- What is the Statewide Shared Collection/FLARE?
- What do I do if I want to send material to FLARE?
- Who do I contact if I have a question about FLARE?
- What are the policies and procedures for sending material to FLARE?
- What is the best resource to use for weeding and deduping collections to send to FLARE?
- How do I find items in FLARE?
- What are FLARE’s lending policies?
- What is FLARE’s Last Copy Policy and where can I find the Last Copy Donation Letter?
- When and how will my items be processed once at FLARE?
- Where is the Statewide Shared Collection/FLARE?
- What is a High Density Facility?
What is the Statewide Shared Collection/FLARE?
The FLorida Academic REpository (FLARE) is the statewide shared collection of low use print materials from academic libraries in Florida. This centrally housed collection provides new options for sharing the costs and effort of long term retention of low use library materials. Under the FLARE memorandum of understanding, the materials designated under this agreement will be retained and made available as long as the need for them exists, thereby allowing participants to consider withdrawing duplicates of these items from their campus collections and to rely with confidence on access to the centrally retained copies. FLARE is housed in environmentally controlled, carefully inventoried and secure high density facility (HDF) style buildings located in Gainesville, operated by the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida (UF) on behalf of the participating libraries. Partners in FLARE include libraries of the State University System of Florida Universities, and the University of Miami.
What do I do if I want to send material to FLARE?
Who do I contact if I have a question about FLARE?
What are the policies and procedures for sending material to FLARE?
Transfer procedures vary depending on the institution. Modifications are made on a case by case basis.
What is the best resource to use for weeding and deduping collections to send to FLARE?
The UF Library Catalog and Discovery Service, Primo
How do I find items in FLARE?
The UF Library Catalog and Discovery Service, Primo
What are FLARE’s lending policies?
What is FLARE’s Last Copy Policy and where can I find the Last Copy Donation Letter?
When and how will my items be processed once at FLARE?
When: Depending on where your transfer is in the queue determines when the items will get processed. The tentative timeline is discussed and agreed on prior to the transfer.
How: All items go through three stages of processing before becoming available for request.
- Items are physically examined, then checked in Alma to make sure there are no duplicates in FLARE, and that the record matches the item in hand.
- Items are then inventoried, shelved, and made available for request.
- The shared print 583 is added to the holdings record, and other updates are made to the bib, HOL, and item records.
Where is the Statewide Shared Collection/FLARE?
FLARE is administratively hosted by the University of Florida and is currently held and managed out of two Library Facilities. The UF Auxiliary Library Facility, which also houses UF Storage, and the UF Interim Library Facility, which also houses other departments. Both are off-sight facilities located near the airport in Gainesville Florida.
What is a High Density Facility?
FLARE is using the Harvard Model high-density facility.
The “Harvard Model” high-density facility refers to the off-site library storage system pioneered by Harvard in the 1980s—formally known as the Harvard Depository (HD). It became the blueprint for high-density, climate-controlled library storage facilities across the U.S. and internationally.
Core Characteristics of the Harvard Model:
- High-Density, Non-Browsable Storage
- Materials are stored by size, not by call number.
- Items are placed in standardized trays.
- Trays are stored in very tall shelving.
- Space utilization is 2–3x more efficient than traditional stacks.
- Instead of patrons browsing shelves, materials are requested and retrieved by staff.
- Climate-Controlled Preservation Environment
- Temperature: ~50°F (10°C)
- Relative Humidity: ~30%
- Minimal light exposure
- This dramatically slows paper deterioration—ideal for long-term print retention.
- Barcode-Based Inventory Control
- Each tray has a barcode.
- Each item is barcoded and linked to a specific tray.
- Retrieval is location-based, not call-number based.
- This model integrates cleanly with modern ILS systems.
- Order-Picker or Robotic Retrieval
- Staff use forklifts/order pickers in narrow aisles.
- Some facilities use robotic crane systems.
- Retrieval is typically fulfilled within 24 hours (often same day).
- Modular “Harvard-Style” Design
- Many institutions replicated this exact design, including:
- Standalone modules
- Warehouse-style construction
- Standard tray dimensions
- Shared consortial repositories
- Examples of similar facilities include:
- ReCAP (Columbia/Princeton/NYPL)
- University of California Regional Library Facilities
- Five Colleges Library Repository