What are the advantages to a close-stack system?

The extra labor cost, and inconvenience to the patrons I suspect are some of the main arguments against the close-stack system, but what reasons override these concerns in libraries where the close-stack system is used?

Flimzy

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Comments

NONE: Space for people to work together in stead of book cases

Answer by dsalo

I would want to see figures on labor cost; I'm not at all sure open stacks save money. Open stacks have to be repeatedly traversed for books that have been removed from shelves by patrons and (properly, in most libraries) not replaced. I suspect without proof that they also need to be shelfread more often, as patrons "helpfully" reshelve books in the wrong places.

Other considerations:

Security
No patron misbehavior in remote stack areas
Space and equipment savings in stack areas: no need for carrels, reading tables, OPAC terminals, etc.
Assuming the architecture supports it, more stacks per square foot
More attractive patron spaces (since the same money is spent over a smaller square-foot area); the "temple of books" library (e.g. the Library of Congress) seems to take most advantage of this
Vastly better collection-use tracking possible
Higher-touch patron environment; easier to make contact, more common to see the "Oh, since I'm here..." sort of question

Comments

Answer by Melissa

Patrons in the academic library where I work enjoy open stacks -- students don't always know what they are looking for exactly, so browsing is preferred.

Comments

Answer by calimae

The library where I work has closed stacks primarily for security (as dsalo noted), since we "lost" a number of items while we still had open stacks. But the closed stacks are also helpful because we have a significant number of older materials that are quite fragile and this allows us to minimize the amount of handling they endure while still having them readily available for onsite patron use.

And our stacks are a challenge to navigate (three classification systems spread across 8 floors and two overflow sections), so having us retrieve the materials for patrons ends up being a lot easier for them.