items in storage as of March 2023
Our holdings
In total some 2.9 million items are currently stored at the CSLS. The vast majority are books of all kinds, magazines, dissertations and other printed items, such as files.
Facts and Figures
2.9 million
16th century
the period from which the oldest books in storage date.
10 cm
the size of the smallest items; the largest fill a whole container.
Types of holding
The book “The Arch of Knowledge” from the holdings of the University of St. Gallen was the 2 millionth copy to be stored.
The storage facility is home to monographs, magazines, dissertations and other printed items such as court files. It is also used to store CD’s and other digital media.
In addition to this, we also have capacity for other types of printed and paper-based items and cultural property.
Development of the holding
Development of first ingestions 2016-2019 by library
The majority of items selected for storage by the member libraries were ingested in 2016 and 2017. During this period we processed up to 220 000 items per month.
In 2018 this was followed by the ingestion of the first items from the University Library St. Gallen. Since then an additional approximately 10 000 items have been received for ingestion each month.
Individual holdings
The member libraries and other customers remain the sole owners of the holdings which are ingested into the CSLS. Their catalogues or systems form the basis for loaning of the items. Transport of the physical loans is handled by courier services or Swiss Post. Individual holdings currently account for some 64 % of the total volume.
The collective Holding
The collective holding is a special feature of the CSLS. It comprises member libraries’ serials holdings which have been merged. Where multiple copies of an identical item existed, only one single copy has been retained. Deduplication of such copies saves space and thus costs for the members. Magazines and magazine articles can only be borrowed in the Büron reading room; in rare cases they are also available in participating libraries’ reading rooms. Sending of physical or digital copies is offered to the extent permitted by copyright regulations.
- Deduplication
Deduplicating books is an extremely complex task, but offers immense potential for savings. Newspapers and magazines as well as also monographs require large amounts of space in libraries. Identical items are, however, often present in multiple libraries. Estimates have shown that by deduplicating surplus volumes of magazines it is possible to cut space requirements by up to 30%. End users can, however, still access magazines via the CSLS.
Member libraries jointly agree which items should be integrated into the CSLS’ collective holding and which library will supply the items. Following this, the other libraries are able to deduplicate their surplus copies. This deduplication out of holdings thus saves space in the libraries while simultaneously preserving holdings securely for the future.
- Private donations and enquiries regarding the acceptance of items
Do you have a private collection which you no longer wish to keep?
Corresponding enquiries should be addressed directly to our member libraries. They are responsible for assessing the significance of collections for their library catalogue and deciding whether to recommend such collections for acceptance. Please therefore contact a member library directly. Alternatively you may be interested in the services offered by Bookfarm.