(While I wait for my red hot baked potato to cool down...!)

*Many thanks* for responses to my queries about management, budgetting, moving & similar joys- really useful. 

In case anyone else is interested, I have listed them below. I havent edited them much as the content was all great (either useful or entertaining), and apologies therefore re length. The ones specific to moving are at the end (in the hope that they are the least relevant to most of you!)- I've just worked out I need 83 crates...

PS I'm assuming all of you able to travel to London know about the Kings Fund library- open access, good collection, nice environment (helpful staff of course) *and* behind John Lewis in Oxford St!  More at http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/eLibrary/html/index.html
(PS no, she *didnt* ask me to mention that, and I havent asked her either!)

Fiona

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You're always of course welcome to the Kings Fund library to browse through our substantial
collection of general management texts!  (As used on KF leadership
development courses). Includes practical as well as theoretical books...

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I like this website

http://www.quickmba.com/
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'm currently doing a PG management course and whilst I've looked at a 
number of texts one does really stand out. It is the Gower Handbook of 
Management Skills edited by Dorothy Stewart. The details on the publishers 
site is available here 
http://www.gowerpub.com/TitleDetails.asp?sQueryISBN=0566078899&sPassString=Y&sKeyword1=gower&sKeyword2=management&sBooleanSearch=AND&sSearchFrom=Title&sSubjectCode=999&sNewTitle=999&lStartPos=1

They sell it at Amazon for £49.50 but the publishers are selling the 
hardback at the paperback price of £29.50 as it is shortly going out of 
print in readiness for a new edition/reprint so worth going direct. As it 
is not v. cheap, it's probably worth checking a public library for it.

It is very readable and practical and I liked it so much I bought my own copy.
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I've found some of the LA/now FACET publishing paperbacks to be very helpful - such as the "becoming an intrapreneur" one. They tend to be written by people I respect, even if I don't know them.
The counterpoint is that I get a daily cartoon from Dilbert, which greets me in the mornings (register at dilbert.com) 
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Practical resources: paracetamol, a bottle of gin, and I have a small furry Charlie Mouse that sings the Mouse Organ song, which I find very soothing in times of great stress!! 
Seriously, I would say that the best (free!!) resource is either a supportive manager or a "buddy" or "mentor"- someone from outside your workplace who has similar managerial responsibilities and is prepared to listen to your tales of woe and suggest practical ways that they have used to tackle problems in their own experience and let you talk things through. You need someone positive though - not someone who will feed you tea and say *I know, isn't it awful, why do we bother, I'm only here for the money myself, TGIF...* 
As for books - the one I'm keenest on at the moment is one that I scorned not so long ago as being terribly American, pop-psychology and self-help. It's by Pedler and called A Manager's Guide to Self-Development (20 quid). I find it useful because it's full of practical questionnaires. It has helped me understand some of my staff better, and I find that really helpful (i.e. the reason person X asks 4 million niggly questions about everything I say is down to her learning type and her need for background information and not implied criticism of me - allegedly!) 
The other thing I've done recently that I found useful was a Jung Type Personality profile which was on the Radio 4 Today prog website. It gives you a nice insight into the kind of person you are, but relates it to how you manage and what your problem areas might be, which I've found useful. One of my staff went on a management course (It was a CILIP one, she found it v interesting) and was recommended a book from the CIPD - Managing for the First Time. It's only seven quid.
I've just discovered (and wish I had found earlier) the concept of a personal journal (see Pedler for details). It's a good way of looking at problems and working out why they happened and how you might solve them, rather than berating yourself for being an idiot and labelling yourself as being bad at something!!
These are all mostly people management things, but I have to say that to my mind that is by far and away the hardest bit. The two best things I ever did for my budgeting skills were using Excel and making friends with my accountant. I set up a nice Excel spreadsheet that keeps a track of what I spend, when, what on, and running totals of what I've spent and what I've got left. The other big help was when I finally got allocated a decent accountant, who comes to see me and asks why journals suppliers move in mysterious ways, and nudges me about underspend. So cuddle up to your accountant - bribe them with chocolate, get them on your side!
As for your planning to move into crates while still open - see my first paragraph!! 
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Some space planning tips:

When coordinating your move, make sure that any assisting staff know to keep
items in shelf number order, label the boxes with the range covered, and
keep the boxes in shelf range order.  This sounds obvious, but depending on
your employees....

In planning your new space, make sure you allow for a wide enough path
between shelves (measure what you have now if it looks good).  Some
recommendations from the Medical Library Association's Administration and
Management in Health Sciences Libraries: .15 square feet per volume stack
space, with 1 seat for every 5 users.  The stack space formula allows for
growth in your collection.  

I'm not sure I'd recommend your purchasing the MLA book I've quoted from, as
some of it seems vague and sometimes includes references to other resources
rather than including the useful content in the book itself!  I have found
it helpful in many ways, but thought it would be more comprehensive for the
price.

You can cut out and tape together sheets of paper according to the
measurements of your shelves and furniture to guide the workers who set them
up in your new library.  When you reshelve your books, leave at least 1/3 of
each shelf empty.

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McDonald, Andrew
Moving your library
Aslib Know How Series, '94.
0851423280
36pp. 17 short chapters on topics like: Timing, publicity, stock measurment and space, method of moving, special items, order of move, human aspects....

Wells, Marianna S & Young, Rosemary
Moving and reorganizing a library
Gower, '97.
0566077019
122 pp. More detailed, USA book, but includes chapters on Organizing Moving Day, Opening the New Facility, In-house Shifting...