Since the spores from which mold grows are

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Confidential
Journal of events and issues relating to the
discovery of mold in the Rare Book Rooms
4.28.2005 and 5.18.05 (first draft)
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Confidential
JOURNAL ENTRIES
Date
Thurs
-
At about 5 pm, Esther informed Amanda that she has received a report
4.28.2005
from Iris that mold was discovered on a few items that were kept in the one of
the safes in the Eastern RBR.
To gather information about handling mold. Literature and Preservation web sites:
http://www.librarypreservation.org
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bytopic/mold/
http://www.chicora.org/mold.htm
http://flyaqis.mov.vic.gov.au/chaec/pestnote.html
Fri
-
There were Chinese visitors in the morning. They were visiting the RBR.
-
Amanda checked the data logger in the East RBR and temp/RH averages
4.29.2005
21-22C and 55-57%. Amanda informed Iris and Esther.
-
Wai Ming, Iris, Mo, Esther, Harry and Amanda met at the Eastern RBR to
brainstorm. Remove affected items to be isolated in a vacated safe. Mo inspected
the rest of the items in the safe from which the moldy books were identified.
-
Mo has shown the others (who??) the suspected moldy items. (Nobody
was very certain that those dark stains were without doubt “mold”). Learnt that
the items were removed from safe to 1/F reading room for a user who was
researching eastern rare materials over a period of 3 months. Amanda
commented that the transit and change in humidity could be one of the causes.
Mo was not very convinced. The humidity inside the safe was then questioned as
one of the causes.
-
Buy dehumidifying packs to be placed inside all safes as a temporary
measure to reduce any humidity within the safes.
-
Iris and Mo were not so convinced and hesitant about the air drying
method. They were worried that the RBR would be contaminated when spores are
carried in the environment of the RBC, hence may affect other items. They were
also concerned about the spores contamination if the affected items are treated
inside the RBR. Esther and Amanda agreed to research further before any actions
were taken.
-
Amanda sent an email to Esther and Iris on some steps surveyed from
Preservation websites for further exploration and discussion:
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Immediate steps:
Take books to a well-ventilated area with electric fans to increase air movement.
Stand the books on edge, slightly opened
Have a fan blow across them through an open window
(Why: Rapidly moving air will dry out the moisture and desiccate the mold spores,
rendering them inactive.)
Outdoors if possible:
If possible, remove the mold outdoors.
Take the books outdoors and place in the sun and a mild breeze for a short time
(Why: Ultraviolet rays from the sun will kill mold).
In handling infected books, staff should wear face masks or respirators and plastic
or rubber glove)
Follow up:
External of books:
When the books are dry, a HEPA filter vacuum cleaner should be used to remove
as much of the inactive mold as possible from the covers of the books.
When the soft mold has been removed, wipe the outside of book covers with a
solution of ethyl alcohol.
(Why: This acts as a mild solvent to remove some of the outer staining. Care
must be taken not to wet the area too much)
Inside of books:
Mold stains be seen on the inside of the binding and near the joints can be gently
swabbed with ethyl alcohol,
But it is unlikely that they will be completely removed.
(Note: Although mold stains can be treated with chemical bleach, this is not
recommended because bleach can cause the paper to deteriorate rapidly,
especially in humid conditions).
After care:
Books should not be returned to their location until the space is declared
completely free of mold and the cause identified and rectified. (In the safe, it is
likely due to the humidity accumulated inside. The air conditioning outside the
safe does not render the temperature inside the safe to a safe temperature 15
degree celcius/40% RH).
Affected surfaces in the room can be washed down with liquid bleach but this
should be completely dry before the room is again occupied.
Following the return of books to the shelf, the room should be inspected
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periodically to ensure that mold has not returned. HVAC components should be
checked, especially in vent areas, and HVAC filters changed on a regular basis. In
the absence of HVAC, ensure that air circulation is improved.
Weekend –
Mon
(5.2.05
Labor Day)
Tues
-
Visit by Robert Liu?
-
Esther, Iris, Amanda agreed on the immediate actions:
5.3.05
Wed
5.4.05
-Buy made in Japan desiccants from Wing On, to be placed inside the
safes.
-Clean the safe which was vacated to store the affected items, with
alcohol (70%-85% Ethyl alcohol is recommended, otherwise IPA)
-Bring down the temperature to 18-19C and RH to around 55%.
-
Esther and Amanda discussed with Tony about the problem.
-
Tony suggested we gather more information and consult John Dean.
-
2 pm Amanda emailed John. His response was reported to Esther and Iris.
-
John replied:
The problem is almost certainly the safe. If there is only a little
moisture, mold will build up because of the lack of air circulation,
especially if the safe is not opened very often. If the materials had been
removed from the safe for any length of time, they could have picked up
humidity which would cause mold growth when they were returned to
the safe. I do not recommend placing paper materials in safes or
similar non-vented enclosures. I have similar concerns about books kept
in glass-fronted cases as this also restricts air circulation. The only
circumstance where closed containers can be used in this way is when a
monitored desiccant (such as silica gel) is placed in the container to
moderate the moisture. This must be closely monitored and the
desiccant changed or recharged regularly.
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Steps to take:
Air out the affected materials by placing them in a constant air flow,
such as that from a fan, until the mold appears to be dried out (i.e.
sooty and powdery).
Very carefully, wipe away the inactive mold with a soft cloth, preferably
an activated duster as noted in my report.
If the mold is on the outside of a box or other enclosure, wipe carefully
with ethyl alcohol.
Do not put the materials back in the safe.
The room itself is constantly air-conditioned, and I would recommend
that the "treasures" be simply kept elsewhere. A good solution could be
to place them in a locked case that is faced with a metal grill, similar to
the glass fronted cases in the Rare Book Reading Room, but with a grill
instead of glass. As I recall, the Fung Ping Shan Library has generally
good security so I would not be too concerned about making the items
secure.
Let me know right away if there continues to be a problem.
Regards, John
Dear Amanda,
It is possible to reduce the radiated heat from the windows through the
use of covers. To some extent, the library building can be protected
from heat gain during the day by utilizing blinds or curtains at the west
and east windows, closing them when the sun is shining from that
quarter. The UV film on the windows does help but only to a limited
extent as it does not reduce heat gain from single pane glass.
I wouldn't worry too much about the seasonal variations in temperature
as long as you can keep the RH to a reasonable level, probably less than
60 RH.
John
Thurs
-
Amanda emailed Iris, Esther cc Tony about John’s recommendations and
5.5.05
added comments about monitoring the disposable dehumidifiers packs for spillage
inside the safes.
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-
A preservation and storage listserv advised to
see http://www.chicora.org/mold.htm
-
Iris has also proactively sought advice from local archive and
conservators, to contribute to our knowledge pool. She mentioned that from what
she has gathered from the experts, the mold, as a type of bacteria has to be
killed with some kind of treatment (similar to worms, insects and pests) and is
not quite convinced with mold inactivation by fan blowing.
-
Iris and Amanda now have slightly differing views, thought not opposing,
on how to handle the mold situation. Esther said it would be good to look at some
microbiolody-chemistry related info. Hence the above web site recommended by
the list is a good place to start.
-
Iris replied:
I do believe ventilation is important, but I think the fan blowing (not
directly to the books) may need to carry out somewhere outside the Rare
Book Room as there are still other non-affected rare books inside the
room. And besides fan blowing, there may be other necessary steps we
need to do.
Iris
-
Tony responded
The purpose of the fan, as I understand it, is to make sure that we get the
safe back to a completely dry condition and that the mold is as dead as we
can get it using both air and alcohol. The books in that safe need to be
dried out by getting them out of the safe during the daytime hours so that
the A/C can do its job of drying the books out. Wiping the mold dust off
the books is to remove as much of it as possible. We have not had mold
problems in recent years so we have to assume that some book picked up
some moisture and when put into the safe the spoors that were
there/dormant got to live again. All the steps are to get us back into the
safe zone.
Having said that, please allow me to absent myself from this
discussion. Amanda as preservation/conservation officer has the job of
coordinating what we do. Iris, aided by Mo-ching, as the manager of this
facility has of course a major interest in seeing that the problem is solved.
Me, I am supposed to be raising money this week so you can both do your
job. Good luck to you all. Tony
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Fri
-
Amanda emailed to Iris, Mo, Ruth, Mr Lai about monitoring data loggers.
-
Amanda consulted Irene Wong and CU’s Sandra (no response from CU)
-
Amanda wrote: I wish to consult you and I hope you can advise us.
5.6.05
Mon
5.9.05
1. What is the temp and RH maintained at your Rare Book Collection? Is there a
baseline for alert? What cautionary measures (one off and regular maintenance)
does HKBU have in place for regulating the temp/rh? Camphor, dehumifiers, etc?
2. Have you ever dealt with moldy rare materials?
-
Irene replied. Amanda reported her response to Esther, Iris and Harry.
1. temperature is around 21-22 degree C and RH at around 50-55%, but
must be below 60% as mold easily spread out at RH > 60% if temp is
high, we have dehumidifier and air conditioner to control temp. & RH. I
also
have a small data logger to check the readings round the clock if
necessary.
2. yes, I blast freeze books with worms and mold at temp. of -34 deg. C,
it works well
Tues
-
Esther, Iris, Amanda inspected the ERBR (Eastern Rare Book Room).
-
At the beginning, both Mr Lai and Amanda felt that Ada should not spend
5.10.05
too many hours in that environment as we need to consider Ada’s health
concerns. Therefore, Esther, Iris agreed to about 2-3 hours a day).
-
Ada has started to clean the affected items including the cases with
alcohol. A working table was set up with a plastic sheet over as a tent.
-
Mo tested a method: using a lint cloth over an opened book and use the
HEPA on the top of the pages. However this method was abandoned as the pages
are fragile and may break away as the suction from the Hepa VC was strong.
-
The rest of us agreed to this: the Hepa vacuum cleaner was secured with
tape at one corner of the table under the “tent” to periodically disinfect the micro
environment within the tent like work table. Amanda mentioned that a handheld
HEPA vacuum could be more suitable for book pages. (Checked – about US$300)
-
Afternoon: Mr Tam spoke to Amanda and she has emailed Esther about
Mr Tam’s conversation:
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He was the first to discover one of the rare materials to be very moldy on
the long edges. He quickly asked Mo to inform Iris. Anyway, his
observations were critical to arrest the problem quickly. In addition, he
remarked that the Professor researching the materials have been using the
materials on 1/F Special Collections over a period of 3 months and Mr Tam
expressed that the movement of these materials from the safe to the 1/F
was one of the causes of the appearance of mold.
Thurs
-
Esther talked to Tony. Tony agreed to invite Irene to visit and share her
5.12.05
experience.
Fri
-
5.13.05
www.ccaha.org/mold_eng.html
Amanda emailed the urls about mold to Iris and Esther:
http://www.nedcc.org/plam3/tleaf21.htm
http://www.nedcc.org/plam3/tleaf22.htm
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byorg/georgia/envir.html
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/preservation/faqs.html
-
Irene called; she mentioned a torch and magnifying glass for use in
identifying mold. She offered to visit on Saturday. Esther and I were ready to see
her. However Iris is off on Saturday.
Fri
-
5.13.05
Esther spoke to me about Mr Tam’s suggestions
- Mr Tam suggested using dry box (those for camera storage) to store
the affected items.
- Gather both local, mainland China and USA information
- Too many ideas and conflicting suggestions
- Air blower. In favor vs not in favor
-
Esther talked to Mr Lam from Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole, they use alcohol
and microwaving method.
-
During a discussion with Iris and Esther, Mo Ching reiterated the idea of
using 85% - 90% alcohol to clean the affected books and store the items in
special large plastic bags. She also suggested that 1) lab tests be conducted to
examinine the mold found so as to prevent future re-occurrence. 2) consider the
use of freezing chamber of the Government Museum Conservation Section at
Shatin to handle any major outbreaks.
-
In the afternoon, Esther and Iris reported the progress to Dr Wan
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-
Esther mentioned to Amanda about Dr Wan’s suggestions:
-
Do a log (journal). Amanda suggested a blog (this channel is
abandoned due to the confidentiality and sensitive contents. Blogs is
not able to provide restricted access to view)
-
Clean, restore or stabilize in a small scale. Then ask John Dean for
verification
-
As dirt and dust were found on many items in the Western RBR, it
was agreed that Amanda and Iris would supervise cleaners and show
them how to clean all the items there
-
Clean with the special Dry Sponges (purchased from University
Product) cautiously on edges only
-
Monday is a Public Holiday; we re-invite Irene to visit on Tues. She said
Wednesday.
-
Meeting with Iris, Edith, Esther and Amanda in the Western RBR at 2pm.
Pansy took some photos of books with dead cockroaches. The photos were
eventually sent to Esther, Iris and Amanda.
-
Discussed :
-Overall cleaning of RBR, shelf by shelf
- Morrison collection (after cleaning) on top of shelves to be
placed inside vacant cabinets (cleaned)
- RBR is seldom vacuumed (regular vacuuming with HEPA is
recommended. Also to use the Hakugen Mrs Lloyd Tablets
(from Wing On)
- To clean RBR – floor, shelve, book once a year? Record any
problems during cleaning.
- Systems to generate a list for inventory checking
- Maybe get summer helpers to do inventory
- Iris mentioned that about 2 weeks ago, her staff member
spotted a user photocopying a Qing X item borrowed from
G/F compact storage
- Use dry box (those used for camera storage)?
- Camphor replacements? Check regularly?
- Dehumidifiers to place near safes?
-
Decided on the following:
CLEAN and DO STOCKCHECK:
1)
Use HEPA to vacuum over the top of the collection
2)
Place items on trolley and clean edges with dry sponge
3)
Clean shelf
4)
Return items on the shelf
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Weekend –
Monday
(Buddha’s
Birthday)
Tues
5.17.05
-
In the afternoon, Iris mentioned the cradle for rare books. Amanda
agreed to check University Products catalog.
-
Gloves: Iris suggested to consider asking users to wear gloves.
-
As Ada completed cleaning of first batch (Eastern RBR) on 5.17.05. Items
were placed in the vacated safe in the afternoon.
-
As Esther and Amanda were walking into the Eastern RBR, they heard
loud and strange noises coming from a airconditioning vent near the entrance.
-
Esther asked Harry to check the system in the Eastern RBR with EO and
confirmed that some parts were broken, perhaps due to wear and tear or
overloading.
-
In the late evening, the bearing were replaced and fixed temporary
measure. Will monitor. EO staff members advised that lowering of the
temperature may result in frozen pipes or leaking.
-
The humidity was found to be 59-61 for the Western Rare Book Room. At
noon, Amanda informed Esther that 58-59 has been recorded on 5.16.05. Esther
and Harry alerted. The Eastern RBR was being investigated and repaired. Late
evening. Therefore the Western Rare Book Room was attended to the next
morning. Esther and Amanda would continue to monitor the data logger.
-
Esther asked Harry to check if we could purchase some mobile temp/RH
readers. Amanda has also requested one for manual checking of any areas within
the library.
-
Esther informed me that Mrs Fung has contacted her and Dr Wan that
morning and was eager to offer help. Mrs Fung advised that air drying and alcohol
should not be used, Mainland experts should be consulted. She also told Dr Wan
and Esther that she had alerted PVC C.F Lee and Prof. Jao Tsung I about the
situation.
-
Esther and Amanda agreed on consulting more experts:
Dr Wan will ask Wai Ming to contact Zhang Lijuan from PKU, Amanda
will contact National Central Library (Taipei) and see if she could locate
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Mr Lo, Head of Special Collections. Esther will check with Cheng
Huanwen from Sun Yatsen University Library. Amanda would also check
with Mo about the advice of using bags to seal off books. She said she
learnt about it from her internship with Chan Shing-wai, Chief, Govt
Museum Conservation Section. Amanda would ask Mr Lai to consult
experts during his trip to China for the Rare Book Training.
-
Amanda downloaded an article on “Managing a Mold Invasion” Technical
Series No. 1 Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifact
(http://www.ccaha.org/tech_bulletins.php) as recommended by Irene Wong/BU.
The PDF was emailed to Esther and Iris. Salient points from the article were
picked up by Esther and Amanda as such:
-
Since the spores from which mold grows are everywhere
in the environment, a sudden mold bloom in a collection indicates
that a change has occurred in the environment to cause the
spores to germinate.
-
The mold species that most commonly attack library and
archival materials, art on paper, photographic prints and
negatives, and other paper-based artifacts, germinate and grow
when the relative humidity reaches or exceeds 70–75 percent
and remains at this level for several days.
-
High temperatures, poor air circulation, dim light, and
accumulated grime assist and accelerate the growth of mold once
it has germinated, but only high relative humidity and moisture
content of the substrate can initiate and sustain mold growth.
-
If the relative humidity drops below 70 percent and the
materials lose their high moisture content to the atmosphere,
these molds will stop growing and become inactive or dormant,
but the spores will remain viable on the host material.
-
They will become active and begin growing again if the
relative humidity rises.
-
Elevated temperatures increase the rate of growth.
(above 70F)
-
Esther pointed out that the article reported that Mold could be almost any
color. Irene Wong mentioned to Amanda that she could share with us on how to
identify active/inactive mold with the help of a torch light.
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Confidential
-
Peter received a copy of a complaint in a anonymous letter dated 5.9.05, by
that was addressed at the DVC, about the mismanagement of rare books in the
Libraries.
-
Evening: with the help from Jimmy, email alerts from the data loggers are set
to alarm Esther, Amanda, Iris (alerts from Special Collection and both Rare Book
Rooms only), Harry.
-
The alerts will be set off when temp goes below
1) Upper temp limit:
24 deg. C
2) Lower temp limit:
15 deg. C
3) Upper RH limit:
55%
4) Lower RH limit:
40%
- Email for alarm:
harizan@hkucc.hku.hk,irischan@hkucc.hku.hk,emwwoo@hkucc.hku.hk,khkod@hk
ucc.hku.hk

Iris has requested to remove her email address from the alerts. Jimmy
has removed her email from the list.
Wed
-
Air conditioning broke down Western RBR. 5 heater coils switched on
5.18.05
manually to reduce and control the humidity while the automatic system control
was been fixed.
-
Due to the HVAC system failures, Irene Wong’s visit was further
postponed (Irene informed Amanda she will be on leave the following week),
-
A stand alone data logger was placed on the top shelf in the supervised
reading room. Amanda prepared a log sheet for manual recording. Iris would ask
her staff member to help in recording hourly. When first placed in that room, the
temp recorded on the logger was 22C and 71%RH.
-
In the afternoon, Harry borrowed a mobile reader (temp/RH) from EO.
Amanda took the reading again in the supervised rare book reading room. The
temp/RH nearer the door was 23C/65.5% and on top of the shelf where the
standalone logger was placed, the temp/RH was 22.7C/68.3%. The standalone
logger was still reading 71%RH in the supervised rare book reading room.
-
Grace from Poly University responded to Amanda. Poly U EO provides
portable chillers when their HVAC breaks down. Steamatic is called if salvage or
rental of T2000 dehumidifiers is needed. She has 24 hour contact numbers to
reach the Director of Steamactic. These numbers are for clients only.
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-
Tony called. He asked what actions are being taken. I reported that Ada
has cleaned up the first batch of affected Eastern books and decanted the items in
a clean safe as a quarantine measure.
-
As for the Morrisons, Esther said that Harry would draw up a schedule for
cleaners and Iris and Amanda would first show the cleaners the cleaning
procedure and monitor the cleaners.
Thursday
-
Amanda started to log the events in a journal style.
-
Western RBR humidity was between 49 and 61. Eastern 49-57.
-
Amanda surveyed the effect of temperature on mold growth. (15-21C)
5.19.05
See http://www.lib.virginia.edu/preservation/faqs.html#pointone
-
One approach is to gently wipe away the spores on the covers, in
the inner binding edges and on each page. Be careful to brush off the
mold and not rub it in deeper.
-
A second approach is to vacuum the spores from the page. It is
best to use a vacuum with a Hepa filter
-
However after advice from Mr Tam, we were aware that some methods
could not be adopted when we handle Eastern rare books.
-
More on mold (microbiology perspectives):
-
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/ramp/html/r8809e/r8809e04.htm
-
Harry asked Amanda why so many alerts (Data logger alarms) were
received. I checked the log, indeed, there were times when the RH exceeded the
set limit of 55%. Amanda FTP the log data of the ERBR and prepared data for
past three months (March**-May). The print outs were handed to Harry and he
will pass it to EO on Friday morning. Esther is given a copy too.
-
The compact storage on the G/F has very high temp/RH. Amanda emailed
Esther, Harry and Ruth and informed them that the range of RH in the area is 6380%. She has looked at recent sample readings and noticed that when
temperature is >19C the RH reaches 70 and beyond.
-
Amanda uploaded log files (excel) from the 5 data loggers to a “storage
web page”. She has informed Esther and Harry.
-
Esther received email from Dr Wan/Wai Ming – advice by PKU:
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关于古书中发霉的问题,我请教了我们这里的古籍修补的老师,她已经从事古籍修复
多年,原来也在国家图书馆善本部工作,经验很丰富。据她讲,如果是不太严重的霉
迹,就是晾一晾,用毛笔一点点刷,把霉迹大概刷下去。如果较重的话,则需要进行
专业的修补,要用水湿后慢慢去掉霉迹这实在是手艺活,必须由有经验的专业人员来
做了。国图、图、北大等馆都有有经验的古籍修补人员,你们可以考虑。
张丽娟
5.20.05
-
Harry suggested adjusting upwards to 20C in the Eastern RBR. Amanda
agreed to reduce damage due to a significant change in temperature if books are
taken out.
-
Amanda located the email address of 陳承緯總館長 of Central Conservation
Section and sent him an email for advise on special bags for sealing up books.
-
Amanda found two Chinese articles on mold and conservation and
informed Esther: http://www.nlc.gov.cn/newpage/wjls/html/6_06.htm and
http://news.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2003-10/17/content_1127798.htm
-
Harry requested to add EO staff member “khkwok@hkucc.hku.hk” to the
alerts from the data loggers installed in the Main Library – done.
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**
Missing data for the logger in the Western Book Room
When Amanda FTP the March data for WRBR, she realized that the data from 1-21 March was
missing. She checked with Jimmy. Here is his reply:
My script gets logs everyday night and stores them to a monthly log file in our Obelix server. I
also have no plan to remove the logs as housekeeping since the file size of all logs is not
significant. So, it depends on when you want to review certain logs, at that time you need to ftp
the log files to your computer and have analysis then (e.g. plot graph, identify peak values and
etc).
For the datalogger in western book room, I discovered that it will be shutdown every night due to
power cut. It was then solved by Harry in March. So, the logs in March file are not complete.
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