The Minnesota Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, on the campus of the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind in Faribault, has quarantined 25,000 Braille books due to a mold problem, according to a September 25 Associated Press report. Workers discovered the mold two weeks earlier in the library basement where 90% of the library’s collection is kept.
Initial tests indicate the mold is not toxic and that its growth is due to humidity problems with the heating and cooling systems. “Right now we have dehumidifiers in place in order to stop the growth,” program director Catherine Durivage said. “First we’re trying to stop the growth of the mold, then we’ll figure out what to do.”
The library is not circulating any of the affected books, but is filling requests through the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at the Library of Congress.
Posted September 30, 2002.