AMESBURY — Two separate air-quality tests performed last month at Amesbury's public library indicate mold found in a file cabinet in the building's basement on Sept. 24 was an isolated finding and not indicative of a mold bloom elsewhere in the library.

Some library employees became sickened after the cabinet was opened last month. Library Trustees and the town officials feared the bloom might be indicative of a larger mold problem brewing elsewhere in the building, posing a threat to patrons, as well.

According to Library Trustee Jane Ward, the preliminary verbal results from both the state Department of Health and from a private air-quality testing company offer a clean bill of health for the library, suggesting employees were sickened by the single source of mold growth, rather than a systemic mold problem throughout.

"We haven't gotten anything in writing yet, but what I can tell you is it appears to be a one-time situation limited to the moldy contents of that file cabinet, and the initial reaction of the staff was probably due to the bloom that came out of that," Ward said. "It doesn't appear to be anything that is endemic to the building, which is good news."

Though people come into contact with mold on a daily basis, high levels can cause health issues to people allergic to it, or in people with respiratory issues like asthma. Though trustees were notified immediately when library employees were affected, and the mayor's office was aware of the situation, the health agent, the town's Board of Health and the public were not informed of the mold problem for nearly a month.

The weeks-long delay in getting the information out to the public represented a typical response time for issues dealing with municipal government, Ward said.

"I know that the trustees got the e-mail about the mold situation on the 24th, and within two days, I personally was on the phone trying to find information about what it would take to have the Department of Health or somebody else come out," Ward said. "We had to have a special meeting with the mayor and the director. I'm not sure it's just the wheels of municipal government — it's the way things move."

Ward said the health and wellbeing of library occupants were always of utmost concern to the trustees and town officials.

"We were always concerned about the public's health," Ward said. "We didn't have any information as to whether or not it was unsafe. I spent a lot of time at the library — I was in there. I wasn't really bothered by the mold."

While the two tests performed on the library didn't find any more mold in the building, Ward said both environmental assessments were offered with a set of recommendations to address the moisture-rich environment that allowed the bloom to thrive in the first place.

Those suggestions include fixing leaking roofs and gutters, and moving the library stacks away from the walls to allow air to circulate in the aging and deteriorating building, Ward said.

"Stacks go all the way to the walls on all three sides of the stack wing, so books are all up against the walls," Ward said. "They're recommending to weed out the books and pull them away from the walls to allow for air flow. They looked at everything: the storage space behind the staff offices downstairs, the stacks, the vault."

They recommended the old vault door be removed and replaced with a gated, secure door that will allow air to circulate within the room.

"The tight seal makes it a breeding ground for mold problems," Ward said.

If the recommended changes can be managed, that might be all the library needs to avoid another dangerous outbreak, Ward said. As far as she knows, the changes the state Department of Health has recommended are elective ones.

"Nothing has been mandated," Ward said. "From what I understand, these are all just recommendations at this point. Everyone who has been there has given the same recommendation, so I think it's worth following."

The mold was found growing on some documents being stored in a file cabinet, which when opened prompted employees to leave work and seek medical treatment. The library was closed for the remainder of the day but was reopened the next day with the library canceling programs normally held in the basement until further air-quality testing was performed.

The documents that were damaged by the mold constituted the business filings of a former library director, Ward said.

While some of the documents were salvaged, some of them may be lost, Mayor Thatcher Kezer said.

"They are the contents of his file cabinets and office when he was the director," Ward said. "It's not like an 1840 Town of Amesbury document. But it is historic to the library, and they do constitute part of our record, and some of them are very important to hold onto."