Fire alarms in libraries.

What kind of fire alarm system does your local library have?

My library just has smoke detectors. Don’t know what kind, though.

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School library: Integrities
Local libraries (back home): One has an assortment of alarms including Vibratone 450s and SpectrAlert Classics. The other has simplex 4903s.

My College library has Simplex T-bars and Truealerts, the same as much of the campus.

The library for my town has MFA dual action pulls and Wheelock AS horn/strobes.

My library has a MS-9200UD Retro-fitted into a simplex 4002 casing. The pulls are 4251-20’s and I can’t remember the Horn/Strobes. The smokes are Fire-Lite addressable.

My city has four public libraries, if you count the one at Massasoit Community College (it is part of the Old Colony Library Network, and can be used by the public if you have an OCLN library card). I will only mention the two I frequently visit:

Brockton Public Library (the main branch) has a Simplex 4010 fire alarm system with a 4003 voice-control panel, and there is also a 4606-9101 LCD annunciator at one entrance. All the main alarms are TrueAlert speaker/strobes (they are all 4903-9356s), and the restrooms have remote TrueAlert strobes. Pull stations are all dual-action Simplex 4099-9003 T-bars, and they only have smoke detectors at the elevators and in an electrical room (I saw through the door when it was open), and of course they are addressable TrueAlarms (probably 4098-9714 photoelectric heads on -9792 bases). I also saw a Simplex TrueAlarm heat sensor in one closet, and a couple of 2098-9806 test stations behind a bookshelf, which means the library also probably has duct detectors (the whole library is also sprinklerized).

Massasoit Community College’s library, located in the Student Center (which has a Notifier AFP-200 panel) has two Standard 450 horns behind the old flush-mount light plates with new MTL-style Faraday strobes added. One pull station is the original round Standard one, the other was replaced with a non-addressable Faraday F1G Chevron-style pull on an ADA extender. They also have old Standard heat detectors and an Edwards/Simplex heat sensor.

It’s been YEARS since I’ve been there so I don’t know much, but I do know that the signals are Wheelock MB-G10-24 10" bells on LSM retrofit plates. There are also some LSM-24 remote strobes installed. The library is looking to undergo an expansion project. IDK if they’ll continue with the bell/strobes or replace them with horn/strobes, but it seems the logical idea is to install more bell/strobes. Only time will tell.

As with almost all fire alarms in my area, just EST Gennisiss and EST lift-pull style stations and the EST traffic cone style smokes.

The Monroe County Public Library has EST 1st generation Integrity horn/strobes, EST Lift Pull Stations and no smokes. I don’t know what the fire alarm control panel is. Maybe a EST2 or 3.

Austin’s Public Library:
Old location: 7002Ts, Siemens/Pyrotronics DI-3 smokes, Can’t really remember the pulls, but IIRC, they were some kind of T-Bar.

Current Location: Radionics system, Gentex SHG-24-xx-FRs, GXS strobes in the restrooms. old-style Radionics T-Bars with cover.

franklin, tn
est double action sigas, “traffic cone” smokes, and white integrity, i believe horn strobe

brentwood, tn
old: traditional double action adt pulls, federal signal horn+wedge i strobe, some sort of random strobe
new: fci single action pulls (whatever the newest one is), wheelock mt-lsms, rss’s

murfreesboro
edwards 892 horn strobe, double action siga

mtsu, covered in fire alarms at mtsu

nashville, tn
main branch: mini est white strobes (like those of the integrity and pre integrity), and probably voice evac through the speaker system, no other visible audio devices.

My college library has only strobes. I asked why and they said because the library is supposed to be a quiet area. Just kidding… :lol:

hahaha a production studio I did one of my first installs in WAY back asked if we could not put any horns in the studio, only strobes after asking why they came up with the reason that if the alarm went off during a critical recording they would at least not loose that segment. I said … well wont the strobes mess it up to? After some silence they asked if we could just not put anything in there :slight_smile:

Sorry but in a sound proof studio I can’t help you haha. Had to install it.

Mine has NBG-6’s, old system sensor “doorknob” smoke detectors, and Gentex Speaker/Strobes and some Integrity S/S’s too.

Actually, I remember that our old library had MS-51 pulls.

Vibratone 450s in a LIBRARY?! I would NOT want to be there near one of those things when they go off. 450s are loud alarms in the first place, but in a library? That must be overkill. On the other hand, I guess it could be worse, like if they had Simplex 4040s :slight_smile:

The West Branch Brockton Public Library does have the old-style Federal Vibratone 450s on a Gamewell FlexAlarm system. The East Branch used to, until they upgraded to a Fire-Lite system with SpectrAlert Advance horn/strobes.
Additionally, the main branch library also used to have them too, until the library was renovated and added onto in 2002, and they put in the current Simplex voice-evac system

Yup. My high school has Simplex 4040s and they are VERY loud when they go off in the library, especially if there aren’t many people in there, which has happened to me before.

Mine too! But I never heard them go off in the library before