Author: Arielle Darr
Over the past week, the Los Angeles area has faced several rainy days with some very intense showers. As Californians everywhere try to adapt to the wet weather, power outages, mudslides, rockslides and slick, and sometimes flooded road conditions, Oxy has also dealt with some problems of flooding.
As a result of the rain, the Mary Norton Clapp Library has suffered leaks in the roof. As the rain strengthened and water began to leak on the night of Saturday, Feb. 6, trashcans from around the library were gathered to collect the water.
The Music Library was also affected by the influx of rain. “The Music Library is located in Booth Hall Room 103. As such, we are below-ground, and characteristically, when we have a significant amount of rain in a short period of time, rain water can come under the back door to the Music Library and flood the rug and floor area as it did last Saturday night,” Music Librarian Lisa Nitsch said.
At the present time the Music Library is closed until further notice due to the rain. “A rather complex set of circumstances is related to this problem, [and] the facilities staff is diligently working on coming up with possible solutions to prevent any future incidents,” Nitsch said. “There is no danger to any of the Music Library collection. We have had a few relatively minor flood related incidents in the Music Library in the past.”
Roof leaks because of rain have also been a problem in past years, according to the Head of Access Services Laura Serafini. The library is currently functioning normally, though continuing rain still poses a problem. “Facilities have responsibilities for all building repair and maintenance. I don’t know their plans,” Serafini said.
In 2005, a large storm caused lots of damage to Oxy’s campus. “Rising groundwater forced the closure of classrooms on the ground floor of Weingart, caused damage in portions of the Emmons Health Center, and shut down the Johnson Hall elevator. Clogged drains flooded the Bookstore on December 28, while heavy rains caused several campus trees to fall,” wrote Director of Communications Jim Tranquada in a news update on Oxy’s website Feb. 14, 2005.
There was a flood in the library in 2008 which damaged an estimated 21,000 books according to Anahid Yahjian’s 2008 Occidental Weekly article.
“Hopefully the Music Library will be reopening quite soon, and I will let the entire Occidental community know just as soon as I know,” Nitsch said.
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