INSIDE

Allergic to books? There
may be a good reason for it

By Meg Olson

The local parks board reassured Whatcom County Library System director Joan Airoldi they would address air quality issues in the Gulf Road community center that could drive the library out of the building.

“Something should be done if the library is going to continue residing here,” Airoldi told parks commissioners at their March 10 meeting. “When you see people’s eyes watering that’s something you can’t fake. The air quality is a serious concern to us.”

Librarian Kris Lomedico explained that they had received a written complaint from a staff member who experienced an allergic reaction when coming to work, including watery, swollen eyes and congestion. “She seems to have more sensitivity than some others of us,” Lomedico said. She added some other community members had told her they no longer came to the library because of air quality.

The problem comes from standing water underneath the building, according to emailed comments from Northwest Clean Air Agency environmental specialist David Blake. “This scenario needs correcting to prevent all that moisture (and whatever biological activity is thriving in it) from rising upstairs,” he wrote. Blake suggested the functioning of the sump pump under the community center be checked. He added the situation could be improved further by adding exhaust fans in the crawl space to “pull air directly sideways to outside creating negative pressure in the crawl space to deny that air access to upstairs.”

Parks commissioners agreed the problem was serious enough to warrant investigating a solution. “It’s definitely within our power to do something,” said commission chair Shelley Damewood. Airoldi said perhaps the library and the parks district could jointly fund improvements.

Blake said the standing water under the building was “the biggest smoking gun,” but that the library could also benefit from more thorough and frequent cleaning, from steam-cleaning the carpet to more frequent vacuuming and dusting. “When we get the carpet steam-cleaned it does seem to help a lot,” Lomedico agreed.

A practical solution will put in place what the community can afford but shouldn’t look for perfection, Blake said. “They’re only going to get it as good as the money they spend,” he said. “A library is really no place for a sensitive person because it’s so full of old paper and old paper is Purina mold-chow. We often see trouble with people in libraries.”