Library undergoes soggy saga

A burst pipe flooded the first floor of the East Branch Library Monday, shutting the branch down indefinitely until floors and walls can be repaired.

“It’s a librarian’s worst nightmare, water damage,” said library director Connie Rawson.

According to library officials, a staff member who arrived at the Branch to prepare for its 1 p.m. scheduled opening noticed standing water on the carpeting and water flowing down through the ceiling tiles. She quickly turned off the water upstairs and called the Lexington Department of Public Works, which began removing water throughout all levels of the Branch library.

Books from a shelf under the dripping ceiling were splayed across the remaining dry floor. Carpets were ripped out, and some computers directly under the leak were found in a pool Monday afternoon.

“There’s a slight possibility the computers will be OK but at this point we have no idea,” Rawson said.

A cleaning crew from Servpro handled the cleanup later in the day. Workers removed damaged ceiling tiles and flooring. Robert Rodriquez, an employee of Servpro, said some dry baseboards will be saved as he scraped out wet trimwork.

Cost estimates were not available before press time. Insurance adjustors surveyed the damage Tuesday, Rawson said, and should provide an estimate this week. Rawson said the floor will have to be replaced, but decisions on repairs ultimately rest with the library’s Board of Trustees.

The East Branch Library will remain closed while cleanup continues. Patrons may visit Cary Memorial Library at 1874 Massachusetts Ave. to pick up materials they have requested from other Minuteman Library Network libraries. The children’s craft programs scheduled at the East Branch will be held at Cary. For more information call 781-862-6288 Ext. 250 for Reference and Ext. 316 for Library Administration.

Located in front of the Waldorf School on Massachusetts Avenue, the East Branch Library has served Lexington since it was sold to the town for $1,000 over 100 years ago.

As the cleanup continued Monday afternoon, a woman and her son peeked in through the front door.

“Are you closed?” she asked Rawson, the only library employee there at the time.

“Yes, we had a flood,” she replied. “This is how my week started.”