Sympathy for the Contractors

The "re-location" process has hit its first major snag: the shift to the SE Pavillion is now scheduled for July 1, 2008. Furthermore, we now have official assurances that all resources of the reading room will be preserved. According to a memorandum:

"All reference materials now available to readers will be moved into the new space. Reference and curatorial services will remain exactly as they are now--provided by the same staff. There will be no interruption in service." (Our emphasis.)

Obviously, this is positive news. But our hearts and prayer go the contracts who must effect this change. For instance, here is a picture of *one* of the items that the new space will have to accommodate.

To say nothing of the shelves near the window, the shelves on the floor in the middle of the desks are longer than the diameter of the SE Pavilion. On an even more mundane note, take a look at this newspaper rack:
















Will this even be able to fit in a room where the only wall space is sandwiched in between windows or tall doors?

Obviously, it's hard to determine these things with the naked eye. That's why we wish the contractors all the best. Keeping all the ERR's resources will be a very challenging feat. Some of us would even consider it an impossible feat and would recommend keeping ERR as the excellent resource that it is before it's too late.