Think back to the last time you moved. What was the hardest thing to pack-after the good china and the crystal? Books, right?
Piles and piles of books, which never seem to quite fit into the boxes you had, and always weighed a ton.
So imagine what a headache it must be to move a whole library. That’s what the librarians at Palatine Public Library are facing in the next few weeks as they move across Northwest Highway into their spiffy new digs.
But what a nightmare to haul around a quarter of a million books, even when you’re just across the street. And while most of us can get away with being a little haphazard about how we pack up, a public library has to keep track of what is going where.
“The key is keeping the books in order,” explained Dan Armstrong, Palatine’s head librarian. “I’ve seen library moves that have gone bad, and it’s not a pretty sight.”
So how do you approach not just moving that many books, but knowing where to find them when you get to your destination? “It’s fairly complicated,” Armstrong said. “We are working furiously trying to get everything set up for the move right now.”
That’s why libraries turn to moving companies that specialize in public libraries, and as you can well imagine, the yellow pages aren’t exactly full of them.
The one used most frequently around here seems to be Noffs Atlantic/North American Van Lines, an Arlington Heights-based mover that started out moving office buildings, and built up to libraries after moving a few large law firms.
“All it takes is doing a good job on that first move to build a reputation as a public library mover,” said David Noffs, national accounts supervisor. “Librarians are a close-knit bunch, and the word travels quickly. It’s a rather specialized niche, I’ll admit.”
The Rolling Meadows library was actually Noffs’ first public library client-no sooner were they settled in than the library was flooded and everything had to be moved out of the basement on very short notice. Noffs pulled it off, and the company’s reputation apparently was written in permanent ink in the books of northwest suburban librarians.
The secret to moving libraries, Noffs said, is having the right system. The worst part of moving tons of books obviously would be boxing and unboxing them. Not to worry: Noffs’ “system” involves using specially designed mobile bookcarts instead of thousands of boxes.
“Each one of our carts holds 24 linear feet of books, and we just go into each section, move the books from their shelf onto the cart and then back to the shelf in the new library,” he added.
Noffs also has moved the Prospect Heights, Highland Park and Elk Grove Village libraries.
In 1989, the Prospect Heights library made a double move-into temporary quarters and then back again, a double headache.
“It’s important to find movers who have experience with libraries, otherwise you could end up with a real jumble,” recalled Barbara Rozanski, head librarian at Prospect Heights.
The Palatine library will involve moving 650 cartloads of books, or as Noffs counts it, 15,600 linear feet of books, in about five days, beginning Nov. 22.
Art for charity: Rolling Meadows jewelry designer Charmaine Anthony has created a Christmas ornament that will be sold as a benefit for Chicago House, a residence for AIDS patients.
Anthony, an internationally recognized jewelry designer who was motivated to become a designer through her art class at Rolling Meadows High School, sells her creations mostly in galleries and museum shops. She added that she used to do volunteer work in hospitals, but found it too depressing.
“This is my way of helping, through what I do best,” she said.
The ornament, a delicate sterling silver Christmas tree in a matte finish with a tiny inset garnet ornament, hangs from a symbolic red ribbon.
Anthony said she has worked mostly through her regular accounts to distribute the ornament, which has sparked interest as far afield as Hawaii and is available at a number of Chicago galleries.
The ornament will retail for $30, $11 of which is earmarked for Chicago House. However, she said that many retailers are donating some or all of their $15 proceeds from the sale to the cause as well.
In the northwest suburbs, the ornament will be sold at Back Drop, an art gallery in downtown Arlington Heights, and at the Art Institute Museum Store in Woodfield. It also can be ordered by phone directly through Chicago House at 312-248-5200.
Back Drop will hold a Meet the Artist reception to launch the sale of the ornament from 5 to 9 p.m. Nov. 19 at the store, at 7 E. Campbell St. in Arlington Heights.
