[Libs-Or] An update from PSU

[Michael Bowman]

I’d like to thank the many people who’ve contacted me expressing your
concern and offers of help.

Yesterday a few of us were able to enter Millar Library for a two-hour
walkthrough.

The photos out there underrepresent the damage to the first floor, but
somewhat overrepresent the damage to the rest of the building.

There is extensive damage to the fire safety system.

Employee work stations are relatively intact.

While we haven’t looked down every aisle, the collection seems to have
sustained minimal damage. (There are some aisles where the books were spray
painted.) Special Collections and University Archives *collections* appear
unharmed.

The University’s goal is to reopen Millar by Fall quarter, but it’s much
too early to know the timeline. We don’t even know when we’ll be able to
access the building with any regularity. However, clean up and remediation
of the damage has already begun and steps are being taken to keep Millar
secure.

Next steps:

   - Opening a reference service point at the IT Helpdesk in Maseeh Hall
   Monday morning.
   - Completing finding office spaces for Library workers who need to work
   on campus.
   - Ramping up support for our traumatized workers.

Our statement from Thursday:

We want to thank everyone for the supportive messages from students and
colleagues at Portland State via social media, chat messages and emails. We
also appreciate the support we have received from alumni, librarians and
friends in our communities and beyond. It means a lot to us.

The Portland State University Library is more than the Millar building and
our print collection. We have 49 library faculty and staff, and over 30
student workers. We provide integral services and access to vital resources
that support the teaching, learning, and research activities for all of
Portland State and the broader community. Our Special Collections and
University Archives is home to rare books and manuscripts and hundreds of
boxes of over one hundred years of university and unique community history
that we steward in collaboration with our faculty, students and community
partners.

The library building has suffered damage, not just to paint, walls,
windows, doors, and offices, but also to the fire protection system, other
important safety elements, and technology such as staff and lab computers
and classroom projectors. We have not yet been able to confirm the
condition of our books and archives. It’s going to take awhile to assess
the damage and loss, clean up, and get the building safe for staff to
enter. It is difficult to know at this time when we will be able to reopen
to our community.

We have received many offers to help with cleaning up the building, and
have also noted these messages on social media. While we appreciate the
generosity of spirit, we probably won’t be in charge of the library cleanup
immediately; campus facilities will need to do quite a bit of work to make
the building safe. Our first priority is to ensure the safety of the
Special Collections and University Archives materials, which are extremely
vulnerable at this time. We also hope to establish a service point for
circulation and research help elsewhere on campus.

We don’t have any specific fundraisers right now, but we anticipate a lot
of need as we restore library spaces for our staff and our students. You
are welcome to give to the Library Fund
<https://giving.psuf.org/s/1904/lg21/form.aspx?sid=1904&gid=2&pgid=811&cid=2485&bledit=1&dids=2090>
if
you would like to help us to recover.

We know that students may be frustrated and have many concerns, especially
now at midterms and looking forward to the rest of Spring quarter. Please
see our Library Closure FAQs
<https://library.pdx.edu/library-closure-faqs/> for
information about services and resources during this time. The FAQs will be
updated as we progress through this.


Michael Bowman

Interim Dean, University Library
Portland State University
Pronouns: he/him/his
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