Artistic Storage

Our Clients

•Applewood Estate, Flint, MI

•Bay College, Escanaba, MI

•Carleton College Music & Performance

•CF Design LTD, Duluth, MN

•Clyfford Still Museum, Denver, CO

•Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI

•DePaul University Museum, Chicago, IL

•Dusable Museum of African American, Chicago, IL

•The Field Museum, Chicago, IL

•Freeborn County Historical Museum, Albert Lea, MN

•Genesee Village & Museum, Mumford, NY

•GM Factory One, Flint MI

•History Colorado, Denver, CO

•Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village, MI

•Insight Design, Highland Park, IL

•Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN

•Isanti County Historical Society, Cambridge, MN

•John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI

•Kenyon College - Gund Gallery, Gambier, Ohio

•Lac qui Parle County Historical Society, Madison, MN

•Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, IL

•MacLean Collection Gallery, Mettawa, IL

•McLeod County Historical Society, Hutchinson, MN

•Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL

•The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL

•Northfield Historical Society, Northfield, MN

•Oshkosh Public Museum, Oshkosh, WI

•Paula Crown Studio, Chicago, IL

•The Polish Museum of America, Chicago, IL

•Pritzker Military Library, Chicago, IL

•R.S. Johnson Fine Art, Chicago, IL

•Saint John's Abbey, Collegeville, MN

•Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Headquarters, Agency Village, SD

•Smart Museum of Art University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

•University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI

•Washington County Historical Society, West Bend, WI

•Wasserman Projects, Birmingham, MN

TESTIMONIALS

“I am pleased to advise that you are among the members of the project team for the Provincial Archives of Alberta that has received a Premier's Award of Excellence Bronze Award. A submission for the award was made in January. It was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Sandra Thomson, who was a guiding force on this project. I extend my congratulations to each of you. I also want to thank you for your efforts on this project.�?

Kent Phillips

Provincial Archives - Premier's Award of Excellence

(Mobile Mechanical- 700 carriages)

“We are very pleased with the functionality and look of the Montel shelving, especially the shelving for our circulating collections. The depth and height of the shelves, the backstops and the ruggedness of this shelving are the features we appreciate most.�?

Mary Moroney

Director of Library Services

Bryant University, Smithfield, Rhode Island

(Aetnastak - Fixed Shelving)

“When Trinity University was searching to purchase a high-density mobile storage system for the Elizabeth Huth Coates Library, safety and security features were important concerns during the buying process. Montel’s electrical high-density mobile storage system improved the Elizabeth Huth Coates Library’s storage organization and made better use of space for different academic research activities in the library for the students and personnel.�?

Jason L. Hardin

Manager of Access Services

Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas

(Mobilex Electrical System)

“The Montel storage shelving system has improved the library’s appearance tremendously. The feature we like the most are the pullout shelves. They are very easy to pull out and are the sturdiest I have seen. It has been much easier for my staff to shelve because the shelves are easier to adjust and can accommodate the different sizes of the materials.�?

Carol K. Sergis

Director of Library Services

Schulte Roth & Zabel, New York, New York

(Mobilex Mechanical with Aetnastak Shelving)

"We are extremely pleased with the attractive. Professional appearance and easy operation of the entire Montel Compact Storage System. Our tens of thousands of visitors since the McGuire Center’s opening in August 2004 have uniformly marveled at the state-of-the-art storage systems provided by Montel in partnership with Florida Library Designs.�?

Dr. Thomas Emmel

McGuire Center Director

McGuire Center, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

(Mobilex Mechanical with specially designed cabinets to store the lepidoptera collection)

“We would like to thank all your team for your outstanding collaboration in doing this project.�?

Annie S’guin

Architecture Technician

Planning and Space Management Services

Building and Equipment Services

University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), Montreal, Quebec

(Mobile Electrical with SmartShelf)

“When deciding what compact-shelving vendor to contract with for its new headquarters facility, the staff and trustees of the Indiana Historical Society (IHS) prepared a formal Request for Proposal and submitted it to five potential vendors. After due consideration of the resulting bids, “Brand-X�? and Montel remained the only two viable possibilities.

It's important to note that “Brand-X�? was the company with which IHS had contracted almost twenty years earlier, in 1977, to design and install compact-shelving in the just completed annex to the Indiana State Library & Historical Building, into which the Historical Society was moving that same year. In the intervening years, however, other companies had come into the field, and IHS thought that a new and different vendor might possibility match and perhaps even exceed the quality of what “Brand-X�? had to offer.

IHS had its architect, CSO Architects of Indianapolis, arrange for a head-to-head competition between “Brand-X�? and Montel. Using rails surface mounted on the floor of the new vaults, both vendors mounted six carriages each, to be examined, tested, and compared by IHS. After an extensive, on-site review, IHS staff and trustees realized that there really was no comparison. Montel blew “Brand-X�? out of the water, as several staff observed at the time. The intelligence of the design, the quality of the construction, the ease of operation, and several other related factors, all strongly indicated that Montel was the smart and obvious choice. The Indiana Historical Society chose Montel for its compact-shelving system vendor.

IHS has not regretted its choice. After installation was completed, several minor difficulties were quickly resolved. Custom-made storage units for a collection of Cirkut negatives and prints, and four lockable drawers for Audubon's double elephant folio book, The Birds of North America were fabricated and installed. Service calls were few and far between, and always responded to quickly and efficiently.

In short, even though it had a long history of using “Brand-X�? equipment and servicing, the Indiana Historical Society made the correct choice when it chose Montel over “Brand-X�? for its compact-shelving vendor. If given the same decision to make again today, I am satisfied that IHS would again make the same choice."

Bruce L. Johnson, Ph.D.

Vice President, Library

Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN

(Mobilex Electrical with Four-Post Shelving)

“We wanted to use the heavier shelving provided by Montel; ones that have four heavy-duty clips that receive the shelf, without additional support bars required by Brand-X.

The location of the electrical components in an end panel featured by Montel was superior to Brand-X; which were located on the top of the shelving. We thought it better that any needed repair be done from an end panel rather than getting up on a ladder in the middle of an aisle in the middle of the collection. Each company's computer memory features were top of the line, but Montel has a longer history with their automated features than Brand-X�?.

I hope this helps. This research involved a LOT of man-hours by our entire collections staff. We took our decision very seriously, and feel it was the most logical, and best product available.�?

Ramona Duncan-Huse

Head of Conservation

Indiana Historical Society Library, Indianapolis IN

“We are enjoying our new "toy" and have done some more unpacking and arranging of artifacts on the shelves. We have two interns this summer who are helping to whip storage into shape. Soon we will be really organized and able to give some tours. We receive lots of complements on the wonderful compact units. This sure beats our old storage system!�?

Peter Clark

Curator of Collections

National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum, Cooperstown, NY

(Mobilex Mechanical with various shelving)

“I am writing you to express my deep appreciation for the outstanding effort of your employees in managing successfully the above noted project. I want to thank you for your cooperation and service during the whole process, from the design of the project, the coordination of deliveries taking into consideration work progress from other trades, until final completion, all this with constantly listening to our needs.

We have also appreciated the professionalism of your installation team, being flexible to ensure a smooth coordination and transition with the file movers, although they were working with a tight schedule. To manufacture, deliver and install 6521 shelving units, on time and satisfactory, was a challenge and you have gone the extra mile to ensure our total satisfaction. I want to thank you and all the people involved in the project. We are totally satisfied with the end result. Montel and its employees can be proud of their work.�?

Christine Besner,

Architect

Revenu Quebec- Service de Gestion des Immeubles, Montreal, QC

(SmartShelf Fixed Shelving)