Rare Book and Manuscript Library Mold Recovery

As documented through extensive press coverage, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML) suffered from a mold outbreak during the late fall of 2007. The outbreak, which most likely occurred after a spike in humidity, was discovered when one of the Library’s conservators was examining some materials in the vault with the Curator of Rare Books.

As with any disaster, the first step taken was to control the environment and assess the extent of the damage so that a proper response could be planned. Temporary dehumidification was installed throughout the vault to control any humidity spikes, and an assessment of the damage was conducted by the Library’s conservation personnel. During the assessment phase, it was determined that mold blooms were present throughout the collection with particularly high concentrations near the HVAC delivery and return vents. Fortunately, the mold had not reached the point of irreparably damaging any books or manuscripts. Given the highly distributed nature of the outbreak throughout the collection, it was determined that the course of action would be two-fold to clean the entire collection and the pursue support for long-term improvements to the environment.

Taking advantage of the dry winter climate in central Illinois and the safeguard provided by the use of temporary dehumidification, the Library planned its response. Project plans, budgets, and estimates for both in-house and joint in-house/outsourced projects were developed and the options were weighed in order to determine which model would be the most successful in terms of both recovery and mitigation.

Mold blooms are not uncommon in libraries - even those housing rare books and special collections. However, they are often not publicized. In similar cases, libraries have closed for years to recover a collection. Our project team recommended a slightly more expensive process that would require contracted support, but it would also enable the University to minimize the impact on the academic needs of students, faculty, and scholars. Fortunately, the Provost’s Office supported the Library’s request to hire an outside firm. This firm will provide the cleaning services necessary to clean the HVAC systems, collections, and storage vault. Rather than closing for a minimum of six months to clean the collection, the Library projects a closure closer to ten weeks in duration.

Cleaning the HVAC system began during the week of Feb 10th. After an orientation and care and handling training for the contracted personnel, cleaning the collection began the following week under the supervision of RBML, Conservation and Preservation personnel. As the cleaning crew progresses through the vault, follow-up crews of Library staff will (a) address problem items that the cleaning crews were asked to bag and pass due to fragility, (b) replace pamphlet binders and clamshells that were previously identified as being particularly susceptible to mold, and (c) stabilize any items identified as requiring remedial treatment.

Periodic Updates

Preparation

Upon receipt of support from the Provost’s Office for the cleaning project and approval of emergency spending authorization, the Library began the detailed preparation for a ten-week project. In preparation for the RBML cleaning, personnel from the Library met with the contractor’s representatives, began scheduling HVAC shut downs in preparation for the cleaning, and worked with Facilities and Services personnel to bring a sufficient power supply into the RBML vault to support the cleaning equipment. In addition, efforts were made to finalize purchase orders, locate housing for the contractors in town, prepare welcome packets for our out of town guests, order supplies for the follow-up library staff work, develop training manuals for the contractors, identify a staging space for the contractor’s equipment and supplies, and otherwise prepare for a significant project.

Due to concerns about the potential human health risks posed by the mold, the Library called in mycologists who assessed minimal risk to healthy individuals. They also were able to positively identify the species of mold and help address any potential health and safety issues.

In the course of this work, the mold outbreak became public knowledge when the emergency spending request was noted by a reporter with the Chicago Sun-Times on the posted Board of Trustees agenda.

February 14th – March 7th
The project crew began the cleaning with the HVAC systems. Upon completion of the HVAC system cleaning, temporary walls were established in the RBML vault to compartmentalize the storage space, zones of positive and negative pressure were established to protect cleaned areas from becoming re-contaminated, and, after training by RBML and Conservation personnel, the item level cleaning began.

HVAC and Duct Cleaning (Click to enlarge image)

HVAC Cleaning - Before and After (PDF file)

Temporary Walls in RBML (Click to enlarge image)

Press Coverage

UIUC Rare Book Library Closes Due to Mold
      from ALA News (02/2008)
Rare Book and Manuscript Library closes to combat mold
      from InsideIllinois (02/21/2008)
UI's Rare Book Library to close to deal with mold problems
      from The News-Gazette (02/09/2008)
U of I rare books plagued with mold
      from United Press International (02/08/2008)
UIUC's rare book library attacked by mold
      from Daily Illini (02/08/2008)