Donations Accepted

Nearly two months after July’s historic flooding, The Kellog-Hubbard Library in Montpelier still doesnt have the necessary safety features like smoke detectors needed to reopen to the public. Instead, staff at the library have moved their operations, and the books, outside for curbside pickup.”We’ve already fulfilled literally thousands of books,” said Dan Groberg, the executive director of the KH Library.One mother picking up books with her children on Tuesday said she’s had a “wonderful” experience using the service, thanks to the staff.That dedication to patrons has kept the library operational at a time when the building is not.Groberg said that the July flooding brought around 8 feet of water into the basement of the library, taking out all of the mechanical systems.”We haven’t allowed the public into the building because we don’t have our fire safety systems, like our smoke detectors and our sprinkler systems, are not operational right now,” said Groberg.The loss of inside operations is a change for bookworms and a challenge for staff.”Our librarians have been using headlamps to find books in the shelves,” said Groberg.Plus, the temporary closure is bad news for those seeking a spot to cool off from the early September heat.”We normally have one space in the library that’s air-conditioned that serves as a cooling shelter,” said Groberg.However, the good news is that with repairs needed all around, staff are hoping to get an update soon on the building.”We’re hoping, as a result of all this work, that we’re going to be able to add air conditioning going forward,” said Groberg.For now, the community can continue to request books in advance.”People can go online to their library patron account or can call or email us and request a book, and we’ll set it outside on the table for them to come pick up the next business day,” said Groberg.Now, the library is asking for donations to make up for some of the used book inventory lost in the basement. Those books would have normally been sold in a book sale for the library.”We did have to throw out about 1,500 books that were part of that book sale,” said Groberg.Plus, some of the funds will help on the long road to recovery.Groberg said the library will need about $1.5 million to get the building back up to its previous state and to move the mechanicals out of the basement in case of a future flood.Staff at the library said they hope to have the building fully open and back to normal operations by the end of September.