[PADG:1278] Re: plants in the library

["Jane Cullinane" <JCullinane@xxxxxxxxx>]

I did not attempt a no-plants campaign. Instead I sent the following
email to all staff:


I recently tracked a complaint of small flies (gnats or fruit flies) to
a dying plant in the Newspaper Reading Room. This prompts me to remind
all staff who have plants or work in areas where there are plants to
attend to them regularly.

Please take care of your plants and to get rid of plants you can't take
care of. Remove dying leaves and take plant waste and dead cut flowers
to the cafeteria for disposal. Remember to be careful about over
watering or letting water stand in the dish.

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
NEDCC's technical leaflet Integrated Pest Management  makes the
following points:
 "Potted plants and cut flowers, water in vases and over-watered
plants, dead and dying plants, and the nectar and pollen of flowering
plants all encourage the presence of insects. ... Although some insects
may not be a direct threat to collections, their presence may attract
insects that do pose a threat. Some insects feed on the bodies of other
insects. Most pests (insect and otherwise) are attracted by debris from
human or other animal activities."

"Control of insect infestation requires elimination insofar as possible
of potential insect habitats and food sources. ... Integrated pest
management strategies encourage ongoing maintenance and housekeeping to
insure that pests will not find a hospitable environment in a library or
archives building. Activities include ... restriction of food and
plants. Plants and cut flowers should be removed from the building. If
this is impossible, plants should be well cared for and kept to a
minimum; flowering plants should certainly be avoided. Avoid over
watering and watch plants carefully for signs of infestation or
disease."

"It is important to remember that sighting one or two insects is an
occasion for monitoring to determine the extent of the problem; it is
not necessarily a crisis situation. In the past, insect sightings often
occasioned an indiscriminate use of pesticides."

(from Integrated Pest Management by Beth Lindblom Patkus. Northeast
Document Conservation Center, Technical Leaflet, Emergency Management,
Section 3, Leaflet 11 http://www.nedcc.org/plam3/tleaf311.htm )

--Jane C.

Jane F. Cullinane
Preservation Librarian, Collection Management Unit
Connecticut State Library
231 Capitol Ave., Hartford,  CT  06106-1537
860-757-6524, fax: 860-757-6683
jcullinane@xxxxxxxxx     http://www.cslib.org

>>> carignan@xxxxxxx 11/2/06  1:48 PM >>>
Dear Colleagues,

Can anyone share any experiences, policies, or advice regarding potted

plants in the library?  I have noticed a growing number of plants in
our 
libraries despite preservation recommendations to the contrary.  In 
searching CoOL, I found a 1993 Cons DistList message from Julie Page, 
and she concluded that "We have no ban on personal plants within the 
library, but I have made sure that staff are aware of the broader
health 
as well as preservation concerns."  
(http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/1993/0293.html)
 
Julie also quotes John DePew's LIBRARY, MEDIA AND ARCHIVAL PRESERVATION

(1991) that advises replacing potted plants with artificial ones.

Any other advice for a no-plants campaign or whether it is worth the
effort?

Thanks in advance,

Yvonne

-- 
***********************************************************************
Yvonne Carignan
Head of Preservation
University of Maryland 
McKeldin Library
College Park, MD 20742

carignan@xxxxxxx 
(301) 405-9343
(301) 314-9971 FAX