Noisy, noisy, noisy

The noise levels have been increasing inside and outside the library. As the demolition continues, things will be more uncomfortable for several days. Unfortunately, this is right during end-of-semester crunch time. In order to get the construction finished by July, the contractors need to work at this time.

The demolition crew will finish taking down the steel support system of the greenhouse today and tomorrow. They will also begin to remove the exterior brick, so this will mean lots of chipping and pounding. The noise meter at the entrance to the library is currently in the orange zone and set at "Rockin'." We may reach the red zone (the ultimate) later today, sad to say.

Kudos to the demo crew and their supervisor. They have been very cautious as they work around the library's southfacing windows so that they don't break glass or otherwise endanger library users. We have had to block off (temporarily, we hope) some of the study area on the south wall of the second floor. Some tables and chairs have been relocated so students still have space to work.

The sub-zero temperatures of the past week have been hard on the crew, but they are pretty resilient. They work 45 minutes outside and then go into the old greenhouse classroom (it is still heated) for a 15 minute warm up. The weather is supposed to warm a bit, beginning today, so that should make their work go more smoothly.

The workers end their shift at 5:30 p.m. each day, so the library is back to normal noise levels all evening.

Susan