Asbestos Forces Library Evacuation : Contaminant: The substance was detected just three days after the Santa Ana building was reopened following a two-week cleanup.

About 60 employees and patrons were evacuated Thursday from Santa Ana’s recently reopened Central Library after laboratory tests detected asbestos in a closed-off section of the building.

The 30-year-old, marble-decorated library reopened Monday after two weeks of asbestos removal. Workers had barricaded the rear section of the building and removed floor tiles, which contained asbestos.

Library director Rob Richard said that air samples in the library showed no sign of asbestos. But further tests found asbestos in mastic, a glue that was originally used to set the library’s tiles in place. The tile glue was not removed during the cleanup.

Richard said he decided to close the library about 5 p.m. as a “precautionary step.”

There was little chance of the asbestos getting into the air, because workers did not heat the glue or use any solvents to remove the tile from its setting, said city official Don Rose, who is in charge of handling occupational-hazard problems.

“The closure was to eliminate any possible exposure to asbestos,” Rose said.

Richard said that the library will remain closed for another week until the glue is removed.

The 240,000-volume library is undergoing a $1.6-million renovation. The project includes a new children’s wing, more bookshelves and a reorganization of book selections. A new main entrance will also be built at the south end of the library, which is now its rear wing.

The library had previously been closed for about a month during the renovation.

The new asbestos problem will not delay the opening of the library’s new children’s wing in January, Richard said.