There are multiple book carts located throughout the library. Discuss the cart usage on your campus with your trainer. Start your shelving rounds with the designated cart. Also collect books that have been left on study tables and in study rooms and mark them used in Sirsi prior to reshelving them.
Order the books on the cart by LCC before shelving. This makes the shelving process considerably more efficient.
Familiarize yourself with the different areas of your library. Some may have special shelving needs. For instance: books with a NEW sticker go on the shelves for New Books. Discuss how to know where books go in your library with your trainer.
When you find the "correct" place for the book, double check the shelf order. Sometimes the books on the shelf are out of order and the entire row needs to be ordered. If you shelve a book in an area that is not in order, it only multiplies the chaos, so shelf-read locally as necessary.
In addition to books, you may have to shelve audiobooks, videos, magazines and other materials. Have your trainer show you any processes that may differ for these items.
Shelf-reading is an important part of stack maintenance. It includes reading each call number in order to ensure that the books are properly shelved. Patrons often place books back on the shelves without knowing exactly how to shelve books. It is inevitable that every worker will at some point accidentally misshelve a book. It can be easy to loose focus and make simple mistakes.
Move through the stacks from left to right, and top to bottom by short shelves. It can be helpful to keep a finger on the book you are doing so they don't all run together. Fix mistakes as you find them.
It is a good idea to take a quick survey of the shelves to get a sense of the physical extent of the alpha-range you're looking at so you won't inadvertently jump to the next subject letter. "LCC tunnel vision" often happens when scanning Cutters and losing sight of the entire call number.
Shelf-reading is detailed work that can take awhile. It is more important that you take your time to be accurate than to rush through quickly and make mistakes. Do not shelf-read for extended lengths of time. It is best to alternate shelf-reading with other tasks to give your eyes and mind a break.
Edging books is a simple part of stack maintenance. Pull the books close to the edge of the shelf and even the row to ensure that the books are easily accessible, and that the call number and spine title of the book are clearly visible.
Also look for books that have been pushed behind other books and large books that are pushing books off the shelf behind them.
When edging, be sure to pull the book from the spine or from farther back on the top of the book. It causes damage to the book when you quickly pull at the top spine edge.
There should be sufficient room on each shelf to accommodate the end brace and extra space for book re-shelving. Sometimes a shelf looks almost empty. This can be because many books from that shelf are in use, but often it is the result of haphazard re-shelving. Leave an even amount of space at the end of every shelf--usually about 1/4 of the total shelf space. Do not crowd shelves or cramp books!
Take all the books off of one individual shelf of the column placing them on a book cart in order.
Wipe the shelf and book holder down with Re-Juv
Wipe all books off with a Swiffer duster.
Replace books in order, checking as you go to be sure they are correct.
Books should be all the way to the left with a black book holder on the right hand end to hold them in place.
Pull all books forward to be lined up with the edge of the shelf. Make sure no large books are being smashed against the book behind them (adjust as needed).
Make sure all oversized books are spine down.
When you do the bottom shelf, also wipe down the space under the shelves.