Closed signs sit in front of the Noble Library on March 17, 2015, alerting any passerby that it has been closed due to flooding. (Kaitlyn Ahrbeck/ The State Press)In an apparent rush for beach season, the Tempe campus’s Noble Library flooded on March 6, leaving science and engineering students stranded during post-break study hours.
Water had poured from a deluge fire protection system until 6 a.m., when officials discovered its location. Bruce Jensen, ASU’s executive director of capital programs, said the sprinkler system typically only begins in cases of emergency.
“Its sole purpose is to put copious amounts of water in an area in the event such as a fire,” he said. “In this case, it went wrong.”
The building suffered damage to its atrium and floors, though Jensen said the majority of the library’s academic materials remained protected.
“We were very fortunate,” he said. “Very, very few –– we’re talking about 10, maybe –– items were damaged that are intellectual property.”
Until the building can be restored, students must access the library’s academic materials at Hayden Library, Jensen said.
“We are trying to identify and determine how long the library will be out of use,” he said. “We are working to ensure the library materials will be available by library staff even while the building is closed.”
In the meantime, students such as aerospace engineering graduate student Daniel Murphey, study in the Barry M. Goldwater Center for Science and Engineering building across the walk from the library. However, Murphey said he hopes the building serves as only a temporary study center.
“I got the flood announcement before Spring Break, so I didn’t think much of it,” he said. “I expected it would be open again by the time we got back, so I’m a little disappointed that it isn’t open at this point.”
Biochemistry freshman Davyd Teoh said returning to his studies after break became more difficult without his routine at Noble Library.
“It was a bummer because I had to find a new place to study,” he said. “This whole last semester, we’ve really relied on Noble being the place to go to study between our classes.”
Before the flood, Noble Library offered Teoh and his friends a comfortable place to focus on schoolwork, he said.
“I just think it’s a good place to study,” Teoh said. “It offers a lot of study rooms and it’s really close to our coffee shop. I mean, it’s everything we need, really.”
However, until the building reopens for regular use, Teoh said he needs to study elsewhere.
“There are other places where I could study –– like Hayden or something –– but Noble was really like my home,” he said. “It’d be really nice to have it back.”
Reach the reporter at aplante@asu.edu or follow @aimeenplante on Twitter.
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