Manchester branch closed for ‘elevated mold’; board cites limited county maintenance capacity

The Coffee County Library Board discussed the closure of the Manchester Library after Capital Outlay closed the building for an "elevated mold" issue, and reviewed next steps for repairs and temporary staffing arrangements.

Pauline Vaughn, Manchester Library director, told the board that Capital Outlay closed the branch due to elevated mold; crews are removing damaged sheetrock and repairing roof leaks. Vaughn said she had submitted maintenance requests multiple times before performing environmental testing. Board members were told that part-time Manchester employees are temporarily working at the Lannom branch; no timeline for Manchester’s reopening was provided.

The meeting also noted county-level constraints on maintenance: participants said there is currently only one person managing maintenance on county buildings and raised concerns that building conditions reflect broader neglect rather than the efforts of maintenance staff. At Tullahoma, directors reported multiple recent facility issues — engineers are in the roof design phase and the project will move to bidding after design approval, three gas leaks were reported earlier this year, one HVAC component was replaced, and a jammed front-door lock was fixed. Courtney Mercurio said staffing changes include the recent departure of an employee named Leigh Ann and that internal applicants are being solicited for an Assistant Director position.

The board did not set a reopening date for Manchester and asked staff to continue coordinating repairs with Capital Outlay and county facilities.