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About MLAC

MLAC: a "building inside a building" MLAC is a high-density storage facility for Minnesota libraries that stores and makes available important but little used books. Unlike a library which shelves items either by subject or alphabetically by title, MLAC shelves items by size. The goal is to shelve at the highest density possible to maximize space usage.

Capacity

  • Predicted capacity: 1.4 million volumes.
  • Current holdings : over 1,357,000 volumes (August 2009).

Space Allocation

  • 60% is reserved for the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus Libraries.
  • 40% is for Minnesota's academic, public and governmental libraries.

Accessing the Collection

  • Because the facility's shelves are 17 feet tall, books are retrieved by trained staff on forklifts.
  • The collection is closed to the public. All items in MLAC are listed in MnCAT, the University of Minnesota's online catalog along with links to request retrieval.

Learn More

  • MLAC Tour with Bib the Book
    A virtual tour from a book's point of view.
  • MLAC Facility
    Timeline and photos; links to other high density storage facilities; examples of what other libraries have done.
  • Conservation
    A few Web sources for book conservation and managing collection emergencies.

Take the Virtual Tour

Bib the Book. Take a slideshow tour of the Minnesota Library Access Center from the book's point of view, hosted by Bib the Book.