Well, that was all very exciting

The Sunday team rocked in to the Adsetts Centre at the usual time on Sunday morning.  And found that one of the heating pipes on Level 4 had burst and that we now had a new and unexpected water feature pouring down all over the book stock on Level 3.  Oh, and incidentally, a smaller water feature pouring down over the book stock on Level 2!

They swung into action and carted as much of the book stock out of the way as they could.  Buckets, rubbish bins and other receptacles were pressed into service as flood defences.  Facilities were called.  So were Maurice and Edward. Levels 2 and 3 were closed to students.  Mopping up commenced.

So to Monday, when I was working an Evening Duty and thus was at home eating cake and drinking tea in the morning.  Everything needed sorting out.  Water was still dripping onto Level 3.  A damp and musty chaos reigned.

By the time I came in, Level 2 had reopened to students and Level 3 was more or less open, except that the book stock was cordoned off.  Student shelvers were there in force, as were the General Assistants, running a delivery service of books.  Actually - that worked quite well.  The students enjoyed having their books collected for them and we enjoyed having books that stayed where we had put them.  Except that where we had put lots of them was in damp piles and on trolleys and all over the place.  Still, when they did make it back onto the shelves, they stayed in their place!

Level 3 is now open to students again.  Thanks entirely to the prompt action of the Sunday team, we've lost perhaps 4, maybe 5 trolleys of books instead of the wholesale destruction of the book stock on Levels 2 and 3 that might have happened had nobody noticed, or had the pipe burst overnight.  There are industrial strength de-humidifiers down on 2 and 3.  Things are more or less back to normal.

In the meantime, the blokes who were painting the lift areas carried on painting.  So now Level 3 in particular has the very peculiar aroma of wet carpet, wet books and wet paint drifting around it.  Not a mix I would recommend for a new perfume range!