Central Service Desk Assistant Guide

Shelf-reading is an essential part of stacks maintenance. There are three main purposes to shelf reading: 

1. Making sure each book/material is properly shelved in the correct location, and is correct in our library system Alma. Often patrons shelve books in the incorrect locations, and sometimes books with a variety of issues slip through the cracks and find their way on the shelves. We use a digital Inventory tool to scan book barcodes, which lets us know if the book is out of place or has any issues.

2. Identifying any preservation issues. While shelf-reading, you may find damaged pieces, such as missing a label, label falling off, torn or otherwise in need of repair books. We must be especially alert for mold, mildew, or insect damage, as it is important to catch these issues early before they spread. Remove any damaged books to be sent to the library's book repair unit.

3. Keep the shelves themselves in order. For the neatness of our patrons and the proper preservation of our books, it is important that we keep the shelves in top condition, with the books stored properly (vertical, spine down, or flat--never warped or leaning).

Guidelines for Shelf-reading:

• Move through the stacks from left to right, and top to bottom by short shelves.
• It is a good idea to take a quick survey of the shelves to get a sense of the physical extent of the alpha-range you're looking at so you won't inadvertently jump to the next subject letter. "LCC tunnel vision" often happens when scanning Cutters and losing sight of the entire call number.
• Shelf-reading can take quite a while. It is more important that you take your time to be accurate than to rush through quickly and make mistakes.
• When handling a book truck, make sure the load is balanced, and drive carefully, especially in and out of elevators.

How to handle a book:

• Books have fragile structures, and it is important to treat them gently at all times. Work carefully and slowly so that a book is never dropped or tossed.
• Only handle books with cleanly washed hands. If you are handling dirty books, wash hands often or wear gloves.
• The ideal method to remove a book from a shelf is to hold it from the middle, pushing back the neighboring books slightly in the process. Removing a book by tugging from the headcap and tipping it onto a corner is a common way that books accumulate damage. Another way to remove a book is to place an index finger firmly on the head of the textblock (the paper, not the spine), and gently tip it out.
• Shelve books vertically and use a sturdy bookend for support. Books leaning at angles soon develop permanent warps, which can cause tearing and cracking. If a book is too big to stand up, the book can be stored with the spine side down. Never store a book with the fore edge facing downward--this will damage the book. If the book need to be laid flat, only store up two to three books on top of each other in this way.
• When shelving books, leave some "breathing" room- do not cram books too tightly or too loosely.

The library has a digital inventory tool found at https://inventory.library.vanderbilt.edu/

To use this tool, open the webpage and select Central library. Then, select where you will be shelf-reading (if you are shelf-reading the main stacks of Central, select Stacks).

Scanning a barcode will import that item’s information into a table. If a Call Number appears in a red font, that item is out of shelving order.  If a Call Number appears in a blue font, that item is a duplicate copy scanned after a copy of the same item. If a row is highlighted, that means that there is an issue with the item: For example,  if the row is highlighted yellow, that item is in the wrong shelving area. You can look at the Legend tab to see all the other things a barcode scan might tell you, such as that the item is checked out or marked as missing.

Here is an example of how the tool might look during a scanning session:

If a row appears highlighted, pull the book to be given to a supervisor, as it will need to be fixed using our Alma privileges.

A designated cart, laptop, and barcode scanner for shelf reading is located in the sorting area of Central circulation.

Identify books in poor condition that need repair. Pull books with these conditions aside for the Book Repair Unit to treat.

• yellow or brittle paper  
• multiple loose/torn pages 
• weakened/broken stitching  
• failed adhesive 
• torn hinges, inside or out 
• covers separated from the text 
• torn endpapers inside the covers 
• torn reinforcing cloth that holds the cover and pages together  
• deteriorating leather 
• spine torn or hanging loosely 
• missing or mutilated pages 

If you identify mold, notify a supervisor immediately.