“Peter Cottontail” and “The Three Little Pigs” will have to find a new home for the next month after a flood caused evacuation.

The children’s literature collection, consisting of more than 9,000 volumes, is housed next to Gabel Hall Room 108, but will be drying out downstairs in the Learning Center after a flood broke out yesterday morning.

“A lot of books were involved, so now we are in the process of extracting the carpets and the librarians are taking the books down on little carts and trying to spread them out and air them out to try and keep them from being ruined,” said Angela Flournory, one of six building service workers who was pulled from her own duties to help with the emergency.

Norman Stahl, chair of the literacy education department, said it is believed the air conditioner on the roof is the source of the leak.

“It appears that the air conditioning upstairs on the roof clogged up,” Stahl said. “And so it has gone through rooms upstairs. This is where it finally went.”

Flournory added the condensation in the air ducts came down and pooled inside of the ceilings. Room 218, used for storage, also suffered a great deal of damage to its contents.

Stahl has been assessing the damage and consulting with other entities. A librarian from Founders Memorial Library who specializes in restoration will be looking at the books to see what repairs can be done, Stahl said. The area had also been examined and determined not to
have asbestos problems.

“The [books] where the ceiling tiles are missing, those got pretty wet. And, the newer ones, those can be replaced, but there are some in the collection that you just can’t get any longer,” Stahl said.

While the books are in “triage,” Stahl said, the library itself will undergo repair including replacing the carpet, repairing the ceiling tiles and staining some of the shelving.

“To be back up and running, I would bet you we are going to have at least a month,” Stahl said.
“The worry is that since all these books are used in the classes for children’s literature, instructors are going to have a pain for a little while.”

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