What. A. Week. I know we tried to keep everyone updated thru social media, but here’s more of the story.
First of all, please know that we don’t take closing the library lightly. We know that many people depend on the library for internet access, job applications, tax information, and such—not to mention books, audiobooks, and DVDs, whether they’re for entertainment or educational purposes.
To be closed four days for weather was just really, really unusual for us. We happily opened with shortened hours on Friday, expecting to stay on our normal schedule over the weekend. And then . . . . . .
. . . . . on Friday afternoon, a frozen water sprinkler pipe thawed and burst—right above one row of books, eventually resulting in the loss of nearly 900 books, plus a river of water running thru a couple of the stacks.
Luckily, the sprinkler system people were able to arrive quickly to start working on the problem. Hacker Brothers, our construction company for the existing building and the expansion, also arrived promptly, and their expertise was so appreciated.
By Friday night, we were feeling good. Yes, we had lost a lot of books, but the sprinkler system had a temporary fix and we were first in line to be fully repaired on Monday morning. The affected area was inaccessible, but we could live with that until Monday.
Saturday brought the threat of freezing rain and possible snow. I came in for a rescheduled Board of Trustees meeting and to check things out. And then . . . . . .
We discovered multiple roof leaks in the non-fiction area and the Kentucky Room. Our board members pitched in to empty and move a row of bookshelves in the Kentucky Room before any damage occurred. Thanks, Robbie, Marcia, Rod, Sumita, and Elaine!
After our meeting, more leaks were discovered in the children’s area so Robbie and wife Jane brought rolls of plastic and we all set to covering as much as we could as a precaution.
Needless to say, we had a lot of cleaning and straightening to do on Monday, plus the sprinkler repair. While we didn’t open to the public on Monday, our staff worked all day putting things to right so we could unlock the doors this morning as scheduled.
And we did. What a week.
