.. Granted, the handy rule of thumb you see in our headline is not an earth-shattering piece of wisdom. It hasn’t been passed down for generations in my family either. But, it came to me rather quickly a few days ago, when I tried to read the notice found at the head of this paragraph. For the past week or so, that piece of paper has been prominently posted on both entry doors of the Central Library building of our Schenectady County Public Library. Despite several attempts at reading the notice, all I can say for sure at this point is that workmen participating in an Asbestos Abatement Program will be at the 99 Clinton St. Central Library to remove some asbestos sometime soon. Although the information is surely contained in the posted message, I still don’t know which contractor is handling the task nor when the removal will take place, or if the building will be shut down during the operation.
— northern entrance Central Library — 
You see, the Notice moves to the left as soon as one approaches it. That’s because it’s attached to an automatic door that slides open when you get near it, and then slides back rather quickly once you pass through. Yes, I tried scooting over to peruse the Notice in that moment when the door stops after fully opening, but it begins sliding back to close as soon as one steps out of the entryway.
Sure, I could probably wait for a long line of entering Library patrons to pass through the doorway, or get someone to stand on the sensor pad a few moments, to let me to read the Notice while the door is fully open — or even come back when the Library is closed and the door is locked — but, that’s a lot of work and sort of beside the point for any self-respecting curmudgeon.
I’m going to assume that whoever posted the Notice on those two automatic doors did it when they were locked — otherwise, there should have been an epiphany leading to the discovery of my Terrible Bulletin Board Maxim. If the doors were turned on and doing their sliding thing, I’d love to have seen the Affixation Moment, and the look on the Affixer’s face.
.. Southern Entrance SCPL Central Library .. 
As you can see, there were quite a few stationary spots near the entrance, where one might have affixed an Important Notice. Prof. Yabut, our legal issue-spotter, wonders whether an obligation to post a notice could be properly satisfied, when it’s been placed on an automatic door. If the entire f/k/a Gang had not missed its afternoon nap, we might have tried some quick research to see whether the issue has been adjudicated. However, even when we’re in procrastination mode, we try to have better things to do with our time and limited energy. Enterprising law students, associates who have already met their September billable hours quota, or really bored law professors and webloggers out there, are nonetheless encouraged to pursue the legal point and let us know the results of your research or brain-storming. [follow-up: Two years later, I did the research and the results can be found in the update below dated July 3, 2010.]
.. In case you ever have to post a Notice or are contesting whether notice has been properly made, we repeat: Be it Swinging, Sliding, Telescopic or Bifolding, an automatic door makes a terrible bulletin board.
afterwords (8PM): Thanks to Jo-Ann Schrom for posting this posting at her Rotterdam NY Info site. As the regulars at the Rotterdam online community regularly have enjoyable and interesting perspectives, I’ll be clicking the link to see what they think of those sliding doors.
– deja vu –
follow-up frustration (July 3, 2010): After the handful of haiku below you will find “a moving message from the Schenectady County [NY] Public Library“, with the second chapter in this aggravating tale.
May morning
the door opens
before I knock
. . . . by John Stevenson – from Some of the Silence
birdsong
opening the sliding door
in her red pajamas
. . . . by paul m. – A New Resonance 2 & Frogpond XXII:1
through the open door . . .
her smile doesn’t forgive
all my sins
. . . . by Randy Brooks – School’s Out (1999)
Part II (July 3, 2010)
a moving message from the Schenectady County [NY] Public Library (posted July 3, 2010)
– click on any photo for a larger version –
About two years ago, I tried but failed to read the above sign, which was posted on the northside entry door of the central branch of the Schenectady County Public Library [SCPL], located at 99 Clinton St. (corner of Liberty and Clinton Streets, across from City Hall). The experience resulted in the piece posted above, “automatic doors make terrible bulletin boards“, dated September 23, 2008.
As I explained at the time:
[T]he Notice moves to the left as soon as one approaches it. That’s because it’s attached to an automatic door that slides open when you get near it, and then slides back rather quickly once you pass through. Yes, I tried scooting over to peruse the Notice in that moment when the door stops after fully opening, but it begins sliding back to close as soon as one steps out of the entryway.
Sure, I could probably wait for a long line of entering Library patrons to pass through the doorway, or get someone to stand on the sensor pad a few moments, to let me to read the Notice while the door is fully open — or even come back when the Library is closed and the door is locked — but, that’s a lot of work and sort of beside the point for any self-respecting curmudgeon.
As you can see, there is plenty of stationary glass available for posting a notice immediately on either side of the sliding automatic door:
Back in September 2008, I brought this problem to the attention of the staff of the Library, including several reference librarians. The response ranged from complete agreement and vowing to take it up with the Powers That Be, to acknowledging that I had a point, to total indifference (with a touch of annoyance that I would even bring it up). I tried through email to reach further up the decision-making ladder.
Despite my efforts, including pointing out the folly here at f/k/a (which back then was active and got a couple thousand visits a day), nothing changed at all. Important Notices to the public have continued to be affixed to the two sets of automatic entry doors at the Library. Cementing my reputation as a grumpy old man, I’ve occasionally mentioned the subject to Library staff for almost two years, but to no avail — despite how simple it would be to put the Notices on a stationary spot.
. . . This follow-up second chapter in this sliding-door bulletin-board tale was provoked after having no success at all trying to read the sign at the head of this paragraph on the same Library door, on June 26, 2010. Because I had no pressing appointments, I went inside to complain. Then, I remembered that my camera was in my car, so I fetched it and snapped away. (I even took a little movie of me trying to approach the sign to read it, and then moving with the door as it slid away.)
After I quickly stepped to the side to follow the moving door, the sign stopped just long enough — and the font on the heading was just large enough — for me to catch that it was Notification of an Asbestos Removal Project. I could not, however, catch any dates or other details.
Here’s a close-up of the sign and a snapshot of it posted on the southside entry sliding door, where it was also posted, and difficult to see in all the glare:
. . . 
– notice of an Asbestos Removal Project given by Jupiter Environmental Services of Albany NY –
Then, while at the Library for normal activities on Friday, July 1, I noticed that there seemed to be a little less glare, so I decided to try to take a better shot of the doorway and sign in the north entrance. I asked a librarian I knew who was heading out for lunch if she would stand still in the doorway long enough for me to take a picture of the sign at rest.
When the door and sign did slide over, I realized two things: 1) there was still far to much glare to readily read — or even notice — the sign; and 2) once the door is fully opened, the sign in the Library’s north entryway is obstructed behind another sign. See for yourself:
. . . 
When the topic first arose in 2008, I was too lazy busy with more pressing things to dig up the law that I assumed existed mandating the asbestos removal notice. But, this time I have several items on my to-do last that require procrastination, so I decided to do the needed research. Thanks to Mr. Google, my search took less than a minute. (It was only in posting the photo of the notice a few minutes ago that I discovered at the lower right corner of the Notice a reference to the law in question, 12NYCRR56.)
Here’s the notification requirement for removal of asbestos (large and small projects) under the New York State Department of Labor’s Industrial Code Rule 56 (Asbestos) (emphasis added):
§ 56-8.1 General requirements-large and small asbestos projects.
(b) Signs. Caution signs shall be posted at all locations and approaches to a location where airborne concentrations of asbestos may exceed ambient background levels. Signs shall be posted that permit a person to read the sign and take the necessary protective measures to avoid exposure.
That’s right: People are supposed to be able to actually read the sign. Although staff members might get further information about the removal timing and process, how else could members of the public be on notice to take action to avoid “the airborne concentration of asbestos” that may result from the removal process? It seems to me that a sign posted on a working automatic door does not permit a normal, reasonably-agile human being “to read the sign”, much less those who are less spry. And, I hope the NYS Asbestos Control Bureau would agree.
According to the NYS Labor Department website, it is “the licensed asbestos contractor who will be required to abate the asbestos in accordance with Code Rule 56.” So, it seems that the folks at Jupiter Environmental Controls are ultimately the “responsible party” here under the law, even if they delegated the physical posting task to the Library personnel. Of course, it is even more absurd, if Jupiter does post the signs itself. Companies who must give these notifications as part of their normal operations shouldn’t be placing the signs in such a haphazard and nonsensical manner (especially firms who charge as much for their services as do certified asbestos removers). Nonetheless, given how obvious it is that the problem exists and how easy it would be to remedy it, once on notice from me of how difficult it is for those entering the building to read the signs, it was the Library’s duty to fix the affixation problem. That’s the least they owe their staff, their patrons, and the County’s taxpayers.
You can share this posting with others using the short URL: http://tinyurl.com/movingmessage
If interested in asking State or County officials to stop putting important notices on automatic doors, use this contact information:
- The NYS Asbestos Control Bureau Engineering Services Unit: email: ESU.SH@labor.state.ny.us [phone for Albany District Office (518) 457-1255]
- Schenectady County Library’s Director Andy Kulmatiski, through the Library’s
General Questions email contact: scpl@scpl.org [phone (518) 388-4543] - Bill Marggi, Manager, Jupiter Environmental Services, Albany NY: phone: (518) 435-0700
- Kathleen Rooney, [Schenectady] County Manager: email: Manager@schenectadycounty.com [phone: (518) 388-4355]
- The Schenectady County Attorney: CountyAttorney@schenectadycounty.com [phone: (518) 388-4700]