Post-Irene, West Hartford Library Lovers Pitch In

This Margaret Wise Brown classic is one of the few children’s books in the West Hartford (Vt.) Library collection that survived the Hurricane Irene floodwaters.

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By Jen Vaughn

Like so many New England communities, the town of West Hartford, Vermont, was hit hard on August 28 when Hurricane Irene caused the White River to jump the riverbanks it calls home. The roads flooded and water swirled around many buildings, including the public library. Come the morning light, the library staff and volunteers found the basement filled with water, which had devastated the entire children’s book section. The bottom shelves of the first floor of the library also experienced water damage.

West Hartford Librarian Aileen Gillett, who is dealing with the flooding in her own home, was not available for comment.

The West Hartford Library is a second home to many on Route 14; its large porch is a perfect spot to read that book discovered on a top shelf while listening to the (usually) calm river plays its way down the state. A pair of avid tween readers, Amanda and Levi, who showed up to help clean out their favorite library, told American Libraries they do not know what they will do while the library is closed. The young bibliophiles are among many rural Vermonters who do not have access to the internet at home and live far from playmates and school peers.

Christy Hazen from the Friends of the West Hartford Library answers phone calls at the site of the West Hartford Library while volunteers from all over ask her questions. Twenty-six houses and at least four businesses have been damaged as well, so volunteers are spread a bit thin. The fact of the matter, Hazen said, is that the “basement will never be used for book storage again.” The library Friends plan to post to their Facebook page photo updates of the flood as well as the cleanup efforts of many volunteers, whose top priorities a week after the flood are replacing wet insulation on the top floor behind the baseboards and bleaching the basement.

Liza Bernard of the Norwich Bookstore, who drives by the West Hartford Library every day on her way to work, has set up a donation-collection system through which to buy new books for the library. Additionally, Bernard, along with Lucinda Walker of the Norwich Library, will be calling for volunteers to help organize, catalog, and ready those new acquisitions when the West Hartford Library is closer to reopening. So far, Bernard reported enthusiastically to American Libraries, the response has entailed “local donations and all the way out to California.” Several children’s authors and illustrators have donated their books to the West Hartford Library, knowing the audience is there and breathlessly awaiting the library doors to reopen.

Monetary donations to help get the building up and running again can be sent to: Friends of the West Hartford Library, 242 Carousel Court, White River Junction, VT 05001.

Given the good weather that followed in Irene’s wake, residents are hopeful that library service will be soon—but for Vermont, cold winter weather is only a few months away. The more volunteers who show up, the sooner the library can function again. “We hope for sooner rather than later,” Hazen noted.

JEN VAUGHN is a cartoonist librarian at the Schulz Graphic Novel Library and program coordinator at the Main Street Museum in White River Junction, Vermont.

American Libraries, Wed, 09/07/2011 - 09:46