Water-Damaged Texas Library
Condemned, Closed
The Alvarado (Tex.) Public Library was condemned and the electricity and gas shut off March 19 after the city fire marshal declared the building unsafe.
Although library staff knew that the building—a former grocery store constructed before current stringent building codes—had structural problems that would force it to close, an evaluation by a structural engineer a week earlier had given them from one to two months before such a step would be necessary, librarian Leanna Cowan told American Libraries. However, workers repairing roof leaks discovered water in the building’s wiring that posed a fire hazard, forcing the building to close immediately.
Patrons who came to the library expecting it to be open were shocked. “Some started crying,” Cowan said. “It was like somebody died.” Inside, volunteers and the staff of two worked without electricity or heat to carefully organize and label boxes of materials, moving them to the most secure area of the building, and Cowan tried to figure out a way to continue getting materials to patrons. “But we’re going to need all the help we can get,” she said.
Help came at the March 27 meeting of the local economic development board, which agreed to support either the purchase of an existing building for remodeling or the construction of a new facility on a new site. “It’s such good news; I’m thrilled,” Cowan said. The board also approved up to $1,800 per month for 12 months for temporary storage space.
Posted April 1, 2002.
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