Re: [padg] Food and drink policy

["Angela Brunk" <abrunk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've been here nearly three years and we have had a relaxed food and drink policy since I have been here.  We are a smallish regional university with an enrollment between 3500 and 4000. Our library building is about ten years old.  I think we are fortunate to have a good custodian who picks up the thrash in the early afternoon and then again after we close.  We also have a few outdoor staff cats and some free-lance rodent and insect eaters that hang around the library, so we do have some natural pest control. (So far, I've seen a skunk and a (dead) racoon.)  We do not have a coffee shop or any other facilities that prepare food  and drink on a large scale.  Many staff, including me, frequently eat in the building and we have the usual kitchen facilities in our staff break room.  We rarely have receptions with food and drink.  Though we allow food and drink, I rarely see users with anything but a bottled beverage, and I don't even see that very often.   We do not have a noticeable mold problem currently.   We have only had two mold incidents. In one case, we purchased a large quantity of Native American materials from a used book seller, and mold was found on a few of the books. I also found mold in a small manuscript collection that had not been handled in years.  I called our campus mycologist and we were able to contain the infestation in both cases.  I have not seen any indications of rodent or insect damage to collections since I have been here.   We are a fairly small staff and everyone else is good about brining me anything suspicious.  

I think the way you implement the policy change can make a difference. You don't need to announce it.  You can simply and quietly stop enforcing the old policy. Let reference staff lead by example and show users the right type of drink container.  Will your custodial staff empty the trash frequently?  




Angie Brunk, MLS
Reference/Outreach and 
Special Collections Librarian
East Central University