Reprography unit in library building-library management

With the advent of cheap and efficient photocopying machines, provision of photocopy service has become a must in most libraries. In the west, coin operated photocopying machines are placed near strategic collection of materials,to be used by the readers themselves. In our country, this practice is not in vogue. Supervised operation and close check are maintained to by most libraries. With the rising cost of technical and scientific periodical publications, most libraries within a city or within a region, resort to cooperative acquisition, and supplement their collection by obtaining photocopies of articles needed by their clientele from other libraries. Depending on the volume of work, one or more light or heavy duty copying machines are provided.Besides photocopying machines, desktop offset machines, microform machines are standard equipment  in some bigger libraries. A room with subdues light is preferable for this operation. Size of the room will depend  on the number of machines and operators. Binding, reprographic, micrographic and other equipment are discussed under library equipment in the later part of this Unit. As mentioned earlier, there are many other areas like new arrivals display, special materials, audio-visuals, computer and, CD-ROM workstations, place for carrying out repair and maintenance of furniture and equipment, etc., need to be given due consideration.