Report urged library improvements

by Riley Bauling

Daily Lobo

A consultant's report written in 2002 recommended UNM install sprinklers throughout Zimmerman Library as a fire precaution, but several administrators hadn't seen that report until last week.

The library remains closed after an April 30 fire started in the basement. Nancy Dennis, assistant dean of University Libraries, said the building will reopen in the middle of June with the exception of the basement.

The library has sprinklers in only one section of the building, which was added in 1993.

Richard Holder, deputy provost, said he first saw the report on the KRQE-TV, Channel 13 news last week. The report was done by University of Utah librarian Randy Silverman.

Holder wasn't sure if any administrators had seen the report until it came out in the press, he said.

"There's been a certain amount of turnover in the administration since 2002, so it's not impossible that they (past administrators) saw it. I know I certainly didn't see it," he said. "I don't know why the recommendations weren't acted on, because I don't know who all saw it."

The report included recommendations for several other improvements or repairs to the library, Dennis said. There weren't enough resources available to install sprinklers throughout the building, she said.

However, she said several of the recommendations from the report were acted on, including removing asbestos from some of the insulation in the mechanical areas of the building; installing an air conditioning and heating upgrade to effectively control the environment and humidity in order to protect books; and fixing building leaks.

The fire detection system was upgraded as well, and Dennis said the alarms did their job in preventing injury and alerting the fire department as quickly as possible.

"Kudos to the fire department because they were here in four minutes," she said. "We evacuated the building without injury. Our system that was in place was obviously responsive."

Dennis didn't have an estimate for the amount spent on the improvements made after the 2002 report.

The cost of repairs and cleanup from the fire hasn't been estimated yet, said Harvey Chace, the associate director of the Physical Plant for maintenance and planning.

He said UNM's insurance carrier, Risk Management Division of New Mexico, has set aside $2.5 million in insurance reserve for the total cost of the project.

The installation of fire prevention devices such as sprinklers will be a top priority in the reparation, Chace said.

"We would get a lot of coaching from the state fire marshal's office about what new systems would be installed," he said. "I don't know specifics, but it's safe to say we'll be putting in more wet pipes and sprinkler systems."

Despite the Albuquerque Fire Department's quick response, Dennis said certain sections of the bound periodicals were a total loss in the fire.

"Those are not salvageable, but most of the collection is replaceable in electronic or print format," she said. "Cost is an issue, but it's our hope that those will be available in some form eventually."

The closure since the fire hasn't negatively affected all students, senior Matt Henderson said.

"I would say, for the most part, it'll be nice for the Starbucks being open again," he said. "I get maybe two or three reference books out of there a semester, so it hasn't been a huge deal to me."

Reference hours at the SUB can be found on Zimmerman Library's Web site at http://elibrary.unm.edu/zimmerman/index.php.