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This summer, as record-breaking temperatures bake in Seattle, box fan sales soar, wading pools get crowded, health warnings are issued…
The library is closed.
In June, July and August, more than 130 were closed for all or part of the day due to high temperatures, according to the Seattle Public Library.
Nine of the system’s 27 branches do not have air conditioning, and SPL’s current policy is to shut them down when indoor temperatures reach or are expected to reach 80 degrees for more than an hour.
Such closures have become more common recently, disrupting branch services that many Seattle residents rely on to check books, use the Internet and rest in quiet surroundings.
SPL staff don’t like closures because they get in the way of handling materials and interacting with patrons, said Jessica Lucas, a Northeast branch youth services librarian and vice president of AFSCME Local 2083, the Seattle library workers union. The book drop remains open, so the returned books pile up. Lucas added that employees are often redeployed to air-conditioned branches, which means extra travel. But she said the shutdown was still necessary because working in the heat was worse.
“Some customers really understand, some don’t,” said Lucas, who sometimes hears customers complain. “We have to stay here all day, eight-hour shifts, and do physical work during that time.”
SPL spokeswoman Laura Gentry said the SPL’s thermal shutdown threshold used to be 90 degrees but dropped to 85 in 2018 based on “employee and customer health and safety concerns” and an increase in multi-day heat waves Spend. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the system uses a temporary threshold of 80 degrees because employees are required to wear masks, which increases discomfort in the heat, Gentry said.
This summer, Green Lake and University branches closed the most throughout the day, canceling service for seven days each. The Northeast branch is currently the busiest lending business in the system, with the longest heat shutdown on some days, 19 days.
“It’s part of a larger story about the generally unequipped” Pacific Northwest,” said Darth Nelson, assistant director of public service at SPL. “We think this is a long-term problem … we have to respond to it.”
Nelson said SPL plans to add air conditioning at several locations in the next few years and is seeking funding for other locations.
Six of the city’s nine non-air-conditioned branches were built more than 100 years ago with funding from New York steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, including Green Lake and the University, who funded libraries across the country .
The Northeast and Southwest branches were built in the 1950s and expanded in the 2000s. The NewHolly branch moved to a new building in 1999 as part of a revamped public housing community.
The Carnegie branch was built before air conditioning, while the Northeast branch was built to keep things cool, using low windows to “suck in” and high windows to “dissipate” with the help of fans, Nielsen said.
“At the time, the design was considered environmentally responsible,” he said. “But things are getting hotter,” with wildfire smoke in Seattle becoming more frequent, forcing branches to sometimes close windows.
All 50 branches of the King County library system are air-conditioned, a spokesman said. Seattle has closed some swimming pools on very hot days in the past, but places like city hall, police and fire departments, and childcare classrooms have not closed in recent memory due to the heat, a statement from the Department of Treasury and Administrative Services said. People say.
According to Gentry, SPL did not begin tracking heat- and smog-related closures until 2020. Branch closed in summer 2020 due to the coronavirus. There are 17 full-day and 40 half-day closures in summer 2021, compared to 39 full-day and 92 half-day closures this summer.
The City Council has allocated $1.7 million to install air conditioners in the Northeast and Southwest branches, and the Green Lake branch will be equipped with air conditioners as part of the Seismic Retrofit next year.
Gentry said SPL applied for a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help fund air conditioning in other branches.
Branches in question need air conditioning not only because they can be open for customers, but because they should Act as a ‘cooling center’ during heatwavesLucas said.
He said Nielsen has received a lot of comments about the shutdown this summer, which shows how concerned Seattle residents are. Most branches haven’t closed, “but when it’s your branch … it’s a huge impact,” he said.
Nelson said SPL is working to fix the problem. In recent weeks, the system has undergone earlier trials in branches without air conditioning to take advantage of cooler mornings. This requires support from employees, he said.
“We do a lot of lifting, pushing, moving things from one place to another,” Lucas wrote in an email. “We’re going to stay open for as long as we can without hurting. Do as much as you can.”
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