Stephanie Gehring wrote:
> I'd be interested in finding out from some of you (1) how
> often you bind periodicals and (2) are your current
> periodicals kept out on the floor (completely open to
> patrons) or is it neccesary for patrons to ask (perhaps at
> the circ desk) to see current periodicals.

Stephanie,
We bind our periodicals on a monthly basis at the Library
of Virginia.  We have about 1200 periodicals which do not
include state documents, federal documents, etc.  We do
bind the Register of Regulations, bills, etc. on an annual
basis as a service stipulated in the Code for preservation
of Virginia documents.

We have a month turnaround on bindery for regular items,
longer for the specialized preservation of archival
documents.  We also provide public access to "popular" or
heavy demand periodicals but the bulk of the periodical
collection is in closed stacks.  We also do not circulate
our bound periodicals.

We also develop retention schedules for the microfilmed
items and identify which items do not merit binding.

             Lolah Giamalva
             Bindery Assistant, Library of Virginia
             Lgiamalv@vsla.edu