It wasn’t a book-burning, but Robarts Library had to be evacuated on Monday night after patrons on several different floors smelled smoke.
“I was teaching a class on the sixth floor,” said Professor Hannah Mestel, who teaches Museum Management. “We smelled smoke. We came out to the reception area and the smell was worse.”
Not knowing what else to do, Mestel phoned 911.
“I told them it was on the sixth floor,” she said. “I pulled the alarm. I called 911 and they told me to pull it.”
The library was not really on fire, as it turned out. Initial indications were that a photocopier had overheated and started smoking.
“And I sent my class home,” said Mestel, looking lost on the sidewalk. “Oh well, it’s a night off.”
Not everyone went home; by the time the alarms were turned off and the all clear was given by the fire department, there were hundreds of students crowded around the St. George St. entrance, pressing to get back in through the revolving doors.
“These kids are way too eager to study, man.”
–Graham F. Scott
