WATERBORO — Story times and book lending are on hold, at least for this week. Waterboro Public Library is closed because of an intermittent stinky smell and the need to cover some asbestos wall covering in an area of the basement, along with some other code issues. Town officials hope to re-open the library as soon as Saturday.

Town Administrator Gary Lamb said the library, which is a town department, was closed by Codes Enforcement Officer Glenn Charette on Friday. 

At present, it is thought that the smell, which has been wafting throughout the former schoolhouse intermittently for several years, may be sewer gas. The library utilizes a septic tank and leachfield; there is no public sewer system.

As well, Lamb said some asbestos wall covering in the basement has to be dealt with in some fashion, and there are some lighting and sign issues.

The cause of the smell appears to be elusive.

“We don’t know what is causing it and we don’t find any leaks,” said Lamb of the smell on Monday morning.

It is thought that the problem may be somewhere in the piping system underneath the building, reachable at present only through a tiny trap door from inside the building or by punching a hole on the foundation.

Librarian Ruth Blake and Brigit McCallum, president of the library board of trustees, said sometimes there’s no smell and at others, it can be pronounced. Sometimes, said Blake, there’s a sewer-type odor, and at one time, library personnel thought an animal had perished in the walls.

The library, which is housed in a former elementary school built in the 1920s, has gone through somewhat of a renaissance since a bid to build a new library failed at the polls in 2010. A new roof and windows have been installed, and there are new air conditioners and fans, said McCallum, among other improvements. Asbestos was abated in the library a few years ago, but the wall covering issue is new to her, she said.

“A lot has been done over the past few years,” said McCallum. “There have been incredibly important and helpful improvements. The town has finally really stepped up to make that building a good place for staff to work and patrons to come in.”

She noted, however, that the intermittent smell has been around – off and on- in all of the 11 years she’s been a library trustee.

Blake said past efforts have been made to conquer the smell – the septic tank was pumped at one point with the thought that would cure the problem, but it hasn’t.

“The smell comes and goes,” said Blake. “Usually by the time someone comes over, its gone.”

Charette took note of it, and the other issues, when he stopped by the library Friday with another town employee to drop off some new tables.

Lamb and others were at the library Monday, Blake said, examining the issue and talking about possible solutions.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].