Smell of Burning Paper Disquiets Douglaston-Little Neck Library

The pungent smell of singed paper prompted employees of the to call the fire department Tuesday afternoon, after a copy machine situated in the library's main reading room filled the air with the unsavory scent.

The copier was promptly unplugged, and no evacuation of the library was necessary, said Ron Wan, the library's community manager. The only injuries sustained were to visitor's olfactory senses.

The smell permeated the entire building, and employees were not initially able to identify where it was coming from.

"It was very, very bad," Wan said of the smell, "so we thought that it might be more severe - like a fire." The fire department later confirmed that the smell was more of a nuisance than a threat to safety.

Wan said that he was unsure what circumstances prompted the copier to overheat, noting, however, that it was very old.

He added that though he has reached out to the copier's manufacturer, he doesn't know when the machine will be ready for use again.

"I hope they replace it," he said. "We could use a better one."