by Lori Gallegos
Daily Lobo
Answers to some of the most important questions about the Zimmerman Library fire remain shelved.
State Fire Marshal John Standefer said an investigation is still ongoing about whether the fire on Sunday was caused by a person, where it started and when the building will be safe for public access.
Provost Reed Dasenbrock sent an e-mail late Tuesday night to UNM students, faculty and staff saying the library would be closed for the rest of the semester.
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Dasenbrock said fire crews have not declared the building safe for use, and engineers were continuing to assess damages to the structure of the building.
Camila Alire, dean of University Libraries, Dasenbrock and about six other people from UNM were given permission to enter the building Tuesday.
Alire said the damage was not as bad as she thought, and the estimation of $1 million in damage given by the Albuquerque Fire Department was excessive.
"The fire was only in that one area (the periodical section), but we have some water damage, and we also have soot damage," she said.
After going in the library's basement, Dasenbrock said the ceiling was burned and bookshelves were collapsed.
Capt. Mike Paiz, a spokesman for the Albuquerque Fire Department, said everything in the periodical section was "pretty much destroyed," on Monday, but Dasenbrock said only about 10 percent of the periodicals had been burned.
Dasenbrock said nothing irreplaceable had been burned.
"We have no information at this time to suggest that any manuscripts or rare books or anything irreplaceable was damaged," he said. That is because they were located on the other side of the building from where the fire started, Dasenbrock said.
Dasenbrock said the book collections looked intact, but the University does not know the degree of smoke or water damage.
"There may be more extensive damage than at this point," he said.
Even if old journals had been burned, the University could probably get them again, he said, although they might only be able to be obtained on microfiche.
Alire said by Thursday, some library staff members will be available to fetch books for students on the second and third floors while students wait outside the building. The basement will remain closed.
"We're still full-service," she said. "We just don't have a building."
She said staff had been employed in other areas, such as in the Parish and Centennial libraries to serve students and staff.
CAPS sent out a flier via e-mail Tuesday informing students that services will be continue to be available from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Math and physics tutoring will be held in the Centennial Science and Engineering Library, Room 253.
Chemistry, biology, languages, multi-disciplinary studies and writing tutoring will be held in the Cochiti Room on the third floor of the Student Union Building.
Night tutoring will be available in the SUB from 6-9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and in the Student Residence Centers from 7-9 p.m. on Tuesdays.
For more information on drop-in lab hours for CAPS, students can check the Web site: www.unm.edu/caps.
