JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – The Medgar Evers Library temporarily closed Monday morning after indoor temperatures reached 81 degrees, leaving residents without access to internet services and other resources at the building.

A blue sign is now posted on the doors letting people know the building is closed due to HVAC failures and rising temperatures.

The failing HVAC system has plagued the library for roughly three years.

Amber Safford came to the Medgar Evers Library to fill out job applications, but was turned away within minutes of walking inside.

“I wasn’t even here a good 10, 15, 20 minutes, and they were like, we have to close,” Safford said.

Safford is homeless, and the library is a lifeline for her.

“This is where I find my way out, trying to find me a job, I’m about to start school back on the 9th, for my bachelor’s in science psychology,” she said. “I’m not trying to be out here and be another statistic.”

She said the closure is more than just a big inconvenience.

“It’s a lot on me and then having to come here, being in the shelter, not knowing if I’m going to have a bus ride back, bus fare to get back, then you just stuck out here,” Safford said.

Daily closures when temperatures rise

The building closed around 11 a.m. on Monday.

Senior citizens, students, and everyone inside were forced to leave because things got so hot on the inside, including the employees.

“It’s unbearable, it’s 81 degrees inside,” said Mercedes Alicea, who visits the library four to six times a week.

The library opens up every morning, but as soon as the temperatures get to 81 degrees, workers have to shut the building down.

No one can be inside because it is not safe.

“Every time it gets to 81 degrees, even with the fans on, you have warm heat blowing, people’s breath blowing, and to see what they’ve never even put a floor unit of AC also shows a lack of concern for the employees,” said Alicea.

Community calls for immediate action

Byron Brumfield founded an organization called Medgar Evers, a Mission and a Movement. He said city leaders need to fix the HVAC system right away.

“I ask all of our elected officials; they have to treat our house like it’s their house,” Brumfield said. “If their air goes out at their house, it’s going to be fixed the next day or the next week; it’s not going to take years and months.”

He fears upcoming events and programs will get canceled if the HVAC system isn’t fixed promptly.

“You have the Juneteenth Celebration coming up; people are coming from out of town,” said Brumfield. “You have a lot of different reasons to come to the library. We didn’t come out here to finger-point or blame. We come out here to ask our elected officials if they can handle this as soon as possible.”

City councilman blames previous administration

Councilman Kenneth Stokes said the previous administration is to blame for this situation.

“Everybody is hurt because of a mistake some knucklehead made,” the Ward 3 councilman said. “It affects everybody. Now, with the library closed, you have employees who can’t work. They have bills to pay. Why do you make boneheaded decisions?”

Stokes said the HVAC system started failing years ago.

According to Stokes, the city wanted Johnson Controls, Inc., a company out of Wisconsin, to fix the system, but they refused to do so until the city paid off a previous debt it had with the company.

Stokes said the city council agreed to pay the unpaid debt. Now, the company will come back into the capital city to install a new unit at the library.

“You got people with no sensitivity,” Stokes said. “A lot of people make these decisions; they have libraries, computers, and everything at home; poor people do not. They are way out of poverty is through education; they need to be able to come to these.”

New HVAC system expected by July

The city is teaming up with the Wisconsin company to replace the HVAC system.

Jeanne Williams, executive director for the Jackson Hinds Library System, said the company is expected to begin work in June, with the new unit expected to be installed by July.

“We look forward to having a fully functional HVAC system by early July of this year,” Williams said. “Not only will this allow us to open for regular services, but it will also allow us to move forward with flooring replacements that could not be done without conditioned air.”

In the meantime, whenever the library is closed, people are asked to go to the Fannie Lou Hamer Library, which is about five minutes away from the Medgar Evers Library.

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