Humboldt Council hears from library director
Temperature issues lead to funding request
By ROBERT WOLF
editor@messengernews.news
HUMBOLDT — The Humboldt City Council heard from Humboldt Library Director Demi Johnson about a previous funding request for a new air conditioner at Monday’s council meeting.
In November the council received a budget amendment request from the library Board of Trustees. The board was asking for a $20,000 amendment to its budget to replace a failed air conditioner. At the time the council did not vote on the request but suggested the library could use money from a trust fund.
On Monday, Johnson said the library staff and patrons spent a miserable summer with a failing air conditioner system.
“It was so difficult for our librarians to work in such miserably hot conditions this summer,” she said.
At times the temperature inside the library was more than 90 degrees. A computer can raise the inside temperature by 5 degrees and the library has 25 computers as well as other devices, she said.
The library was even contacted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA has no temperature regulations for employees, but the OSHA standard regulations for the public in a public building is 68 to 76 degrees and humidity levels of 20 to 60 percent, Johnson said.
OSHA was also concerned about the effects on the technology.
A repair utilizing an oscillating sprinkler system on the roof worked well for a while until someone pulled the hose and moved the sprinkler. That caused the roof to leak onto the circulation desk and soaked new laptops. The trustees spent more than $5,000 on unexpected repairs related to the failing air conditioner.
The library needed to get the problem solved before it could be officially accredited again by the state, Johnson said.
“I asked the advice of our state consultant at the State Library of Iowa and she told us the city should have a contingency plan for emergencies like this. She told us it is a city building which the city should pay for,” Johnson said.
“The city owns the library and has the responsibility for building maintenance and to keep it open to the public,” she added. “We will pay for this out of the trust fund because we are tired of fighting about it. We firmly believe this is not what this trust fund is for.”
The library uses the interest from the trust money donated by patrons. It is used for books, programs, and audio visual items. Money for the air conditioner will mean less money for books.
“Demi, I think you do a fantastic job at the library and I think the library board does a fantastic job as well. I think the council is behind you 100 percent,” said Councilman John Sleiter.
The request just came at a bad time, he said. Perhaps the city could consider setting aside a contingency fund when they work on the new budget, he added.