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It is important when your library is making a move to be sure that the firm that you contract to move you has the expertise, equipment and the experience that will make the transition as stress-free as possible. Beware of the lowest bid, which might indicate shortcut methods. Have each bidder explain how they see your project going - the challenges that they foresee and the time that they are allowing for the move. Be sure to agree on what is included in their bid. Some of the national companies may be a good choice since they are likely to have satellite branches in an area nearer the facility that is being moved. It can be economical in using their own employees as local labor that is qualified and responsible to the local branch, rather than having to hire from a temporary labor pool as is the case when a company is located in another part of the country. Be sure that if they are not local that they know the local codes and any reinstallation requirements

Spend some time with the bidders for your project and have them explain the staging of the shelving from the existing facility (or area) to the new building (or newer area). Talk about time frames for the various parts of the move. Talk about the use of the elevators at both the existing building and the new place. You will want to take inventory of the pieces that you have that will move with you and make note of the ones that will be donated to other libraries. This may be a case of physically marking the pieces at some point; or, if you have a floor plan, you would mark them on the plan. The new floor plan will show existing pieces that will be reused, and this will be helpful for everyone from the movers to the people who install the new furniture and equipment. Color and number coding within each color (designating area) is a system that has been successfully used on large projects. When the items have been marked so that the items that move furthest will move first, time has been saved and the chance of damage to the materials is decreased by eliminating additional handling.

Discuss what other trades will be working in the area at the same time and what their requirements might be. Coordinate this with all that occupy the space at the same time so that there are no surprises that could delay work schedules. Wood furniture should be the last to be installed since the chairs and tables become makeshift stools for those working on ceilings and with lights.

If the existing building is an one that will be demolished, there may be additional time-saving advantages in that windows and doors don't need to be protected in the same way as when the building will continue to be used. Think of the windows and doors as a way of removing furniture and shelving to lower floors by means of an outside elevator rather than the use of traditional elevators, which may be small or slow in an older building.  When you use moving experts who have encountered many challenges through their experience, they may be able to engineer new methods of accomplishing your move, thereby saving time and money.

Tish Murphy, Library Furniture Consultant and Author of Library Furnishings; A Planning Guide lives in Phoenix, Arizona. www.libraryfurnishings.com

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