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Hale Library Blog

Week Ten Building Update

Since our last update, we’ve been hard at work creating a blank canvas on which to build our new Hale Library. Crews have removed a huge variety of items from the building, including entire rooms full of shelving components and a one-ton air conditioning unit.

Inside the building

Most of the books have been removed from the first floor, with the exception of a small portion of Stack A. Once all the books are removed from a space, crews start dismantling shelving units.

Several white metal bookshelves are lined up behind each other, exposing an empty room.
Here, only the shelving framework remains after the shelves were removed. Note the imprint of the books left behind in the soot at the bottom of this photo. July 25, 2018.
White metal bookends and shelves lay in stacks on the ground.
Metal bookends and pieces of shelving units piled on the floor of Room 117, which is the ground floor of the 1927 building. July 25, 2018.  

Crews are removing compact shelving from the third and the fourth floors, too. The majority of bookshelves are unsalvageable due to smoke and water damage.

An empty green room with pallets on the floor and tools scattered on the floor.
Room 117 was tightly packed with movable shelving units. It was an out-of-the-way study space that students valued for its isolation and beautiful natural light. July 25, 2018.

Recently we found mold growing in the wood display cases by the second floor entrance, so they had to be removed. Previously, the display cases featured rotating exhibits that highlighted the Libraries’ services and collections.

A large wooden cabinet display is being deconstructed by workers.
The cabinets next to the entrance have been dismantled. July 31, 2018.

Lead abatement has been completed in Room 212, the second floor of the 1927 building. Before the fire, this space was filled with cubicles that were occupied by iTAC employees. Large swaths of the walls are now bare of paint, which will help the plaster dry more quickly.

Room 212 a few days after the lead abatement. July 31, 2018.

HVAC Removal

Three massive heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units on the roof that were close to the source of the fire were deemed not salvageable, so they had to be removed.

A large crane extends up past a five store limestone building.
Since the largest of the units was about eight feet tall and eighteen feet long, we brought in a crane to do the job. July 26, 2018.
The metal arm of the crane extends high above the tan, peaked roof of the library as it lifts a large, rectangular piece of the HVAC unit.
The largest unit was cut into three pieces to make it easier to lift off of the roof safely. July 26, 2018.

When the pieces were on the ground, Jeremy Sharp, a K-State facilities program manager, noticed that pieces of the aluminum had melted from the fire. To inflict that kind of damage, the heat would have needed to reach 1100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Two men stand next to a large metal rectangle unit and one man stands inside of the unit that is just as tall as he is.
The units are tall enough that grown men are able to stand inside of them comfortably. July 26, 2018.

Renovation

We are now in the early stages of meeting with PGAV, an architecture firm that is working on both damage assessment and the plans to renovate Hale Library. There is still a long road before we will be able to reopen, but it is an exciting time to start planning for the future.

A group of people sit around a table with blueprint on them.
Lori Goetsch, Dean of Libraries, and other library staffers meet with architects from PGAV, the firm that is helping with the renovation. July 19, 2018.
A group of people sit around a table with blueprints and a blonde woman is extending her arm to a blueprint to point at something.
Library employees share how they used the old Hale Library, what they loved about it and what they would change. July 19, 2018. 

We are still in the initial stages, but this gives us all a glimpse of what’s to come.