Walls torn down, rebuilt on third, fourth floors
The third floor of the White Library on East Campus was shut down briefly during the summer because of the discovery of mold that was found to be harmful to students.
The third floor was closed off for eight days, prohibiting all students from access. Kelly White, director of Environmental, Health, Safety & Risk Management, hired a cleaning company to remove the mold. The third floor is now undergoing construction and will receive new walls.
Sally Bickley, interim director of libraries, said all other floors were tested and determined to be free of mold.
“We have vinyl wallpaper covering much of the library, which didn’t allow the wall to breath and trapped moisture, causing the mold to grow,” Bickley said. The fourth floor, which also has vinyl wallpaper, will be undergoing construction after construction has finished on the third floor.
“We didn’t have too many issues finding books for students,” Bickley said. “They tested some of the books and found out that the books were OK. They just needed to replace the walls.”
Now that the mold has been effectively cleaned, White is overseeing the reconstruction of walls on the third and fourth floor of the library to prevent any further mold growth. White was not available for comment.
“Maybe by the end of the semester, we’ll have a nice third floor,” Bickley said optimistically.
