To the Editor:
I would like to apologize to the staff of the Warren, Washington, and Albany County Chapter of the ARC.  In a recent Enterprise interview, I said something which makes their fine organization look bad.

Instead of saying that we were trying to find a time for a second in-person meeting to discuss the café, I said that they had been unable to keep appointments. All blame for my unfortunate wording falls to me, not the ARC or the Enterprise.

I would also like to address some concerns about air quality mentioned in a recent letter to the editor from a Guilderland resident. Since he asked, the library has made major improvements to the air-filtration system in the building.

In our building, air enters through roof-top units, each of which has two filters that meet or exceed all codes and pandemic-related guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The air is warmed or cooled while in the rooftop units before being sent through a system of approximately 30 heat pumps in the building, each of which has its own air filter that cleans the air a third time before it is released into the building.

This last filter also meets or exceeds all known requirements. In addition, since all air entering the building is at a uniform 72 degrees before reaching the heat pumps, those pumps, which are all new, are under far less strain than at the extreme outside air temperatures of winter and summer.

A few patrons (and staff) have complained about a loud, humming sound within the building. This is due to the three large-capacity mobile air-cleaning units, which we purchased during the first wave of the pandemic, before our new systems were installed.

As the director, I have chosen to keep these units on for the time being, creating a redundant fourth air-cleaning cycle within the building. To my way of thinking, the air can be too dirty, but it can’t be too clean.

There are many more building improvements, particularly in the areas of energy conservation and safety.  We have improved library lighting by utilizing occupancy sensors, capturing natural light, and upgrading to the latest energy-saving fixtures.

We’ve also installed low-flow water fixtures and toilets, and even flushless urinals in order to limit water usage. Overall, we anticipate a 20-percent energy savings in a building that is 20 percent larger than the old one.

On the safety front, we’ve added a sprinkler system for the first time, made traffic-safety improvements to the parking lot, and almost tripled the number of exit doors and escape windows to use in the event of a fire or other emergency.

I would like to thank the Guilderland community for its support, patience, and interest as we expanded and renovated the library during the pandemic. We are still operating under some restrictions designed to limit potential COVID exposure, but your new facility is open and ready for browsing.

Meeting rooms, study rooms, and public computers are yet to come — along with the lion’s share of our furniture, due to supply chain scarcities that are being felt all around the globe. 

It’s still a work in progress, but the doors are open, and the project is “substantially complete” (a construction term) just about 11 months early. Stop in and check us out!

Tim Wiles

Director

Guilderland

Public Library