Due to an environmental issue affecting Bishop’s House on East Campus and the discovery of mold on some library collection materials housed there, Bishop’s House will close to the public effective Thursday, September 17. The closure will remain in place while the issue is assessed and addressed by library staff.
Bishop’s House is currently serving as the temporary home of Lilly Library staff while Lilly is being renovated. Importantly, the closure does NOT affect our renovation timeline or Lilly’s planned reopening in January 2027, which remains on schedule. However, at this time we do not expect Bishop’s House to reopen as a library service point before construction on Lilly is complete and staff, furniture, and collection materials begin moving into the renovated building.
We recognize that this change may affect pickup, delivery, and access to library materials, and we appreciate your patience as we work to maintain library services and support our staff who work on East Campus.
What Do I Need to Know?
- Bishop’s House is no longer a library pickup location. When requesting materials, please select the Music Library as your pickup location.
- The book return at Bishop’s House is still available. You can still return books and materials to the outside bin on the front porch, and we will continue picking them up as usual.
- East Campus faculty deliveries will continue as usual. Library materials will continue to be delivered to faculty offices on East Campus. If you are a faculty member who has been picking up books and materials from Bishop’s House, you can now either pick them up at the Music Library or take advantage of free delivery directly to your office.
- Some materials may be temporarily unavailable. Library materials listed with a Bishop’s House location in the online catalog cannot currently be requested or circulated. Their status will appear as “Unavailable” in the catalog.
- Library staff services will continue from alternate locations. We have no reason to believe that Bishop’s House is unsafe to occupy. But in order to address the mold situation, we need to restrict access and temporarily relocate library services elsewhere. Student assistants previously scheduled to work at Bishop’s House will work at Perkins Library or the Music Library until the renovated Lilly Library reopens.
- Additional updates will be shared as they become available. Information about Bishop’s House, Lilly Library services, and alternative access options will be posted on the Libraries’ website.
We apologize for this unfortunate disruption, and we thank you for understanding as we work to protect library collections and maintain library services for the Duke community.