By Barbara Coopey

Abington, Altoona, Beaver, Berks, Brandywine, DuBois, New Kensington, Wilkes Barre, and Worthington Scranton campus libraries migrated to Floating Collection production on February 20, 2013. There are now around one million monographs with a BOOKFLOAT item type in the stacks locations of 19 campus libraries. Currently, over 3,000 floating books are being shelved at a floating library where a user returned them instead of being shipped back to the library of origin.

The Floating Collection Pilot began in 2011 with four libraries (Fayette, Harrisburg, Hazleton, York). This group of libraries moved into production summer 2012. Six more libraries (Behrend, Greater Allegheny, Lehigh Valley, Mont Alto, Schuylkill, Shenango) were added in fall semester 2012.

The Penn State Floating Collection is a group of books that are not housed permanently at one specific library, but instead are shelved in the library where they were most recently discharged. When a floating book is sent to another floating collection library, it will remain at that location after being returned by the borrower, saving the time and cost of returning it to the original library. The original owning library of a book retains ownership of that book regardless of where it floats in the library. Ownership is retained in the Home Location field within the SirsiDynix Symphony WorkFlows staff client.

Library users will not be able to identify floating books, other than possibly noticing that some books they received from other library locations end up on the shelf of their library when returned.

• Floating books may be requested via “I Want It” by users at any Penn State location.
• Floating books circulate for a regular loan period.
• Floating books can be returned to any library location.

The Floating Collection website (https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/access/floatingcollection.html) was recently updated.