Iron Mountain library and archival services

Library and archival services

Explore innovative solutions for managing your unique collections

Taking that first step in your project is daunting - whether it’s moving a few hundred books to your offsite annex, digitizing dissertations, or storing uncirculated special collections in a secure offsite facility. Every library and archive is different, which is why we work with you to create a solution that meets your specific relocation, storage, and digitization requirements. At Iron Mountain, our goal is to set the trajectory for a smooth and easy experience, for you and your collection.

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University of San Diego Library Case Study

Watch this video to learn how Iron Mountain enabled the University of San Diego to transform their library into a state-of-the-art resource for students and faculty.

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Tennessee State Library and Archives Case Study

Iron Mountain partnered with the Tennessee State Library and Archives to relocate the state's collection of historical documents, photographs and even the original constitutions to a new, state-of-the-art facility.

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The University of Scranton Case Study

Detailed planning and strong transparency ensured University of Scranton's successful introduction to offsite storage.

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Manage your collection through its next evolutionmountain ranges

Relocation services

What are relocation services?

Trying to maintain balance in an environment of disappearing stacks, declining budgets, and ceaseless demands for new collections is no easy task for anyone, even a skilled librarian or archivist. With every change comes new requirements; in this case, requirements to securely relocate your collection to new spaces, annexes, stacks, or even offsite with a partner like Iron Mountain.

The goal of any library move is to safely relocate your collection with care, precision, and integrity. Whether you’re moving books, bound journals, special collections, media, film, art, or myriad other media, Iron Mountain provides an auditable chain of custody for the move, ensuring that your collection is securely transported and safely delivered to its final destination—most importantly, according to your specifications.

Do I need to be located in a certain part of the country to work with Iron Mountain?

Our resources reach from coast to coast across the US and are scalable to the needs of any size collection—from large university research libraries to individual city and community libraries. Local resources provide greater efficiency, while our global footprint allows us to assist with moves of many kinds. 

Ready to make a move?

Our library and archival service specialists will be in touch.

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Eliminate capital-intensive, fixed storage costs through an Iron Mountain partnership.

What are the benefits of outsourcing for offsite storage?

A flexible storage model allows you to respond to changing onsite priorities by easily scaling up or down as needed. You also eliminate the burden—and cost—of managing your annex on your own.

What challenges can I expect to face without procuring an offsite storage option?

Regardless of where it’s located, storage space is in short supply and could be repurposed at any time. You also need to be on top of managing capital assets, staffing, contracts, and shelving systems—in addition to the materials themselves. To top it off, you can expect to be locked into fixed budgets with fixed capacities, making it difficult to plan for unexpected projects that require accession and/or deaccession.

Why choose outsourced offsite storage with Iron Mountain?
  • Save money. Predict the cost of storage and access while avoiding fixed costs for variable storage needs.
  • Save space. Add additional storage or remove collections as needed.
  • Save time. Reliably recall content where and when you need it.
How can I repurpose space in my library, archive, and/or special collection?

Your organization’s footprint is prime real estate. Find out how you can save on space with some of our many secure storage options. After all, when that next donor makes an offer to contribute to your facility, you don’t want the lack of proper storage to dictate your response. 

Is there a "one-size-fits-all" storage solution?

Not for our Iron Mountain customers! We know that your library content likely includes multiple media types in many shapes and sizes. From basic library book storage to customized private vaults for special collections, we have storage racking to house and protect your most precious content.

What makes for an ideal storage environment?

Conditions are different depending on what it is you’re storing. We’ll help you identify the right storage environment for your media.

What types of climate-controlled storage does Iron Mountain provide?

We have standard ambient, light-climate-controlled or heavy-climate-controlled options. 

  • 55°F - Minimum temperature for ambient climate storage
  • 68–70°F - Comfortable temperature for people, with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) temperature storage controls set to maintain conditions, such as in an office setting
  • 60°F/40% relative humidity (RH) - Possible set point for a storage climate controlled in both temperature and humidity

What are storage services?

When you manage your own storage annex, you incur significant responsibilities. But in reality, you don’t actually need to own your own real estate to dedicate space to storage. As a librarian or archivist, you’re involved in recurring (and often competing) discussions about how best to develop and manage your collection, as well as how to effectively “create” more space to deliver new services for users. Our myriad storage services provide plenty of options. We’ll free up valuable real estate, during a renovation or permanently, as part of your overall storage strategy. 

Unsure of what type of storage you need?

Our library and archival service specialists will reach out. 

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Discover the power of digitization.

What are digitization services?

Digitization, or digital conversion, enables you to update primary sources that are at risk in obsolete formats that library users can’t access. Iron Mountain has industry-leading preservation capabilities and facilities that can ensure the complete protection of your digital assets.

When it comes to one-of-a-kind historical content, preservation is paramount. However, most libraries’ fluctuating temperatures and humidity are not an ideal environment for old newsprint, photographs, or audio and visual recordings. From improving accessibility to reclaiming valuable space, the benefits of digitization are many

How does digitization create new opportunities to protect and preserve original content?

Digitization improves access to everything from books and microfilm to photographs, videos, and audio tapes. Accessibility to potentially underutilized materials like these can be achieved through a digital surrogate, or an electronic backup copy, in a digitized collection.

Increasing your unique array of media is an invaluable service that you can provide for your patrons, as well as for the overall cultural record in your area, or your area of expertise.

Digitization enables scholars to cross the globe and travel through time almost instantaneously, to engage with and learn from content that was all but forgotten until it was digitally converted.

Once the content is digitized, library patrons can research resources digitally—and you can store the valuable original assets in the most ideal archival storage environment, thus protecting them for future generations.

How does digitization lead to “gaining” additional space? 

Whether you’re looking to free up space for new collections or new patron services, the decision to digitize portions of your collection can be a major “win” in the ongoing quest for usable library space.

Digitization, or digital conversion, not only increases user accessibility, but also creates much-sought-after space. You may have hesitated to move forward with the digitization of library resources in-house due to the demand it would put on your staff and resources, or simply because the costs associated with working with a scanning company were far too high.

But at Iron Mountain, we’re equipped to handle the digitization of library resources on any scale, large or small. We also have access to the equipment and the staffing needed to convert any type of content in any medium or amount.

Digitally converted, hard-copy content can then be stored offsite, opening space in the stacks and ensuring that the digitized, indexed content is stored in an ideal environment. 

When you’re ready to start the digitization process, make Iron Mountain your first call.

Our library and archival service specialists will reply as soon as possible.

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We’ll meet your specific storage and service needs to manage your special collection.

What are special collection services?

Putting any part of your collection into offsite storage is a complicated process, even more so because this process often involves more than just books. Iron Mountain’s library experts will serve as your trusted advisors as you develop your plan and select the appropriate storage strategies for each different media format in your special collection.

Is every storage environment the same?

Not at all. The nature of the books and artifacts that make up a special collection require the most specific climate and humidity controls. But a climate-controlled space for a special collection is extremely limited in a library, and archival-quality offsite storage comes at a premium. That’s where our experience and scale allow us to offer you the right environmental controls for your content.

How do I balance preservation with access to items in my collection?

Your current material holdings are important to your institution—and your responsibility to maintain. However, the average weighted cost per year of housing a book in your library is already high, and doubtless will continue to rise. Your job is to weigh that cost against the portions of your collection with relatively low circulation rates, and the idea of repurposing your space makes sense. After you’ve arrived at that conclusion, that’s where we come in. 

How does digitization enhance—and protect—my special collection?

Your library’s prized special collection is important to your institution, but the necessary security and protection often limits discovery and access for users. Creating a so-called “digital surrogate” of these resources not only adds another level of preservation for a valued and unique element of your collection, but also makes special collection items more accessible to everyone in your community.

You don’t need to make sacrifices that put your special collection at risk.

Find out more about our special collection services. 

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Meet our expert team leaders

At Iron Mountain, our expert staff is led by our highly experienced subject matter experts, and everyone is well-qualified to assist in any aspect of library and archival services. We understand not only your region, but also the library and archival industry as a whole. Your team will work side by side with Iron Mountain solution architects and receive a proposal draft tailored to your unique specifications.

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Amy Smid | Iron Mountain

Amy Smid

Solutions Architect and Subject Matter Expert
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Anna Lamphear | Iron Mountain

Anna Lamphear

Solutions Architect and Subject Matter Expert
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Brandon Burke | Iron Mountain

Brandon Burke

Solutions Architect and Subject Matter Expert
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Get service and storage support for many media formats

book

Bound journals

If a bound journal isn’t already available online,
digital scanning and delivery is fast and efficient
from remote storage locations.
Explore

Bound journals

Bound journals are probably the easiest content to
move offsite because it takes fewer decisions to
move more volumes, and patrons don’t need to
browse this collection (not to mention that they
probably prefer the electronic delivery of articles).
laptop profile screen

Multimedia

Moving this content to a storage vault with ideal
temperature and humidity ranges ensures
preservation for years to come.
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Multimedia

Video and audio collections consume important
vault space, and quite honestly, much of that
content might be on media types that are no longer
supported. Digitization not only makes content
readily available for patrons but also puts it directly
at their fingertips.
certificate paper

Monographs

Free up a considerable amount of space by
moving your lowest-circulating content offsite.
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Monographs

Reliable access to your monograph collections is
highly important, but circulation rates are likely very
low.
tape

Microfilm

Removing your microfilm storage cabinets can
repurpose substantial space in your library.
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Microfilm

Removal allows you to protect content in
climate-controlled environments that are specially
optimized for preserving delicate film. We also offer
scanning for your unique holdings to improve
discoverability and digital access.
document

Government documents

With offsite storage and next-business day recall, you can store these materials offsite without losing access.

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Government documents

Decades’ worth of government documents can take up significant shelf space, and are of little value to the larger library community. Secure offsite storage can help you reclaim valuable space in your facility.

art

Artwork and artifacts

Putting these items in offsite storage often isn’t so much a matter of creating space, but rather protecting and preserving your library’s legacy as part of the community and cultural record.

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Artwork and artifacts

We provide secure, ideal offsite storage for art and historic artifacts.

We have what I think is a fascinating collection, because it combines state records, as well as private manuscripts, along with the largest book collection about Tennessee and things related to Tennessee found anywhere. To be able to take what we had and move to where we are now is such a huge step forward.
Chuck SherrillState Librarian and Archivist, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
The library is the core of a university. It’s central to the students, it’s central to the faculty. Whether it’s the books, it's the journals, it’s the access to the information. That’s why we’re so passionate about it. 
Marian FarrellNursing Faculty, University of Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania
The librarians believe that the library is the heart of the campus.... We wanted to be sure that our collection was going to be safe, and was going to be well cared for. We thought that Iron Mountain had the best setup for our collection and for meeting our local needs for both our general collection and our special collections.
Dr. Theresa ByrdDean of the university library, University of San Diego, San Diego, California
Why do clients choose to work with Iron Mountain?

Why Iron Mountain?


We have the experience and expertise to streamline your organization while keeping your data safe—and secure. We are especially proud to partner with libraries and archives like yours. Together, we elevate the power of your work.

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