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Transportation Library Quick Guide: Changes in Library Status: Overview

What's in This Quick Guide

Overview

When libraries close their doors.

Closures

Managing collections, resources and services when libraries close.

Downsizing

Planning when physical spaces decrease.

Transition to Virtual

When information services go online.

Additional Resources

Supplemental resources for more information.

Definitions/Abbreviations

Definitions of terms, abbreviations and acronyms used throughout the Quick Guide.

Introduction

Many state transportation agency libraries have undergone changes in the last decade. While some simply move with the agency to new offices, others gain space when the agency moves. More state transportation agency libraries appear to be losing some or all of their physical space. Losing shelf space doesn’t mean that needs or capacity for library and information services are lessened. Intellectual capital is no longer only found in shelved books. Accessing and managing information and knowing what information best meets an agency’s needs is the intellectual capital in today’s digital age.

Accessing and managing information and knowing what information best meets an agency’s needs is the intellectual capital in today’s digital age.

About the Pooled Fund

Transportation Research and Connectivity logoThe Transportation Research and Connectivity pooled fund study, TPF-5(442), is a consortium of state departments of transportation (DOTs) and other partners that supports the coordinated development of transportation libraries as well as research organizations without dedicated libraries. Study focus areas include communication and networking, digitization, research report accessibility, and developing online resource guides and a toolkit for non-librarians.

Authors and Contributors

This Quick Guide was prepared by CTC & Associates LLC for the Transportation Research and Connectivity pooled fund study, TPF-5(442), under the guidance of the following members of the study's technical advisory committee:

This guide is a living document that is intended to be revised and updated to incorporate new resources. To suggest a resource for inclusion, please contact one of the committee members listed above.

Publication date: December 2022.

Featured Resource

Computers in Libraries journal cover 

"Special Libraries and the Information Services Lifecycle," Terence K. Huwe, Computers in Libraries, September 2020.

This article examines how special libraries can remain flexible and adaptive in the face of change.

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More information about design and planning factors to consider when libraries change status is available in the following Quick Guides:

Audience

The guidance in this Quick Guide is appropriate for DOTs with or without library spaces and with or without library collections.