“Book circulation was higher than last year. No doubt the efficiency of the paging operation has contributed to that increase. Books are retrieved within five to ten minutes of the submitted request. Moreover, 97% of the titles requested are found on the shelf. This is an increase from an average of 89% last year. The completion of the inventory, on-going shelfreading, and well-trained staff all contribute to the success of the paging operation.” Miriam Deutch, Associate Librarian for Research & Access Services“The Circulation unit receives an average of ten e-mail requests for book renewals each day. The form to renew books online is now available on the Library homepage at http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/library/about_library/circrenewal.htm.” Miriam Deutch, Associate Librarian for Research & Access ServicesThe Paging Operation
That pagers are able to retrieve 97% of all books requested by readers is little short of miraculous and an incredible tribute to the staff’s efficiency and attention to detail. Still, faculty and students must enjoy this level of “instant access” while they can: it goes without saying that, in a modern library with open stacks (such as we will have in the Once & Future Library), readers will never find 97% of the books they seek sitting on the shelves, awaiting their touch. In open stack settings, for ease of access we trade a goodly amount of both security and orderliness.During the two and a half years the Library has been in temporary quarters, many faculty have taken advantage of our time-saving custom paging service: instructors may e-mail or fax us lists of books in which they are interested before they come to the Field Library: staff then retrieve these materials and have them ready when faculty arrive. If staffing stretches far enough, we hope to continue offering this service in the new building.