Norman public library repairs, reopening still on hold

NORMAN, Okla. (KFOR) — One of Norman’s newest public libraries has now been closed for almost a year.

Reports now show that mold was in the building located on 103 W. Acres Street long before it opened to the public.

Andy West, a library member, describes the closure as a total loss to the community.

“It’s just disappointing, it’s all gone now,” West said.

West says he’s lived in Norman for nearly 10 years.

“It’s a huge loss because this library has so much information that we can’t access anymore,” West said. “I could walk to the library any time I wanted and was able to access all sorts of resources.”

In November 2023, the library closed down because of mold.

The learning center was relatively new and only open for about four years.

“I haven’t had any new information.” said West.

We went looking for answers as well.

KFOR requested a field report done by the architects, dating back to 2018.

Those documents show mold being a problem long before the library opened it’s doors in 2019.

The documents also show photos of mold while the building was under construction.

On Friday, the City of Norman posted an update about the library on their website.

It doesn’t provide a timeline for repairs and reopening, however, the project is listed on next month’s city council agenda meeting for discussion.

For now, the city has a temporary location on 121 South Santa Fe, Suite 119.

West says he just wants the library reopened.

“It’s so much smaller, it’s just not the same,” West said.

We reached out to Flintco LLC, the construction company that built the Norman library.

The first number we called was disconnected. We tried a different number later on Friday afternoon and didn’t hear back.

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