Frozen pipes likely culprit behind flood at Barton Library
The Barton Library flooded over the weekend, and now library staff are working to preserve the books inside.
Union County Public Library System Executive Director Michael O’Connell said Tuesday that no books or other library equipment were damaged as a result of the flood. The biggest loss the library faced were the 90 rolls of toilet paper and paper towels that got wet, he said.
“We don’t keep much on the floor,” O’Connell joked.
Both the east and west wings of the library flooded, and there was about half an inch of water on the floor when library staff discovered that it had flooded Sunday afternoon. O’Connell said he thinks pipes burst overnight Saturday.
Dixie Maintenance cleared up the water and Glenn Mechanical repaired the leaks, O’Connell said. He also commended the city’s water department staff, who he said cut the water to the library within 10 minutes of library staff calling to report the flood.
About a foot of water accumulated in the janitor’s closet, O’Connell said, and subsequently leaked into the basement, which luckily was empty.
Since Monday, library staff has been using commercial-grade dehumidifiers to take some of the humidi
ty out of the air. O’Connell said the humidity inside the building has caused the library books to swell, so they intend to allow the dehumidifiers to dry them out before reopening the branch.
“Hopefully later this week; Monday at the latest,” he said.
The Strong and Huttig branches of the UCPLS have also been closed this week due to the boil order in effect for Strong. The Strong-Huttig School District will resume on-site instruction today, and O’Connell said the two library branches will also reopen.
The Barton Library previously flooded about 10 years ago, O’Connell noted. According to an archival report from the News-Times, in January 2010, a water line broke at the library overnight, flooding offices, the computer server room and the nonfiction section.
“I think we dodged a major bullet here,” O’Connell said Tuesday.