Premises

Premises

We were fortunate in that there already existed at Coleraine the Library’s Underspine  Store, which was suitable for the storage of a temperature- and humidity-controlled archive without the need for major refurbishment. It is a large, windowless and unheated space, so the correct temperature levels for the storage of paper documents already exist, and it was already furnished with 1980s-vintage mobile shelving. The major part of the space is occupied by Library holdings: early runs of periodicals, and some less frequently used book stock. Library staff are constantly engaged in a process of rationalising this material, and ample space has been freed for Archives. It is envisaged that archival material will form the major part of the contents of the store in the future.

There was a need, however, for a processing area where material could be taken, stored and sorted either prior to being placed in the Archive or disposed of - essentially a large room with a lot of floor space and some tables.  A room adjoining the Underspine Store was identified as being suitable, and the Department of Physical Resources undertook a re-modelling in the autumn of 2002.

Some material was moved into this area as a result of donations and small deposits from departments shortly after its refurbishment, but its greatest usefulness to date has been our ability to move into it a substantial amount of archival material previously held in the Cavehill Building, which was vulnerable to potential vandalism and to extremes of temperature and the possibility of water damage. Dealing with this material will occupy the Archives team for at least the next academic year.