St. John's library fizzles as temperature sizzles

While many are welcoming the warm weather parts of Newfoundland and Labrador have been experiencing with wide open — and bare — arms, the heat has yet again forced the A.C. Hunter Library in St. John's to close.

It operates out of the Arts and Culture Centre, which does not have an air-conditioning or an air circulation system.

Library staff members are forced to close the library when temperatures inside reach 40 C or hotter — which has happened five times so far this summer.

"Every morning we go, we try to prepare for our day and then we check the temperature, and if it's really unbearable then we can't stay in the building. It's not safe for our staff and it's not safe for our patrons," said regional librarian Leigha Chiasson-Locke.

"They're uncomfortable and rightly so."

Staff are concerned that high humidity and temperatures will mean more closures, in the short and long term.

"I think it's only going to get warmer as our summers get warmer," said Chiasson-Locke.

"It's not an easy fix. We're in a very old building so it's not as easy as putting in air conditioning."

But despite the hurdles of the age of the building and the architecture — both of which make it harder to upgrade compared to a modern facility — Chiasson-Locke is hopeful changes will eventually be implemented, but a decision or a timeline is not available right now.

"It is being looked at, but it takes some time to put all of the pieces together in this puzzle," she said.

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