Pioneer Library System held a special meeting Wednesday to discuss filing a claim against the city of Norman over mold damage discovered in Norman Public Library Central.
The board of trustees held the meeting to decide whether to file a claim — almost one year after initial damages were reported — to ensure their ability to receive compensation before statutory limitations. The tort claim would recover finances lost for Pioneer Library System after mold damage caused the closure of Norman Public Library Central, which has yet to reopen.
“As we grew near to the statutory requirement of filing a claim, a notice of claim within one year, the board wanted to make sure that we did not miss out on that opportunity,” Lisa Wells, executive director of Pioneer Library System, told KOCO.
“Our goal was just not to preempt our ability for us to file that suit later if that is our only recourse of reclaiming some of our damages.”
The extensive damage caused by mold forced the city of Norman to close the library indefinitely in April.
According to documents acquired by KFOR in September, architects discovered mold in the property over a year before the library opened in 2019. A field report from September 2018 recorded signs of mold on drywall throughout the second and third floor of the building.
The city — who filed a lawsuit against the contractors that constructed the library, including Flintco, Meyer, Scherer and Rockcastle Ltd. and ADG — said they respect Pioneer’s decision to seek compensation.
Tiffany Vrska, Norman’s chief communications officer, wrote in an email to OU Daily that Pioneer Library System communicated they were filing a notice of tort claim against the city and Norman Municipal Authority.
“We understand and respect the position of Pioneer Library System in striving to take steps on behalf of their agency to preserve financial resources for library services as ultimate resolution is reached,” Vrska wrote in the email.
Work is still being done to reopen the Library Central and recover roughly 157,000 items still inside the building, according to Wells.
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure, Ismael Lele and Ana Barboza. Grace Rhodes copy edited this story.
