A decision has been made to reopen Auckland’s Central Library to the public, and normal hours will resume, after testing revealed no toxic substances were present.
“The wellbeing of our customers and our staff has been our main focus throughout,” says Mirla Edmundson, General Manager of Auckland Council’s Connected Communities.
“Deciding to close the library was a hard decision to make but it was the right one. We are glad that the test results show that the building and its environment were safe to be in.”
“Whilst the building has been given the all-clear, we are taking precautionary measures to reduce people feeling overwhelmed with the smell.”
Services will operate as normal on the ground, first and basement floors. The second floor will be closed to the public and staff will only access that to retrieve items people have requested. The third floor will remain off-limits due to being a construction site.
Ongoing testing will occur to make sure the air quality remains high and the health and wellbeing of library users is not compromised.
Regular flushing of the air will also happen throughout the day to reduce the odour in the building.
Mirla notes that the libraries staff will work closely with the contractors and Health and Safety staff to make sure any impact on customers and staff is kept to a minimum.
