With nearly 4 million books in MSU's Main Library, fitting all of them and seating students can be difficult, said Director of Libraries Clifford Haka.

Compounding the problem of lack of space is the closing of four branch libraries in the past few years that has sent hundreds of thousands of books to the Main Library.

When these new books end up in the Main Library, Haka said they often struggle to fit them in.

"The only way to make space is to put up more shelving, which takes away seating," Haka said. "The only other alternative is to put in compact shelving because the shelves slide together. You don't get double the space, but you get a 70 to 75 percent increase."

Compact shelves slide together when the aisles aren't being used and slide open with the push of a button. Haka also said that compact shelving is more expensive.

Roughly 80,000 new volumes come into the library each year, and Haka said it's hard to predict the exact number because many come in electronic form.

Many more end up in the storage unit near the Capital City Airport. It now holds about 300,000 books and is almost completely full.

Books that end up there are ones that aren't frequently used, such as journals, Haka said.

Haka said many of the branch libraries are run by their respective colleges and others are funded by the libraries themselves. Some closed because their respective colleges could no longer afford to keep them around, Haka said.

The Clinical Center Library, Human Ecology Library, Animal Industries Reference Room and the Agricultural Economics Reference Room all have closed. Haka said they anticipate the Geology Library also will close.

"It's all budgetary considerations," Haka said. He added the libraries decided to close some of the branches because of lack of use.

Holly Flynn, head librarian of the Mathematics Library, said, however, that the library has never had problems with funding or overcrowding.

Flynn said the math library was founded in 1970 and holds about 50,000 volumes and 300 current journals.

Director of Campus Park and Planning Jeff Kacos said they have no immediate plans to make additions to the Main Library.

According to the 2020 Vision Plan, the library would undergo a shelving expansion five to 20 years from now that would "consolidate frequently used stack collections and collections growth on campus." This expansion would probably occur north of the east wing.