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Tuesday, 05 August 2008 |
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Employees of Herzfeld Memorial Library in Benton arrived to work Monday morning to find the children’s area flooded.  Ron Coney of Coney’s Carpet Cleaning vacuums water from the floors of the lower level of Herzfeld Memorial Library in Benton on Monday. The children’s area received water damage because of a malfunction with the water fountain, which is suspected to have started leaking sometime Sunday. The area was to reopen today.
The right lower level was covered in water, reportedly because of a malfunction with the water fountain. The area was closed for cleanup on Monday, but spokeswoman Krista Petty said it should be business as usual at the library today.
Petty said the staff spent much of Monday morning recovering books and other materials and moving them outside or to other areas in the library to dry. Anything that was on the floor sustained damage, Petty said.
“Books and files on the floor got ruined, but the books in shelves did OK,” she said. “We did take the ones off the bottom shelf. Part of the mess (Monday) was moving stuff.”
Julie Hart, library director, said information is being gathered to determine the cause of the water fountain malfunction. “We suspect the water leaked for the greater part of Sunday, but we do not have a damage estimate at this time,” she said.
Some of the library’s “Story Time” materials were damaged, Randi Eskridge, children’s librarian, said. Some computers and a few books also were damaged.
“There was, of course, a large amount of wet carpet,” Eskridge added.
All areas of the library remained open Monday, Hart said, except for the children’s area.
“The adult fiction section, located downstairs on the left side of the building, remained open as well,” she noted.
Petty said visitors to the library on Monday were inquisitive, but she said everybody was understanding of the brief disruption. She also said the minor disaster didn’t disrupt representatives of Arkansas Educational Television Network, who were at the library Monday to interview World War II veterans.
Petty said the carpets were cleaned Monday, but an anti-bacterial spray will be used today.
Youngsters are able to access the children’s area today to get books, Petty said.
The library is at 1800 Smithers Drive.
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