More than 200 feet below ground in an abandoned limestone mine in the small town of Boyers, Pa., the University is safely storing some important possessions.
More than 10,000 master microfilm negatives developed by the preservation division are stored in a high security cave.
"It's been a holder for microfilm producers because of its cool and constant environment," said Dave Richtnyer, electronic resource librarian at the University.
The environment is important for the microfilm, said Ann Thomas, head of preservation support services. "It can last up to 400 to 500 years if temperature and humidity is in idle range," she said. The caves' temperature remains at a constant 68 degrees and humidity stays between 20-30 percent.
The University started storing its microfilm for its Brittle Books Replacement program and for grant-funded preservation reformatting in 1984 in the Research Libraries Group's vault. Now the University stores its microfilm in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation's vault, which is located in the same cave.
"We made the move to CIC about a year and a half ago," said Carla Montori, head of Preservation Division at the University. "All of the film CIC stores, Michigan counts for more than half the film."
This costs the University about $2,800 a year, but Montori sees this as the best option.
"It would be far more expensive to for us to build a chamber," Montori said.
Thomas added, "It's not realistic to think we could build our own place even if we had the money."
Security is another reason the University keeps its microfilm in the cave instead of keeping it at another facility. "It's top security," Thomas said.
The facility is owned by National Underground Storage Inc., but remains nameless itself. NUS officials declined to comment because in some of their leasing contracts with the companies that store documents, they promise not to bring attention to the 133-acre facility.
In the facility, there are 38 miles of roadway that is unmarked so any unauthorized personnel would be lost. The entrance is monitored by armed guards and barricaded by three-ton steel gates.
All material is retrievable at the facility in case the University needs it.
Also, all printing negatives are located in the Buhr Building on campus, while the positives are available in the Microfilm Services at the Graduate Library. Since these could be destroyed, the masters, thanks to the security and constant environment seem safe even, Thomas said, "if there was a disaster."
However, the University's need for the cave may be declining. "Historically, we've done microfilm," Thomas said. "But now we're starting to digitize."