King Library Opens Today with Restricted Access after Earthquake
Major Effort Underway to Re-shelve Books Dislodged by Tuesday’s Earthquake
October 31, 2007 -
SAN JOSE, CALIF – The 5.6 earthquake that shook San José Tuesday evening just after 8:00 p.m. dislodged hundreds of thousands of books at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library downtown. The Library was evacuated immediately and the building secured so that staff from San José State University’s Facilities, Development and Operations (FD&O) could begin inspecting for damage. The library opened for service at 9:30 a.m. today, with access restricted to the first four floors. Those who had to leave belongings behind when the building closed can inquire at the security kiosks at either entrance.
FD&O has confirmed that the physical structure is fine. The most obvious sign are hundreds of thousands of items needing to be reshelved, chiefly on the sixth through eighth floors where the University research collection is stored. In view of that, elevators have been programmed to only serve floors one through four and access is restricted to those areas until further notice. Electricians continue to evaluate hazards. A large lighting fixture that fell on the eighth floor has been removed. There was a minor water leak that has now been sealed.
All library staff — public and university — who are not needed to provide service on the lower floors will be assisting in the massive reshelving effort. In addition, public library pool staff and regularly assigned staff willing to work extra hours will be called in to assist. Floors will reopen when their operating condition is restored.
Cleanup is expected to be completed by the end of the week. On a lighter note, the annual children’s Halloween story time and parade will take place as scheduled at 3:00 p.m. today.
For more information, contact:
• Lorraine Oback, San José Public Library, at (408) 808-2176
• Pat Harris, San José State University, at (408) 924-1748
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