Throughout the project, we ve had an excellent relationship with the contractor s site supervisor. This came in very handy in a few instances early in the renovation, when someone needed to tell a few people on the construction crew that repeated, loud use of the F word wasn t in the best of taste right next to the Reference Room. During some of the work in the stacks, anything said on any of the 5 tiers was liable to carry to the Reference Room if the speaker was standing close enough to the duct work. One day, several patrons and I had been successfully ignoring the background noise of sawing and drilling. Another day, I was alone in the Reference Room, and most of the stacks construction was going on in the basement.
Construction is a much dirtier job than librarying.
I m a fairly picky person about smells. Not Have to Deal With are paint, new carpet, carpet glue, and any number of solvents. All of them have been well represented in the renovation so far. Fortunately, our windows still haven t been sealed shut, so it s easy to get a dose of fresh air when you need one. Easy, that is, provided the air outside is fresh.