Librarians are cataloging the damaged books to remove them from the system. (Thomas Ouellette/IPR news)
Indiana is cleaning up from devastating flooding after a record amount of rainfall last week. State officials say likely more than a thousand families and businesses have been displaced and are facing a long recovery. In Yorktown, one of those is the local public library. IPR’s Thomas Ouellette visited as librarians began facing the damage.
Audio Transcript
00;00;02;23 - 00;00;21;12
Thomas Ouellette
There is a constant hum of dehumidifiers at work in the Yorktown Public Library. Librarians are hoping to dry out the interior that was under more than a foot of water. Youth services librarian Lauren Davis walked through the library the day after the rain had finally stopped.
00;00;21;14 - 00;00;26;26
Thomas Ouellette
She says no one in the library had any idea how severe the flooding would be before the storm hit.
00;00;26;29 - 00;00;38;13
Lauren Davis
We had no concerns. We've never had an issue. We had no concerns at all. We had a bunch of random rags we threw down, and we tried to stick a tarp under the door to kind of seal it. We just didn't imagine.
00;00;38;13 - 00;01;00;11
Thomas Ouellette
A National Weather Service river height gauge showed the white River in Muncie. Next door to Yorktown. Crested during flooding at more than 18.5ft. Historic numbers show that's the seventh highest river crest recorded since the year 1904. But all six of those higher flooding events were recorded before Muncie put in a levee system to help keep the river from flooding its banks.
00;01;00;13 - 00;01;06;10
Thomas Ouellette
Flood waters completely surrounded the building when the roads were clear enough to travel. Davis came to assess the damage.
00;01;06;12 - 00;01;15;17
Lauren Davis
But I pulled in the back parking lot where I could, and it was just devastated. We didn't. We didn't know what the inside looked like. We didn't know if it was in here, if it was out of here.
00;01;15;19 - 00;01;23;03
Thomas Ouellette
She says the water was nearly up to her knees, and all of the books and library equipment stored on floor shelves were completely submerged.
00;01;23;06 - 00;01;31;08
Lauren Davis
So I actually texted the coworker that came in with me, and she called me and she said, is that AI And I said, no, that's real. I'm here.
00;01;31;16 - 00;01;46;03
Thomas Ouellette
Once the water in the building receded, they found about a foot and a half of the building's drywall has to be removed and replaced. Several computers are ruined, and the two custom wooden desks used by the librarians will need to be replaced. And then there are the books.
00;01;46;05 - 00;02;05;00
Lauren Davis
I've worked here for 14 years. And I've been in the youth services position ten years. 11 years. I love books. And just to see the place, it's my second home. and the books was just. It was hard. It was hard. We knew we were going to be in a lot of trouble.
00;02;05;06 - 00;02;28;11
Thomas Ouellette
The program room, once used for events, has been stripped of all chairs, rugs and shelves. Large plastic tarps are spread across the floor. The library staff is organizing the ruined books so they can be cataloged and removed from the library's inventory. So far, Davis says that number tops 3000. Library Director Liz Rozelle says like many local buildings, the library did not have flood insurance.
00;02;28;12 - 00;02;37;25
Thomas Ouellette
She says they'll heavily rely on federal disaster relief and public support to cover repairs. As of this week, those public donations are up over ,000.
00;02;37;29 - 00;02;52;07
Liz Rozelle
I've heard from many directors, and they're all willing to help. They. You know, we have a few extra computers if you need them. We'll come down and help with the physical stuff. So we have a great library community in Indiana.
00;02;52;10 - 00;03;04;06
Thomas Ouellette
There's no announced date yet for when the library will reopen. Despite all that's been lost and the work ahead, Rozelle believes the library will recover and serve the community again soon.
00;03;04;09 - 00;03;19;18
Liz Rozelle
It's very, sad. But at the same time, I am a positive person, so I feel like this is just another challenge that we're going to have to deal with. It's a devastating one, but I have no doubt that we will be back.
00;03;19;20 - 00;03;21;26
Thomas Ouellette
I'm Thomas Ouellette in Yorktown.
There is a constant hum of dehumidifiers at work in the Yorktown Public Library. Librarians are hoping to dry out the interior that was under more than a foot of water.
Youth Services Librarian Lauren Davis walked through the library the day after the rain had finally stopped.
She says no one in the library had any idea how severe the flooding would be before the storm hit.
“We had no concerns. We’ve never had an issue,” she said. “We had no concerns at all. We threw a bunch of random rags and we tried to stick a tarp under the door to kind of seal it and we just didn’t imagine.”
A National Weather Service river height gauge showed the White River in Muncie – next door to Yorktown – crested during flooding at more than 18.5 feet. Historic numbers show that’s the seventh highest river crest recorded since the year 1904. But all six of those higher flooding events were recorded before Muncie put in a levee system to help keep the river from flooding its banks.
Flood waters completely surrounded the building. When the roads were clear enough to travel, Davis came to assess the building.
“I pulled in the back parking lot where I could, and it was just devastated,” Davis said. “We didn’t know what the inside looked like. We didn’t know if it was in here, if it was out of here.”
Yorktown librarians posted photos of the building’s flooded interior on social media. (Yorktown Public Library on Facebook)
She says the water was nearly up to her knees and all of the books and library equipment stored on floor-level shelves were completely submerged.
“So I actually texted the co-worker that came in with me, and she called me and she said, Is that AI? And I said, No, that’s real, I’m here,” said Davis.
Once the water in the building receded, they found about a foot-and-a-half of the building’s drywall has to be removed and replaced. Several computers are ruined and the two custom wooden desks used by the librarians will be need to be replaced.
And then there are the books.
“I’ve worked here 14 years. Um, and I’ve been in the youth services position 10 years, 11 years. I love books, and just to see the place that’s my second home…and the books was just … it was hard. It was hard. We knew we were gonna be in a lot of trouble,” she said.
The program room was used for community events before the flooding. (Thomas Ouellette/IPR News.)
The program room once used for events has been stripped of all chairs, rugs and shelves. Large plastic tarps are spread across the floor. The library staff is organizing the ruined books so they can be cataloged and removed from the library’s inventory.
So far, Davis says the number tops 3,000.
Library Director Liz Rozelle says like many local buildings, the library did not have flood insurance. She says they’ll heavily rely on federal disaster relief and public support to cover repairs. As of this week, those public donations are up over $10,000.
“I’ve heard from many directors and they’re all willing to help,” said Rozelle. “You know, ‘we have a few extra computers if you need ’em.’ ‘we’ll come down and help with the physical stuff.’ Uh so we have a great library community in Indiana.”
There’s no announced date yet for when the library will reopen. Despite all that’s been lost and the work ahead, Rozelle believes the library will recover and serve the community again soon.
“It’s very sad,but at the same time I am a positive person, so I feel like this is just another challenge that we’re gonna have to deal with. It’s a devastating one, but I have no doubt that we will be back,” she said.
