Library Shelving – “Not fit for purpose!!”

The average person looking at the shelving unit above…. Before it collapsed, would have been quite happy with it and satisfied that it would last for many years.

But, when I look at the same shelving, I know from experience that it will be a problem, way before anything goes wrong!

Cam Locks

Firstly I can see that the panels are held together with “Cam-Locks” which are an Ikea style flat pack fastening system.

Easy to use but since they take up half of the wood / board thickness, they weaken the joints they form part of. And, with usage and vibration they tend to become loose. Wobbly joints are even more subject to damage and breakage!

The photo shows how the cam-locks have pulled through the board

Castors

Secondly, the castors are too small and too few. Anyone who has lifted a pile of books knows that they are HEAVY!

A shelving unit full of books is very heavy and needs heavy duty castors to support it, if it is to be moved around. Of course, you could take all the books out first, then put them back after wheeling the shelf unit into position.

Not quite the flexibility that the librarian wanted. 

Six castors are needed for each shelf unit and the bottom shelf must be both well constructed, to handle the weight of the books and supported in the centre by the two extra castors.

Castors should be specifically “Mobile Weight rated” (MWB), not just “Static Weight Rated” (SWB). MWB is approximately half the weight supported by SWB castors.

Example:

A 100kg SWB rated castor has an MWB rating or 50kg. So, while 4 castors (as shown) may support up to 400kg, they are only designed to support 200kg when moving. An average library shelf (single) holds 70 – 80kg of books, and the unit shown, with eight shelves therefore could be holding 560 – 640kg of books. (Note: Some books were removed after the collapse and before this photo was taken.) No wonder the unit failed!

Single Shelf Unit

The shelf unit is too narrow for castors and could easily tip over if moved. At QLS we prefer to fit castors to double shelf units to ensure stability when they are being moved and when stationary. The braked heavy-duty castors, we use, lock our shelf units into the new location, while also supporting the weight of all those books.

By increasing the depth of this unit to allow for castors, there is also a loss of practical shelf capacity. (as noted by the photocopier paper lids used to pack the back of the shelves to push the books forwards)

Loose Shelves

All the shelves shown in the photograph are supported on pins and the only structural support is provided by the outside frame. While this provides flexibility for book size display, it increases the load on the already weak cam – locks, with predictable results. At QLS our cabinet makers take a pride in producing real wood joints, pinned and glued, with no wobbles and designed to hold a genuine shelf unit, fully stacked with heavy books. And if you want to move a QLS shelf unit, you can leave the books in place.

No Warranty versus 10 Year Warranty

As expected, there was no support from the suppliers of the defective shelving, despite it not being fit for purpose. By contrast QLS give a 10 year warranty on our shelving units which we seldom have to honour, as they last much longer than that.

Shelving "Fit for Purpose" Guarantee

OUR WIDE RANGE OF SHELVING OPTIONS ARE GUARANTEED “Fit for Purpose”

View the standard and custom range of shelving on our website.

BROWSE SHELVING >>

For more information please contact our Team on 1800 773 374 or email me direct at

d.stewart@quantumlibraries.com.au

Please call us any time and we will do our best to help.