North Valley Public Library has been undergoing renovations for about a month in its Circulation Area, which includes the use of computer carrels and the young adult sections. Before reconstruction, ceiling tiles and floor mastic were abated by ACM of Missoula, a business that specializes in asbestos abatement around the state. They set up a containment zone for the abatement process and passed an air-clearance test before anyone went back into the room.
Spray-foam insulation was blown against the underside of the roof deck, then covered with a layer of rock wool for fire protection, per code. This dynamic duo replaced fiberglass batts, most of which had fallen onto the ceiling grid in random fashion. The closed-cell spray foam against the underside of the roof deck serves as a moisture barrier and glues the roof structure together for a sturdier assembly, while enhancing comfort and reducing heating and cooling costs.
New dropped-ceiling grid was installed to code and inspected, using hangers and wire specs for commercial installations. The old grid was hung on fence staples with light wire; there are stories of using library patrons to hold it up when it slumped! We hope you don’t miss the old look of flickering strip lights between discolored panels when you see the clean, bright, modern-looking, non-shedding, non-sagging ceiling.
Those ‘vintage’ fluorescent fixtures required constant maintenance and used bulbs which have been phased out of production, forcing an upgrade. Ongoing costs of recycling mercury-containing tubes and PCB-containing ballasts, which had to be hauled to Missoula for disposal, added substantially to the cost of igniting their flickery purpleness. Recent technological advancements and lower costs in LED lighting helped us make the leap to light fixtures with a 5-year/50,000-hour warranty, which are controlled by dimmers to provide custom lighting experiences, as for evening performances. They’ll operate at about a fourth of the cost of the previous fixtures, provide more lumens, less flicker, render truer colors, and require near-zero maintenance.
We’ve taken the opportunity during this semi-closure to install breaker-bar doors on the alley side of the building for egress safety and facilities security. A dual-pane window was installed to replace the single pane of glass that used to separate users of the Community Room from winter’s fury. New, button-activated, accessible hardware on two sets of double-pane, double doors on Main Street replace leaky, single-pane doors to better serve our handicapped patrons. The Annie Maclay Leffingwell Foundation provided $5,521 toward the front doors, the Rapp Family Foundation gave $2000 for the safety exit doors, the Stevensville Community Foundation donated $1630 for materials, and the Library’s Depreciation Fund provided the remainder. A huge thank-you to the library’s benefactors for helping us create a safer and more accessible environment.
Speaking of safety and accessibility…while undertaking this remodel, a few soft floor areas led to the discovery that a cellar space under the circulation desk area was home to a substantial colony of mold on which we’ve served an eviction notice. An ancient cooler built inside the cellar contains more asbestos. ACM and a mold remediation company have been retained to collaborate on removing the source of moisture and cleaning up the affected areas. Remediations cannot be done for a public building except by licensed remediators who contain the debris and dispose of it legally, who will have to fit our ‘surprise’ remediation job into their schedules. Some broken joists discovered during the exploration will be reinforced with new ones alongside. The finished floor will look similar to the one completed last Spring in the Community Room.
Unfortunately, this new wrinkle means this section of the library wasn’t able to re-open as anticipated. We are acutely aware that patrons are temporarily inconvenienced by the restricted use of the library, but please bear with us as we strive to spend taxpayer dollars carefully to make NVPL much safer, more accessible, more comfortable, and less expensive to keep the lights on for another century on Main Street. If you want to follow along with our progress, go to NVPL’s Facebook page to view a photographic essay.
Programs are still being held in the Community Room. All adult materials area available to check out during the renovation. We have arranged to move some children’s materials into the adult area on the endcaps until we re-open in full. Two, 20-minute laptops are networked to print, so if you have a boarding pass to print or an important email, library staff are ready to spring into action to assist you.
Thanks for your understanding and forbearance from your friendly, neighborhood library.
Colleen Miller, Building Supervisor
North Valley Public Library