Abstract
Due to an inability to accommodate for the rapidly increasing number of printed materials, Korean academic libraries are facing serious space shortage problems. Very few academic institutions have the funds to expand existing libraries or construct new facilities in order to accommodate the influx of printed materials. Despite not having the luxury to create new space, many establishments continue to implement the open access system. Seeing that such a system is only user friendly when used in a spacious facility, the maintenance of the open access system is unreasonable. Only few libraries consider the space efficient closed access system which helps to resolve storage space shortage. In the current state of the problem, improving the efficiency to which books are stored in existing storage areas within a library facility is the only appropriate solution. Enacting methods to improve physical space utilization within a fixed volume library facility will undoubtedly diminish the space shortage issue at hand. In this article, several space efficiency improvement approaches are discussed. Methods of book storage plan re-layout (floor, plan, ceiling, height, bookshelf design), book arrangement possibilities, and the reduction of the physical volume of reserved materials are each examined.