Leaks, Failing AC Create Problems At Windsor Library

WINDSOR, CT — Windsor’s main library is dealing with water coming through its ceilings and an air-conditioning system relying on one weakened compressor.

One of the system’s two compressors failed this summer. The remaining compressor is operating at just 38 percent, Library Director Gaye Rizzo told the Library Advisory Board, according to minutes from its Sept. 1 meeting.

Replacing a compressor would currently cost about $35,000, according to Rizzo’s report.

The trouble is not limited to the cooling system.

Heavy rain has brought water through ceilings in several parts of the Broad Street library and into areas along its foundation walls. Recent flooding in the lower-level elevator room also damaged what Rizzo described as an expensive ceiling-mounted fire detector.

Capital projects calling for new roofs at both the main library and Wilson Branch were deferred. No timetable for completing that work was included in the meeting minutes.

Library staff have found temporary ways to manage the leaks. Rizzo said employees placed a large barrel under a steady drip above the Kidspace desk, decorating it with eyes, a nose and a crooked smile for children visiting the library.

The building problems come during a busy period for the library. Windsor’s two branches circulated 212,586 items during the previous fiscal year and answered more than 50,000 reference questions.

Librarians also provided individual technology help 5,490 times and assisted 32,737 people using public computers, according to the report.

The minutes do not indicate when the air-conditioning or water problems will be permanently repaired or how the work would be funded.

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