Collections Facility
The Collections Facility (CF) is an environmentally controlled space designed for the long term preservation of our collections.
About the facility
The Collections Facility (CF) is an environmentally controlled space designed to preserve materials from the University of Minnesota Libraries and the Minnesota Library Access Collection (MLAC). It is expected to house over 3 million items on its 32’ high-density storage shelving. Items are sorted by size and shelved in trays to maximize the number of items that can be stored. Materials are retrieved by staff; the collections are not browsable and the stacks are not open to the public.
The Collections Facility is not open to the public at this time.
Access materials by requesting through our catalog or contact Collections Facility staff at [email protected] for more information about requesting items.
The Collections Facility is located in Minneapolis, MN at Como Ave. and 29th Ave., in a space that was formerly a surface parking lot across from the University’s Printing Service building.
Collections access
Collections are accessible via digital and physical delivery to campus once they have been ingested into the facility.
Items will be available for pick up at other library locations. Home/office delivery will also be available for UMN staff, faculty, and students.
Items that require supervision or specialized handling will be sent to the Wallin Center reading room at Andersen Library for supervised use. Link to Andersen access page Directions and instructions for viewing specialized materials will be provided via email.
During the initial ingest project (approximately April 2025-April 2027), the facility is not open to the public. After the initial ingest project, we will offer reading room availability by appointment only.
Requesting items
The process to fill the Collections Facility will take several years. As collections move from current locations to the facility, they will not be available for check-out to support the physical transfer process. Items can be requested from other libraries through interlibrary loan during this transfer time.
Once materials have moved to the Collections Facility, they will be available for delivery to any campus library using Get It for pick up or delivery to home or office delivery to Staff, Faculty and UMN Students.
Services
Collections Facility staff overview
The Collections Facility is staffed by six employees who work on the ingest, retrieval and shelving of materials. During the initial ingest process, student employees will help ingest large amounts of materials. Interested students are encouraged to check out the z.umn.edu/libraryjobs website for current job opportunities.
Minitex Resource Sharing staff will also be making scans of materials, and preparing materials to ship for interlibrary loans.
Contact information
If you have a question for Collections Facility staff, please email [email protected]. You can expect a response within 24 business hours during most times of the year.
Collections
Collections scope of the Collections Facility University of Minnesota
The Collections Facility houses general collections materials from the Libraries, including bound volumes, microforms, and media.
It houses lesser-used, yet important, collections from across the Libraries, as well as collections that warrant storage in a preservation-quality environment such as brittle or fragile materials, and at-risk titles that are held by relatively few US institutions.
Minnesota Library Access Collection (MLAC) depositors
The Collections Facility houses approximately 400,000 volumes from the Minnesota Library Access Collection (MLAC), which includes important but lesser used materials from across the state.
About the building
Funding, design, and construction
- Funding for the construction of the facility was approved by the Board of Regents in June 2022.
- The Collections Facility opened for materials ingest in April 2025.
- The Libraries partnered with the University’s Capital Project Management office, architectural firm BWBR, and other campus units to complete the design for this high-density off-site collections facility.
Design team
- Architect: BWBR
- Civil Engineer: Pierce Pini & Associates
- Landscape Architect: Damon Farber
- Structural Engineer: Paulson & Clark
- Mechanical/Electrical Engineer: NV5
- Technology: True North Consulting Group
- Shelving: Spacesaver
Sustainability
The Collections Facility is fully compliant with Building, Benchmarks and Beyond (https://www.b3mn.org/). Features include
- Geoexchange system
- The site employs an environmentally friendly approach to heating the facility. A custom heat exchanger supplies thermal energy to buildings from water hundreds of feet below the ground. This process, known as a Darcy Well, was developed by scientists from the University of Minnesota.
- Solar
- The building’s roof features solar panels that will produce approximately 250kW solar power.
- Stormwater management
- A bioswale on the property collects and slowly conveys storm runoff water from the site through a planted landscape with weir walls to slow the movement of water. A stormwater pond collects and stores water from the site. Plants and trees were selected to survive intermittent inundation from stormwater.
Preservation and storage features
Preservation
The Collections Facility enables the Libraries to optimize the preservation of unique, distinctive, and rare materials. The collections are stored in a space with a specific temperature target of 60 degrees Fahrenheit (F) and relative humidity of 40% +/- 5%.
Storage
Motorized stock pickers will provide staff access to materials stored in trays located on 32-foot tall shelves.
Security
The building and processing area (through which the collections are accessed), will be secured with key card entry doors.
Fun facts
The Collections Facility has 24,990 shelves. Laid end to end, the shelves would stretch over 21 miles.
Laid flat, the shelves would cover the ground of nearly six American football fields.
Articles
“Regents approve $62.7 million for collections facility.” Continuum, Sept 1, 2022