On Jan. 7, a small fire broke out in a spare room of the Spencer Research Library.

A student employee was in the room when a lighting fixture caught fire. The melting plastic then fell to the floor, igniting the carpet.

Rick Clement, a special collections librarian, had already extinguished the fire by the time KU Public Safety Officers arrived.

Upon investigation, only the fixture and a small carpeted area were reported damaged. None of the library’s collections were harmed.

The actual cause of the fixture’s malfunction remains unknown. Sheryl Williams, curator of the Kansas Collection, said she suspected the filter placed over the light was a possible culprit. The filters protected the collection from lighting and have accumulated plenty of dust over the years.