Meanwhile, thanks to email and the occasional phone call or visit, I have kept up with Pleasant Valley Free Library affairs to some degree. So I can report on the newest improvements, even though I was not directly involved or present.
On June 26, Maryelen Brown, trustee and Treasurer, reported that the dehumidifier in the basement had given its last gasp and was declared dead. Although our library basement seldom has a significant amount of water on the floor, and a sump pump and keeping materials that could be damaged by water off the floor handles that problem, the basement is not only cold (from leaky air-conditioning ducts) but also very humid when left to its own devices. This humidity is very bad for the thousands of books that are sorted and stored there between book sales. Hence, a working dehumidifier is a necessity.
Maryelen noted that we did not have money budgeted for this particular emergency, so her first thought was that we might find a friend of the Library who would donate an unused unit. But the basement is quite large and humid, so it appeared that a simple home unit would not suffice. Barb Shapley and the Friends of the Pleasant Valley Library immediately came to the rescue. They recognized that this was an important issue for the Friends because sales of the donated books are the backbone of the Friends' finances.
With the Friends' financial backing, Board President Steve MacNish was able to swing into action immediately. One day after the death of the old dehumidifier, Steve purchased and installed a new Energy-Star-rated dehumidifier rated at 65 pints a day. I guess that means it removes 65 pints, or a bit more than 8 gallons, of water from the air. It was the forth highest rated unit by Consumer Reports, and on sale to boot. As an additional bonus, Steve notes that it produces a lot of heat in the process, so perhaps the basement will be less chilling for the future as well as dry.
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