A Leak

The archives in Clapp Library after the leak

We had a major issue in Clapp library this past Monday. I was not here and this is based on what I have gathered since then. A pipe in the cooling system broke and glycol began leaking from the ceiling in the fourth floor near the archives. A staff member noticed it and several others came together and through their extraordinary collaborative effort, many of the affected boxes in the archival storage area were saved and moved to a makeshift area. The 4th, 3rd and the 2nd floor were all affected and the recovery is in full swing. Apparently in some locations, the amount of Glycol was ankle deep! The damage was pretty severe based on what I can tell. It is the amazing dedication of our staff and their ability to rise up to the occasion that served us well and I want to offer my heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped out!

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As we celebrate Fourth of July, I am reminded of how lucky some of us have been to be living in countries that are independent and how so many others all around the world do not have that luxury. I was born in Sri Lanka which received its independence in 1948 from the British; lived in India which received its independence from the British in 1947; and have spent the longest period of my life in the US which declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776. We all value independence so much and it is part and parcel of our DNA and we don’t even consciously think about it.

This spirit extends so much into technology too. We make independent decisions all the time – about choosing operating systems, smartphones, how we each configure our desktops, the choice we make about apps that do the same thing etc. However, just as individual independence has limits and constraints that are imposed by many other factors (cultural, political, and financial amongst many other things), so are technology choices.

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