MOVING 18,000 VOLUME LIBRARY NO SMALL TASK

SCOTT CITY -- If you think moving a household is an aggravation, try relocating an entire library.

That's what Elizabeth Link, director of the Riverside Regional Library and a squad of Scott City volunteers are completing this week.

"It's going to be an interesting job," said Link. "I guarantee you nobody moves a library for the fun of it."

Friday and Saturday, the Riverside Regional Library moved its Scott City branch from 608 Second Street East to the Scott City Plaza, in the 2100 block of Main Street.

Link said the move was prompted by circulation figures that show the Scott City library is under used at its present location.

"Our circulation does not match the population of Scott City. It should be much higher than what it is now," said Link. "Although we have adequate space at our 608 Second Street, East location, there is no off street parking, and it's not located near the population center of Scott City."

Link said the move to the new location hasn't been without controversy. She said some people wanted the library stay put.

She said the location is adjacent to one of the major food stores, a clothing and merchandise store, a gasoline station and convenience store and a video rental business.

"And best of all, there is lots of parking available," said Link. "Moving to the plaza will make the library more visible and accessible to everyone."

Last week, a group of Scott County 4-H youth volunteers painted the interior of the new library center.

The actual move began at 8:30 a.m. Friday, when Link, retired Riverside Regional Library librarian Junior Wilfong, and volunteers from the Scott City Ministerial Alliance, began numbering, labeling and packing the more than 18,000 volumes.

After the books were removed from the stacks and placed in numbered boxes, other volunteers took down the shelving.

The books and shelving were then loaded on a flatbed trailer provided by the Rev. Rennie Phillips, pastor of the Scott City Wesleyan Church, and transported about two miles to their new home.

By 10:30 a.m. Saturday, the shelving was back up in its new location. On Monday, the books will be put back in the stacks.

Wilfong, who was Riverside Regional Library librarian for 37 years, said the first phase of the move went off without a hitch. He credited the volunteers for the smooth transition.

"We had 10 volunteers help take down books on Friday and six on Saturday. It was a nice group and they did good work," said Wilfong.

If everything goes according to plan, Link hopes to have the library open in its new home by Aug. 2.

"Not all of the books will be back in the stacks by then. It takes a lot of time to reassemble the shelving and put the books back in the stacks," she said. "It will probably be early September before we're really settled in our new home."

Link, who is leaving the Riverside Regional Library in August to become the librarian at Festus, said moving a library sounds like a simple job. Not so.

"The possibility for making mistakes are legion. You have a wealth of opportunities from start to finish to mess up," she said.

Link said planning and preparations for the move began a few months ago. Although papers have been written on how to move a library, Link said there is no particular recipe.

"Each library adopts other written plans to fit their needs. The most important thing to remember when moving a library is that you remove the books from the stacks starting from left to right and top to bottom. And be sure the same sections are in the same boxes."

This marks the fourth move for the library since it opened in Scott City in the 1950s, and Wilfong was involved in all four moves. He said the first library was located in a house near the former Boner Harmon Furniture Company in Illmo. "Later on, we moved across the street, next to a gasoline station, and finally to the 608 Second Street location," said Wilfong.

This is the second library move for Link. Two years ago, she supervised the move of the Riverside Regional Library's branch library at Benton.

That involved moving 10,000 volumes across the parking lot to the new location.

"But whether its 10,000 or a million books, its just as complicated," said Link. "You have to be careful to pack the books in the right order and put them back on the stacks in the right order."