Inaction results in potential loss of 34,000 books
In what Ward Seven Councilwoman Virgi Lindsay is calling a “colossal failure,” approximately 34,000 books at the Charles Tisdale Library have likely been lost to black mold.
Staff from the Jackson-Hinds Library System recently inspected the Tisdale branch, which was closed in April 2017 because of flooding and black mold.
Inspectors discovered mold is now covering many of the facility’s hard surfaces, a sign the toxic substance likely has infected the branch’s 34,000 titles.
It’s unclear how much it would cost to replace the books, or who is to take the blame for the loss.
However, leaders are already pointing the finger.
Jackson-Hinds Executive Director Patty Furr says the Jackson City Council has been unresponsive to her requests for help with the books, while Ward One Councilman Ashby Foote argues the administration is to blame for not taking action.
Lindsay didn’t indict anyone per se, but said the loss of the books represented a “colossal failure in so many ways.”
“It’s not just about the books, but about an important part of our city,” she said. “We have a library that’s missing in an area that’s surrounded by schools and neighborhoods that not only need books, but the services the libraries provide.”
The library logged 60,000 visitors a year prior to its closure.
Ward Four Councilman De’Keither Stamps agreed with Furr that the council has been unresponsive.
“Our job is to preserve the city’s assets. Those books are the city’s assets. Even if they’re worth a dollar apiece, that’s still $34,000.”
Brenda Bethany, the Ward One representative on the Jackson-Hinds board of trustees, wouldn’t comment on the situation at Tisdale, admitting she was “not that familiar with it.”
Foote said it was the responsibility of the administration, not the council, to relocate the books.
“We tried to do what we could. We brought in (Furr) to talk about it and have encouraged the mayor to take action, and the administration failed to do anything,” he said.
Furr had requested from the council additional funding to store the books.
Giving the library more money was not the way to solve the problem, Foote said.
The library’s budget was cut by $50,000 for the 2019 fiscal year.
“It was not for us come up with the extra money to take care of these books. The real solution is to find another facility and to move (Tisdale) so it operates as a library,” he said. “For us to say we have to solve this is like asking the skier at the end of the boat to direct where the boat is going.”
The library director said she’s spoken to the council between six and eight times since Tisdale closed, and had even brought recommendations to the council about relocating the facility.
“I have pleaded with (the council) to give me a space, maybe they have a high school gym or some place suitable to put the books,” she said.
On October 9, she addressed the council again, but did not bring up the condition of the books until asked.
At that meeting, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said Furr’s concerns had not fallen on “deaf ears.”
“The administration is attempting to enact a sequence of events to address it,” he said.
The mayor didn’t offering additional details, but wanted to schedule a sit-down meeting with the director. A meeting had not been set at press time.
Furr has only seen photos of the library damage. “From pictures I’ve seen, it looks bad,” Furr said. “We have mold growing over banisters and tables and that’s not a good thing.” She was at a conference last week during the inspection.
The Northside Drive branch was shuttered in April 2017, after storms caused severe flooding in the basement. That flooding, in turn, exacerbated a pre-existing black mold problem, causing it to grow out of control.
Large, industrial-strength dehumidifiers were installed to stem the mold’s growth, but additional flooding, as well as numerous storm-related power outages, allowed the substance to spread.
Efforts to relocate the books have fallen through, either because of bad luck or lack of funding.
“The Metrocenter had given us a wonderful location, but they closed. That was the end of that,” Furr said.
Mall officials announced Metrocenter was closing in August in 2018, more than a year after Tisdale was closed.
“We had one person offer us a space at reduced cost, but there was no air conditioning. There has to be an air-conditioned place to put them.”
Furr didn’t move the books to other branches, for fear the mold would spread to those respective collections.
“Say we have a tropical storm or a hurricane and the power goes out for three or four days,” she said. “(The mold) could easily spread.”
The city has filed a claim with Travelers Insurance following the initial flooding, but no damages had been paid at press time.
Last week, the library filed an additional claim on the books.
Jackson Director of Communications Candice Cole had not responded to a request for a statement at press time.
Exposure to the mold can cause stuffy noses, itchy/watery eyes and wheezing, and can aggravate pre-existing respiratory conditions, such as asthma, the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) website states.
