Tuesday, December 10, 2024
In September of this year, the City of Gatesville closed the public library after a patron found books on the shelves with water damage.
At that time, a press release was issued by the city stating that areas of water damage were found in the sheet rock of the building, and that a contractor was to inspect the building and its contents in a “thorough manner” starting on Sept. 17.
The press release also mentioned that the cause of the water damage was most likely related to roof damage received during the severe weather events that occurred in the spring.
When the water damage was first discovered, Gatesville City Manager Brad Hunt commented, “We understand the library is an important part of daily life in Gatesville and we are taking all possible proactive steps to ensure the well-being of our library staff and patrons.”
Later that month, Library Director Shea Harp said, “We first started noticing the leaking and we moved all the books out of the way, cleaned everything up, and made sure the books were dry, and threw away books that couldn’t be salvaged.” She also mentioned that several thousand books had been damaged.
At the time of the water damage, Hunt issued a statement in which he said, “The Gatesville Public Library will remain closed for cleaning and inspection. Lone Star Mold Testing Company (contracted by the City of Gatesville) conducted mold testing at the library, including air testing, to determine whether mold was an issue related to the known water damage.”
He continued, “Accordingly, we are taking steps to inspect all books and materials, clean all surfaces, and abate the known issues at the library. We will inspect each item prior to restocking, as well as clean or replace all the furniture and fixtures in the building itself.”
Harp said that they would go through every single book in the building and ensure that there is nothing harmful in the books that would endanger the public. Harp also said that recovery would probably be a lengthy process.
In reviewing the situation further, Hunt said: “It appears that several factors led to this issue, and each was addressed with increased levels of concern and action. First, it appears the library’s HVAC system had not been effective for the past year in terms of humidity and temperature control, which was exacerbated by the long-term rainy and humid conditions this past spring. With Council’s permission, we addressed that issue early in my Interim tenure by allocating funds to completely replace the HVAC system. That project continues but will be on hold until all other abatement measures are conducted. Second, the spring weather caused roof damage on the already-aged roof, leading to water damage on some walls. The City filed an insurance claim related to the roof, as well as listed it on our FEMA damage assessment, prior to the discovery of the damaged walls and books. Finally, once damage was observed inside the building itself, we immediately closed the library and took precautionary testing measures.”
On Oct. 22, Harp issued a statement saying, “Library employees have finished their initial inspection of all materials in the building and have moved the passing of books to their new location at the Public Works department. On Oct. 10, the city rented a U-Haul to transport materials with the help of the Public Works, Parks, & Recreation, and Civic Center departments. The library was able to complete this task in three days. The library is now focused on marking the damaged books in their system and moving to their temporary offices in City Hall.”
In addition to Harp’s comment, Brad Hunt said, “It has been challenging work, but necessary to ensure we remediate and rehabilitate our library as thoroughly and quickly as possible. We lost more books and materials to mold damage than we originally hoped and will work throughout the next year to replace them.”
The library’s new temporary location is at the City Hall with the entrance to the building on 8th Street. “This location will allow patrons to request materials, utilize the internet on a provided computer, and request other library materials from the staff,” Hunt said.
On Nov. 5, Library Director Harp issued the following statement, “We now have a temporary library up and going. The first day was Nov. 5, and we loved visiting with our patrons. Our hours will remain the same to ensure the public has access to library services. The entrance to the library's computer lab is on the west side of the building. We are able to make copies, fax, and scan, and the process will remain the same. The difference is how we will check out materials to our patrons. Material requests will need to be made by 11 a.m. and will be ready for pick up by 3 p.m. on the same day. Our checkouts are currently limited due to the number of books we are organizing-- the hope is to get it up and running by Thanksgiving.”
In giving an update on the building, Harp said, “Last week, the remediation company taped everything off and took out the sheetrock. This week, the building has been "scrubbed," and now we are waiting for the test results. Once the test results have been received, the city and contractors will be able to determine and take the next steps.”
“Fundraising for new books has already started, The Friends of the Library has started a GoFundMe and are also accepting cash donations. We are working with other businesses in the community to create donation drives and, once we have more information, we will advertise it,” she said.
At the Gatesville City Council meeting held on Nov. 14, during his city manager’s report, Hunt said, “We lost about $500,000 worth of books, about 60%. I was very much living in an optimistic bubble when I told you about two months ago that I was hoping it would be only 10%. And a lot of that has to do with the training that Shea and her staff received on how to prevent mold from coming back as soon as you think it's gone. So, paper, obviously, being the best carrier of mold is how we lost more books to save the rest.”
“We'll take some time to get that book collection all the way back up, and we'll take some time to get the real library back open, but we are really hoping for around March to have the full library open again,” he said.
“We've had great coordination from our cities around here; several cities like Hamilton, Mart, and others have offered services for folks to get free cards in their library. For instance, with Mart, they had 75 boxes of books they wanted to donate brand new in a package.”
[Nov. 14 City Council quotes provided by Kaylee Dusang]
