The discovery of an 'unacceptable count” of mould on the first floor of Tauranga City Library has caused the non-fiction area to be closed off to public and staff for up to three weeks.

More mould has been found at the Willow St building.

Test results showing airborne stachybotrys in the non-fiction area on the first floor of the library were received on December 24.

Director Project Clean Terry Wynyard says independent experts – Prendos – have advised there has been no risk to public health as people need to stay in the affected area for sustained periods of time.

'As a precautionary measure this part of the first floor will now be closed off to both public and staff while Prendos undertake an investigation to identify the source of the mould.”

Terry says the work is likely to take up to three weeks.

'Please note that access to Wi-Fi, the fiction and the children's areas on the ground floor, and the New Zealand room on the first floor will still be fully open to the public.”

This finding comes after more than 200 staff were removed from the first floor and parts of the ground floor on December 15 when stachybotrys mould was uncovered.

A further 70 staff were relocated on December 23 after chrysosporium was found on the second floor of the admin building at Willow St.

'The test results have uncovered a fungus that is not airborne, but still potentially harmful to health,” says Terry.

He says an additional 95 people have been relocated this week as a result of the toxic mould outbreak at Tauranga City Council's headquarters. This brings the total number of staff relocated to 328.

'We have therefore developed a plan to temporarily relocate staff for two to three weeks whilst we remove the source.”