Dorothy Cummings Library: Maintenance Needs

Hi, everyone! My name is Keilah Coverstone, and I'm the campus librarian at SAGU American Indian College. SAGU AIC is a small Christian college located in Phoenix, AZ. We mainly serve Native American students, but we accept anyone of any ethnicity. Our mission at SAGU AIC is "Equipping Native Americans for Christian Service, emphasizing Biblical truths and academic excellence within a Christian Community.” You can visit our website here.

Our campus library, Dorothy Cummings Memorial Library, needs several maintenance updates that are far out of budget. These updates will positively impact the library environment by making it more welcoming, safe, and comfortable. Learn more about the library here.

The first maintenance need is fixed bathrooms. Our men's and women's restrooms have been out of order since September 2020. Unfortunately, any time that patrons need to use the restroom, they must use a bathroom from another part of the building. The closest restroom to the library requires patrons to use the stairs, which is not accessibility-friendly.

The library sits in an old building that uses cast iron plumbing. Fixing the restrooms will require digging into the ground between the two restrooms to repair the broken pipe. The high cost has kept this project from being completed for too long. The SAGU AIC library patrons will greatly benefit from having two working restrooms in the library again. Will you support this necessary project with a simple donation?

Below: The women's restroom that has been out of order since September 2020. Apart from having no sink, the toilet leaks every time it's flushed, which makes it unusable. Both bathrooms are infested with cockroaches and regularly have to be sprayed.

The second maintenance need is a fixed ceiling. The bottom floor of the library regularly experiences leaks from the dorm rooms above. Numerous ceiling tiles are missing because they have crumbled from leaks. Even more have unsightly brown stains from water damage. Thousands of dollars of books have been ruined because of leaks that dripped through the ceiling onto the stacks.

The library needs new ceiling tiles and plumbing updates on the pipes above the stacks. New ceiling tiles will aesthetically update the library and provide a protective barrier to the current exposed stacks of books. The plumbing updates will prevent new leaks from happening. The SAGU AIC library patrons will benefit from having a fresh, clean ceiling that doesn't leak and books that are damage-free. Will you help support the needs of SAGU AIC patrons?

Below: This ceiling leak happened on August 19, 2022. The leak caused the ceiling tiles to crumble and over $1,000 worth of books were damaged.

Below: The library lacks the funds to replace the damaged books.

I could write an infinite list of other maintenance updates. Here are just a few more to help you see the needs of the library:

Below: Some SAGU AIC students hanging out in Dorothy Cummings Library.

God has called us to steward our resources, so any donation you give will positively impact the SAGU AIC library. Thanks in advance for contributing to this cause that means so much to the SAGU AIC community.