As the latest addition to the University’s core library campus, the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library performs many roles, providing crucial study space with its grand reading room and private study carrels, storing millions of volumes, and connecting to the Joseph Regenstein Library and the Special Collections Research Center.
Innovative Technology
The Mansueto Library can hold the equivalent of 3.5 million volumes through its automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS), which requires just one-seventh of the space of regular stacks. Located underground, the volumes are arranged in metal bins and stacked in racks 50 feet high, with the library tracking their location through barcodes adhered to their back covers. When patrons request books, robotic cranes retrieve the bins and transport them to the main floor, ensuring circulation attendants can locate them and give them to their requesters.
Groundbreaking Design
In addition to featuring innovative technology, the library itself is a feat of groundbreaking architecture. The elliptical glass dome structure, designed by Helmut Jahn, has received countless awards since its completion in 2011. It features solar-control glass overhead, a circular base that supports the foundation walls, and ample interior space for studying.
An in-depth look at how the University of Chicago's Joe and Rika Mansueto Library uses automatic storage and retrieval systems to organize and distribute materials from the 3.5 million volumes housed below the glass dome.
Video by UChicago Creative
