RIVERVIEW: Mold Concerns Cause City Library to Close
Tamara R Pearlman
by Jim Kasuba, thenewsherald.com
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 | RIVERVIEW — Discovery of an unknown mold
in the men’s room at the city’s public library has led to its
temporary closure.
Librarian Kirk Borger said the library closed at 4:30 p.m. Monday
after Department of Public Works employees discovered the mold during
routine maintenance.
“It could possibly be black mold, but we don’t know,” Borger said. “It
could just be mildew. In talking to the Michigan Municipal Risk
Management Authority, they said that if you don’t know what it is,
then you have to shut it down.”
Borger said he contacted other area libraries to find out whether or
not they have any experience with this problem, but could find no
precedent. He said some have had flooding issues in the past, but no
experience with mold.
Yesterday morning, Borger was contacting environmental companies in an
attempt to diagnose the mold.
“It’s a timing thing,” Borger said. “It’s bad, coming up on the
holidays and everything.”
The Riverview Public Library, 14300 Sibley Road, will be closed until
further notice, but Borger is hoping that it won’t be for long.
“We want to be proactive in letting people know why we are closed,” he
said. “It’s nothing they have to worry about.
“Anytime you don’t know what something is, you have to err on the side
of caution. It’s probably nothing, but we want to take cautionary
measures. We don’t want to endanger the public.”
Judy Duncan, chairwoman of the Riverview Library Commission, agreed
with Borger’s decision to close the building until the substance can
be identified.
“We want to have it checked out in concern for our patrons,” Duncan
said. “Hopefully, we will get it resolved soon.”
http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2009/12/15/news/doc4b2800c524444699527598.txt