The Research Collections and Preservation Consortium (ReCAP) is located at 400 Forrestal Road, on Princeton University's Forrestal Campus in Princeton, New Jersey. ReCAP is a high-density, environmentally-controlled shelving facility jointly owned and operated by Columbia University, The New York Public Library and Princeton University. ReCAP was designed and constructed to provide high-density shelving for library items, an excellent environment for preserving items and an inventory and retrieval system for easy and sure access to items for library users. ReCAP's environment is ideally suited for the shelving of all low use items, paper based and sensitive media formats. Most individual items are sorted by size and placed in open-top trays which are stored on an appropriate-sized shelf, in order to store the maximum number of items in the minimum floor area. ReCAP's five modules can accommodate approximately ten million volumes using a high density shelving system. The sophisticated inventory control system keeps track of item locations and produces picking lists for requested items. Items housed at ReCAP will be identified in the local catalogs with a direct web link to a request form. After a request is received, items will be delivered next day to consortium members.

Size and Description
ReCAP planning began in February 1999. Ground was broken August 2000 for the state-of-the-art book depository style building with steel frame tilt-up concrete walls, floors of "very flat" construction, and steel roof. ReCAP's initial phase consisted of three separate modules for storing items, a processing area and office area. Module 4 came online in 2005. Module 5 opened in March, 2008. There are 5 receiving docks, two for van access, three for semi truck deliveries. The total building footprint is 108,167 square feet. The high-density library shelving modules 1-4 are each approximately 210 feet long, 70 feet wide and 38 feet high, 14,700 square feet with 6 aisles. ReCAP's module 5 is 232 feet long, 114 feet wide and 26,450 square feet with 10 aisles. The modules have no windows. The processing area is 151 feet long by 130 feet wide or 18,736 square feet. The office area is 4,181 square feet. The ReCAP facility is modular by design, so additional shelving modules can be added as needed. The site will allow for the eventual construction amounting to 252,000 square feet of storage space for 37.5 million items.

Shelving
The first four modules consist of six aisles with 37 ladders (vertical shelving sections) on each side of the aisle. Module 5 consists of 10 aisles with 42 ladders. Each ladder incorporates 30-foot high adjustable shelving, the individual shelves measure 56 inches by 36 inches. Items are reached with a mechanical fork lift or "order picker" typical of warehouse operations. Guide rails around shelving provide for automatic steering of the order picker. The shelving vendor is Morgan Marshall of Chicago Heights, Illinois. The Raymond order pickers were purchased from Arbor Material Handling, Inc. in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.

Capacity
The five modules will collectively house approximately 10 million volumes or book volume equivalents. Items are sorted by size, both width and height and stored in trays made from acid-free cardboard to prevent deterioration of items. Trays are stored on appropriately-sized shelves to achieve the highest storage density. Trays are manufactured by Temple Inland Packaging Company, Binghamton, New York. ReCAP has 16 different size trays. Items at ReCAP are not arranged in call number order, but are shelved according to size. For book collections, this means each book's physical size dictates where it gets shelved, not its subject matter or author. All items must arrive at ReCAP barcoded, clean, and either in good condition or in an appropriate preservation container. Since access to items stored at ReCAP is exclusively through bar code identification, adequate records to identify items by other means must be created and maintained by and at the owning library.

ReCAP Statistics

Occupancy
January 2, 2002.

Staff
Staff consists of an Executive Director, two Facility Coordinators, an Administrative Assistant, an Interlibrary Loan Coordinator and eleven Processing Assistants. Staff are full time Princeton University employees.

Hours and Directions
ReCAP service hours are Monday to Friday, 7:30 am to 7:30 pm.

Princeton University holiday schedule.

Directions to ReCAP

Virtual tour of ReCAP

Links to other shelving facilities

For Additional Information:
Phone: 609-258-3388
Fax: 609-258-7633

or contact Eileen Henthorne, Executive Director, 609-258-1517 or Fran Johnson, Administrative Assistant, 609-258-7622.

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