Libraries are not boring

[2Chiwawa]

We had a pipe burst in the Library today. Hundreds of gallons of water cascaded down on the reference desk before we could cut off the water. We were pulling computers out of the way, evacuating the building, turning off the electricity and catching all the water in giant mailing tubs.

This is the Director of the Library, George Trepp, who has worked as Director for thirty years. Lets just say today was a wet day for him. As you can see he is a good sport. I got him to put his tie back on and he let us document his wetness.

We had to close the library early and it will be closed to the public tomorrow. We are all reporting to work to help in the clean up etc.

[Romans Mom]

Oh my gosh Faye. Sorry that happened. :shock: The picture of him in his tie and the thought all the water and of that happening in such a quiet place..oh! A different type of excitement for sure and lots of work ahead. When I had Library Science/student worker at high school, a disgruntled student set fire to our library by throwing it in the book slot and destroyed it. We had such a mess to clean up each and every book--the smoke smell made us ill couple by the water damage was a lot. I hope it all goes well for you.

[islandbabies]

Awwwww Faye, that sucks!! I hope not too many things were damaged, it sounds like yall banded together to try and save whatever could be saved!! I hope everything goes okay with the clean up tomorrow and hope that all the wet books need is some sun or a blow dryer! Let us know how it goes.
P.S. Love the picture of the guy! Too funny! Probably one of the most exciting days of his 30 years as director there huh?? LOL.

[islandbabies]

Barb, I can't believe a student set fire to the library! Was a dumb dumb!! Naughty kid!

[Zoeluvs2chis]

When I was a freshman in high school, a disgruntled kid set fire to our school and burned it completely down. It was a gorgeous facility, with old style columns, and because he was angry about the school becomming more racially integrated, he decided to torch the school. The new facility was built while the students used mobile trailers for a year on the same campus during the noise of construction. The fire was during the summer, so noone was hurt physically. Emotionally, many of us were left puzzled how a kid could be so destructive. The school did integrate ---after much community controversy, and I enjoyed the diversity of meeting new people, regardless of skin color. The arsonist was later jailed....a lowlife. Argg!

[momof1chi]

I know what you went through! When I was in High School there was a small fire in one of the rooms(they never said if it was an accident or by a student?) so we also had to use mobile units! It was also summer for us to but since school was to let out in a couple of months they decided not to install A.C.! Yeal tell me about it! Ever tried to set in one of thoes things and it 80 outside and 100 inside! Not a pretty sight! Trust me on that one! Boy was we happy when school was out for the summer! Luckly they had it all fixed when we returned!
Chassi and Chili

[momof1chi]

Opps I forgott to say that I hope everything in the Library is OK! We will be thinking of you tomorrow!
Chassi and Chili

[lilblizzardchic]

i thought was a customer that actually came like that lol i laughed when i saw the picture too bad that happened

[2Chiwawa]

Hi Erin, Nope, that really is my BOSS, he got so wet he stripped down in the staff room. We got him to put the tie back on once things calmed down. We do get some very weird customers though, but you wouldn't want to know, believe me.

Here is an update: Very few books got wet. Which is very amazing considering that hundreds of gallons of water spilled down. We were able to dry them all yesterday. But the library will be closed to the public through Tuesday which is a big deal in town. We all report to work (and get paid, thank goodness) and work at our other job duties at our desks. But today the fire alarms were still going off which turns off the heat in the building and the elevator was not working. So we were sent home at 1:00. We get paid if we cannot work due to an emergency or bad weather. Once there is heat in the building we work 9-5 every day until we can reopen.

These specialists come in who are running giant floor fans to dry the carpets. They had to rip open the ceiling above the reference desk to dry out all the duct work. They will have to reconstruct the ceiling and spray to prevent toxic black mold from growing throughout the building. We can't let any public in until it is safe for them.

Not to make light of the situation, but there is one small up side: we get to come to work in blue jeans and sneakers and can catch up on all our other work. There is much behind the scenes work to make a library run and we are always working very hard on buying new books, cataloging them and getting them ready to put out on the shelves. It is very different from a book store.

We also get hundreds of people who come in to use computers to do all their college papers, their e-mail etc. We have 18 computers available to the public and they are almost all in use every hour we are open. This will be very hard on those people. Many of them are from other countries and this is the only way they stay in touch with their loved ones while they work in the U.S.:cry2:

A lot goes on in a library now a days, it's much more than just books.

[Bentley's Mommy]

[QUOTE=2Chiwawa]Very few books got wet. Which is very amazing considering that hundreds of gallons of water spilled down[Quote]

Wow, glad to hear that very few books got wet. That's a blessing.

[Quote]But the library will be closed to the public through Tuesday which is a big deal in town[Quote]

I wonder how this will affect folks during the Easter holiday?

[Quote]Not to make light of the situation, but there is one small up side: we get to come to work in blue jeans and sneakers and can catch up on all our other work[Quote]

Hey, now that's something to smile about! Blue Jean day at work is always a nice change

[Quote]We also get hundreds of people who come in to use computers to do all their college papers, their e-mail etc. We have 18 computers available to the public and they are almost all in use every hour we are open. This will be very hard on those people. Many of them are from other countries and this is the only way they stay in touch with their loved ones while they work in the U.S.:cry2:[Quote]

Awwww, now that is heart breaking!



..................why are thes "Quote" boxes not working???? What am I doing wrong?

[islandbabies]

Hi Faye! Thanks for updating all of us. I've been wondering how this situation has been going for you. At the Macy's I work at, the ceiling leaks when it rains. It's terrible because it leaks on the selling floor!! Uggghhhh. But the mall should be renovating soon so that'll be fixed. But I'm so glad to hear that not many books were damaged by all the water!! I hope all the computers are okay too. Sucks that some of the people from other countries won't be able to get in touch with their families!
Yikes, no heater?! How cold is it there now?

[2Chiwawa]

Hi Islandbabies, We won't know if the computers were damaged until late Monday. We have 3 Dells on the Reference Desk that were near the water. The keyboards and mice all got wet too. :cry2:

The building got cold very fast as they had to keep one service door open. The temps here now on Long Island are running from 30 degrees F to 48 F.

I was supposed to work today, Saturday, but they kept the building closed. So I was off and got paid for seven hours... I'd rather we never had the leak and I could have gone to work. We are closed tomorrow for Easter, of course.

It cost the Library $8,000 just to have the clean up specialists come in to dry up all the water. It flooded two floors. They will also have to reconstruct the ceiling over the reference desk and spray for mold etc. There is insurance but all of this is a big thing for the town who really keep the library busy seven days per week.

I'll update on Monday.

[islandbabies]

Yikes, I hope those dells are going to be okay! Ooohhh and the mice too. LOL. At first I thought, mice?! They have mice at the library, wow that's the first!!! Duh, not that kind of mice!!
Holy cow, yall must've been freezing in there! Especially if you were wet, OMG, I can't even imagine. I freeze if my slippers are cold/wet and I'm cold.
I bet all of the people in the community who use the library frequently will be so thrilled when it opens back up! Keep us updated!

[Romans Mom]

Ooohhh and the mice too. LOL. At first I thought, mice?! They have mice at the library, wow that's the first!!! Duh, not that kind of mice!!

LOL LOL :D Me too. I thought how cute; smart little library mice, so cute. LOL Then I realized "plural" here. LOL :)

I'm glad everything's going to be alright Faye. We have a nice new library, rather elegant, with many computers and with showers for the employees (that caused quite a rumble with the tax payers.) I sure know how it is to work in paper; It has to do with acid they use in paper making. Anyway, there are now no funds to keep it open and running. (one main and 9 branches and a few mobiles for the County) They have been open 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. when lucky. That's hardly enough time to do much good. It's run by volunteers now, but although more people volunteer to keep it open into the evening, they won't. :confused: And the biggest downside is Terry and I grew up in that county all our lives, were members of the libraries, but now that we moved to the next door county, we can't use it. I think that is crazy. And I have library experience, so I'd be glad to help. The county is fickle. LOL Everything else around here is considered Tri-County, but since the library comes from different funding sources, it's not included.

We, along with others, have offered to pay membership to utilize the library services, but nooooo. LOL I don't think our county has a library either, other than at the college which is very limited IMO. I wish it could be different, but only continues to be the subject of editorials. It sound like yours is run very well. :) So I just buy all my book and have quite a library of my own--more than I can keep in the house. LOL

[2Chiwawa]

Well, the library reopened today at 9 a.m. Everything was dried, reconstructed, painted, cleaned and sprayed for mold. We were closed for one week. They did such a good job that you wouldn't know anything had happened except that it smells very clean and fresh at the reference desk. We had one employee on vacation for the whole week and we decided not to tell him anything when he gets back and to see if he can figure out what happened.

All the computers came up and worked fine (even the mice:-P ). We do get mice in the library sometimes...and we did also have a squirrel get in this year. He kind of sat on the counters and the book shelves taunting us. We found some chewed up items and then he left after a few days. We also have an automatic front door and we get stray dogs who just trigger the door and walk on in...

It was nice to have the public back in the building. Some people were very nice and let us know that they really missed us. I'm happy to say that the Long Island area has a very strong library system and every town has its own library. Once you get a library card in any library in the county you can use it in the whole county. The few districts that have no library pay the next closest library to provide service. I think that this is true for most of the North East. However, New York City has had some very precarious funding problems in the past and has had to limit service. We are very very lucky on Long Island.

[Hercules Momma]

Oh wow Faye!! How'd I miss this post! I am so glad that everything is under control, but I can only imagine the nightmares that started when you all saw the water rushing towards you!
I have fond memories of our local library when I was growing up, I've always loved to read and so I frequented the library at least once a week.
Did the employee that was out on vacation notice anything?

[2Chiwawa]

He's not back until Saturday. I'm not working with him so I won't know if he figures it out right away. I have to remind the other librarians he is working with to keep mum when they first see him. :-P