ANN ARBOR—Buhr is bulging. The more than 1.7 million books moved from the University of Michigan’s libraries to its Buhr Shelving Facility in the past 15 years have stretched the facility to its limit, forcing the University to use an interim facility to catch the overflow.

Hopefully, Buhr’s bulging will be brought under control with a scheduled 38,000-square-foot addition to the current building’s south side. Bids for the addition are to go out this month.

Between 100,000 and 140,000 volumes are transferred from campus libraries to the Buhr facility each year, says Carol McKendry, coordinator of technical operations at Buhr.

Until the addition is completed, some volumes will continue to be housed at the interim location, not open to patrons. “We encourage both library staff and patrons to phone or e-mail Buhr if there are questions as to the location or availability of items,” McKendry says. “This is especially important if patrons are coming directly to Buhr to charge out materials or use them in our reading room, since books stored at the temporary site will not be immediately available.”

The Buhr Shelving Facility can be reached by phone at 763- 9089 or by e-mail at [email protected].

U-M News and Information ServicesUniversity of Michigan