful not to develop new backlogs. 

Shelving is now done almost totally by stu-

dents; full time staff did much of it previously. 
This saves on staffing costs and frees staff 
members to do more complex work, such 
as repairs. As part of the reorganization, we 
were able to eliminate two lower level staff 
positions by shifting their desk and shelv-
ing duties to students. Staff members direct 
students in their shelving and shifting work. 

As in many academic libraries, circulation 
of physical items has been gradually declin-
ing for some years. Not as many staff and stu-
dents are needed for shelving as in the past, 
and the volume of returns is not so great that 
we need to have people shelving at night and 

t h r o u g h 
the week-
end. The 
unit staff 
w o r k s 
d u r i n g 
b u s i n e s s 
h o u r s 
M o n d a y 
t h r o u g h 
Friday. We 
a r e  c u r -
rently con-
s i d e r i n g 
w h e t h e r 
we need 
to do any 
weekend 
shelving. 

T h e 
s t a f f 
members 

involved have reacted positively to these 
changes, for the most part. All are long-term 
civil service employees at the library who 
have worked in their jobs for some years. 
Several of them expressed specific interest in 
taking on new duties as part of the reorga-
nization. Staff are still adjusting to their new 
roles, including letting go of some responsi-
bilities that have stayed with the circulation 
department. As their manager, I have helped 
them share their thoughts and ideas with the 
new head of the circulation department. I 
continue to share their comments myself, as 

New Circulation Department organization.



September 2017 443 C&RL News

well. However, some things have changed, 
and staff in the Collection Maintenance Unit 
will need to let go of their old ideas and 
responsibilities. This is challenging for some. 
I have engaged the staff members in new 
projects to encourage their exploration, as 
well as to distract them from focusing on their 
previous duties. Because the reshelving area 
remains on the first floor, staff members must 
visit it several times each day to monitor how 
much shelving needs to be done and then 
assign it to students. We are exploring other 
ways to monitor reshelving needs, such as 
placing a webcam in the area.

In the next few months, staff members in 
the Collection Maintenance Unit will need to 
take several steps to become more effective, 
now that everyone is accustomed to being 
part of the RAM Department. First of all, 
we need to expand cross-training, both for 
students and full-time staff. When student 
workers are trained to do multiple tasks, we 
can more effectively assign them. 

For example, much more shelving is done 
at the end of the semester. At that time we 
can use everyone who is trained to get it 
done quickly. However, that is only five or 
six weeks out of the year. The two groups of 
students should merge into one bigger pool 
that can be used for many things. We also 
need to continue cross-training staff. I will 
work with the two senior staff members in 
the unit to plan cross-training activities for 
the next year. I anticipate that we will have 
many important future projects for the unit, 

such as the withdrawal of duplicate copies 
from our collection. 

In addition, staff members who recently 
joined RAM from circulation need to be inte-
grated into the social life of their new depart-
ment. I am looking for ways to get them to 
participate more in departmental parties and 
other activities. Our departmental retreat in 
January 2017 was an occasion for everyone 
to get better acquainted and understand each 
other’s work.

The creation of the Collection Mainte-
nance Unit brought together a team to care 
for and monitor our physical library collec-
tions throughout their life cycle. We now 
work more closely on projects like shifting, 
withdrawals, and bindery. There is a better 
process for determining and completing 
repairs for the circulating collection, with 
increased accountability at the different steps 
in the process. We also have more staff and 
student workers who can be deployed for 
various collection projects, as needed. This 
will improve our ability to handle the library 
collections in the future, making the best 
materials available for our users and manag-
ing physical library collections effectively 
throughout their life cycle.

Note
1. Ken Johnson, Susan Jennings, and  

Sue Hisle, “Ending the Turf War: Circulation, 
Reference, and Instruction on One Team,” 
Journal of Access Services 8, no. 3 (2011): 
107–24. 

CRIC opens the door to potentially un-
comfortable, but meaningful, conversations 
about power structures in the classroom and 
in the university more broadly. Be willing to 
listen and to learn from others on campus, 
including those who are in other unique 
roles, such as disability services and student 
groups. Expect any outcomes generated dur-
ing such a collaboration, such as a guide, to 
be organic and iterative. Be ready to keep 
learning. 

Notes
1. Portland State University, “Let Knowledge 

Serve the City: Strategic Plan 2016-20,” Portland 
State University, accessed June 26th, 2017, 
https://www.pdx.edu/president/sites/www.
pdx.edu.president/files/StrategicPlan2016-4.pdf.

2. Geneva Gay, “Preparing for Culturally 
Responsive Teaching,” Journal of Teacher 
Education, 53 no. 2 (2002): 106

3. h t t p : / / g u i d e s . l i b r a r y . p d x . e d u 
/culturallyresponsivecurriculum.  

(“Librarians as campus partners,” continues from page 417) 

https://www.pdx.edu/president/sites/www.pdx.edu.president/files/StrategicPlan2016-4.pdf
https://www.pdx.edu/president/sites/www.pdx.edu.president/files/StrategicPlan2016-4.pdf
http://guides.library.pdx.edu/culturallyresponsivecurriculum
http://guides.library.pdx.edu/culturallyresponsivecurriculum