Copyright berkshireeagle
PITTSFIELD — When librarians at Berkshire Community College began to unpack the school’s book collection this fall to prepare for the new academic year, they received a nasty shock: Many of the books had deteriorated beyond repair. Some had white mold blooming on their pages. Hungry booklice had descended, looking to feed on the fungi. The damage was so severe that a total of 43,680 books had to be tossed, representing about 90 percent of the library’s physical collection. Now, the college is leaning on a network of local libraries, museums and colleges to fill in the gaps left by the loss. “There's been an outpouring of generosity,” said Richard Felver, the college’s dean of the library and learning commons. “Of course it’s a tragedy, but I feel like our community partners are stepping up and making it a lot easier than it could have been.” Ten donors are actively working to restore the library’s collection. Many are based in Western Massachusetts, including the Berkshire Athenaeum, Westfield State University and Williams College. The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City also will contribute. The Ivy League has also stepped up to the plate, with Harvard University and Brown University each donating; the latter is expected to send a thousand books. The college moved most of its books to a storage facility in Springfield in August 2023 after water leakage was discovered in the Jonathan Edwards Library. The books remained in storage for two years during building renovations, which addressed the leaks and updated the library’s HVAC system, among other improvements. In the meantime, the library reduced its offerings to only the most essential course texts, planning to return the remaining books to the shelves when renovations were complete. But having been exposed to moisture before they were moved, the books soon succumbed to water damage while in storage. “We were put in a situation where we needed to move [the books] offsite very quickly,” said Christina Wynn, the college’s vice president of administration and finance. “It still wasn't enough to be able to save them.” Many of the discarded books were unaffected, but administrators said that the college didn’t have the resources to comb through tens of thousands of books to see which ones could stay and which ones were unsalvageable. There was also concern about the health risks of examining endless pages contaminated with mold and insects. “We didn't want to risk the safety and health of our staff,” said Laurie Gordy, the college’s vice president of academic affairs. Sitterly Movers, a moving and storage company based in Western Massachusetts, owns the Springfield storage warehouse where the books were kept. Wynn said BCC had worked with the local company many times in the past for moving and storage projects and encountered no problems. “We don't hold the storage company responsible," Wynn said, noting that the books already had been exposed to moisture before entering storage. Alexe Siciu, whose company Exela Movers acquired Sitterly Movers last month, confirmed that the books had been stored in the company’s Springfield warehouse. “Sitterly Movers did everything they needed to do,” Siciu said. He said that the company tried to protect the books by storing them in library carts rather than boxes, exposing them to more open air to discourage mold from festering. He added it appears the books were initially meant to be held in storage for about three to five months, but ultimately remained there for two years. Felver, the library dean, is taking a glass-half-full approach to the situation. He said the library already had been planning to downsize its collection to around 30,000 books by culling titles that had gone years without being checked out or become irrelevant to the school’s modern curriculum. “I do really see it as an opportunity to see exactly what we need,” he said. But, “it's going to take a few years to catch up.” The library has gotten used to operating with a smaller collection over the past two years, he said, and will survive in the short term. Many required texts are available online, and the library currently has at least one copy of every textbook that's required for each course. About 3,000 physical books are currently available in the library. The library is actively soliciting donations for titles, especially art books, which will be some of the most expensive and difficult to replace. Those interested in making a donation can fill out an online form that library staff will review to determine if a book is a good fit for the BCC collection. Felver said he hopes to rebuild the library’s collection with thoughtful intention, prioritizing books that will be needed by students and faculty for their courses. “We’re not trying to fill the shelves just to fill the shelves,” he said.
