{"675817":{"#nid":"675817","#data":{"type":"news","title":"High heat and humidity? Watch out for mold on books, paper","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWorried about the books and papers in your office after a few weeks without air conditioning? You probably should be.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo protect the physical collections in the Library, faculty and staffed moved every book to Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons. Luckily, it still had air conditioning. If not, they would have not been able to arrest the growth of mold on the more than 30,000 books.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt could have been a disaster, meaning hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses for the Institute. Here\u2019s why: Mold is bad for physical materials. This is why the collections in the Library\u2019s offsite storage facility, the Library Service Center, stay at 55 degrees Fahrenheit and 35 percent relative humidity. Those settings keep the materials in pretty much perfect condition for the next 250 years.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut back to campus: The high heat and humidity in campus buildings from the chilled water outage have made mold \u2013 which is ever-present no matter what -- very happy. When mold is happy, it grows and spreads. And that mold growth can mean serious health problems to the thousands of people who use the Library every day.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Library will be OK in the long-term. Faculty and staff are now in the process of cleaning any new mold growth on materials so the Library can open as soon as the chilled water outage is fixed. This includes cleaning shelves and tables with alcohol and vacuuming every inch of carpet.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd once the humidity is back under control in your building, you\u2019ll want to jump into action to protect your own cherished books.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ETo clean books, here is a list of materials you\u2019ll need:\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EHEPA vacuum\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ECloth wipes\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EGloves\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EMasks\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EEar protection (or a great playlist\/podcast)\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EComfortable clothes\/shoes\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince the Library\u2019s books are currently in boxes, we first remove the books from the box. We vacuum the inside of the box on all sides and corners to get as many mold spores as possible that have fallen off the books. Then we turn our attention to the books:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul type=\u0022disc\u0022\u003E\u003Cli\u003EHold the book tightly closed while cleaning.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EVacuum the top and bottom of the book, sweeping away from the spine to avoid damage.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThen vacuum the entire outside of the book.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ENext, use the cloth to wipe the entire outside of the book.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EVacuum again, just as you did the first time. The point is to agitate all the mold particles and vacuum them into the HEPA filter.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EPlace the book back in the box and move on to the next.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat about papers? Unfortunately, cleaning single sheets is extremely difficult because of the suction. Instead, make photocopies of all your important documents and trash the originals. It\u2019s a great way to clean out your office!\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf you have any questions about your own materials,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/library.gatech.edu\/help\u0022\u003Efeel free to contact the Library\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe also recommend you check out this article from the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nedcc.org\/free-resources\/preservation-leaflets\/3.-emergency-management\/3.8-emergency-salvage-of-moldy-books-and-paper\u0022\u003ENortheast Document Conservation Center, which specializes in treating and digitizing collections made of paper or parchment.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Learn how to clean and protect the books in your office that might be moldy after the chilled water outages"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWorried about the books and papers in your office after a few weeks without air conditioning? You probably should be.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Worried about the books and papers in your office after a few weeks without air conditioning? You probably should be. "}],"uid":"28817","created_gmt":"2024-08-06 20:46:50","changed_gmt":"2024-08-16 16:06:06","author":"Jason Wright","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-08-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-08-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"674516":{"id":"674516","type":"image","title":"21C10302-P27-008.JPG","body":null,"created":"1722977224","gmt_created":"2024-08-06 20:47:04","changed":"1722977224","gmt_changed":"2024-08-06 20:47:04","alt":"Books in office","file":{"fid":"258058","name":"21C10302-P27-008.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/08\/06\/21C10302-P27-008.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/08\/06\/21C10302-P27-008.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":20262929,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/08\/06\/21C10302-P27-008.JPG?itok=_pwiIaM8"}}},"media_ids":["674516"],"groups":[{"id":"47240","name":"Georgia Tech Library"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"193865","name":"Chilled Water Outage"},{"id":"14028","name":"mold"},{"id":"15355","name":"books"},{"id":"2106","name":"Paper"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}