Library PARC rendering courtesy of DGBK Architects
Library Preservation and Archives, aka Library PARC, is a new modular storage facility that is being built to accommodate the future growth of collections at UBC Library.
Library PARC will be located at UBC Vancouver’s South Campus (in the Research Precinct); construction is scheduled for completion by spring 2015.
Low-circulation items from the Library’s collections will be relocated to Library PARC, freeing up physical space at branches for other uses – including student and research services, study spaces and informal learning areas, multimedia labs, scholarly exchanges and more.
When complete, Library PARC will provide 2,280 square metres of high-density collection storage, capable of housing about 1.6 million volumes.
The facility will also house a campus-wide records management service, in addition to a small digitization area, a contained freezer area for decontamination, a staff work area and a publicly accessible reading room.
Another important benefit is preservation: Library PARC’s carefully 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.
Library PARC is estimated to cost about $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 about 40 such facilities currently exist at universities across North America.