Don’t be alarmed! Polk State Winter Haven Library will be disposing of books
Polk State College does not want students and patrons to be alarmed beginning the week of October 20 while staff members box up and dispose of damaged books and materials in the Winter Haven Campus Library.
Servpro will conduct a deep cleaning of the space on October 18, then librarians and facilities will coordinate on the disposal of approximately 1,000 items. The library will remain open through the week of October 20 while this work is taking place.
This work is necessary after an air conditioning unit malfunctioned, resulting in elevated humidity that impacted books and materials. The unit was promptly repaired; however, materials had already sustained damage.
NOVA Engineering and Environmental, LLC conducted air quality testing in the Learning Resources (WLR) Building on July 23 and concluded in an August 1 report that, “the air samples both contained fewer spore types and fewer spore counts than the outdoor air, which suggests adequate air filtration for this building. Visible mold [on book surfaces] and active dehumidifier machines suggest the third floor [library] regularly experiences elevated relative humidity levels without the dehumidifiers, evidenced by the surface sample of visible mold [on book surfaces].”
The College promptly began the procurement and scheduling processes for cleaning and disposal, resulting in the October 18 cleaning and subsequent work to dispose of materials.
Additionally, to avoid future instances such as this, the College is upgrading its HVAC controls system campus-wide wide which will have the ability to send out notifications in the event of high humidity detected in buildings. The College has also purchased two large commercial dehumidifiers that can be deployed in the event of a service interruption.
Consistent with Polk State Libraries’ Collection Development Policy, books considered for withdrawal and disposal will be cataloged, reviewed to determine if there are additional printed or electronic copies available, and reordered if desired. Faculty are welcome to email Director of the Teaching Learning Computing Center and Learning Resources Chris Fullerton at CFullerton@polk.edu to request the reports of withdrawn items and provide input regarding reorders and updates.
This is a very important project, and the College is committed to ensuring that the collection and the environment are attended to with professional care.