Books Spared after Lower Level of Newport Library Floods

NEWPORT, RI—The lower level of the Newport Public Library was flooded over the Memorial Day Weekend after what Library Director Anne Shepherd described as a "freak accident" that caused thousands of dollars in damage.

The administrative secretary is now working in the Stride Room, a number of fans are blowing air to dry out the area and fax, color copying and notary services are temporarily unavailable.

It has been a long weekend for the staff at the library dealing with the cleanup and aftermath, which will likely lead to drywall and carpeting being torn out once the insurance company is done tabulating the damage, Shepherd said.

"It was not a good weekend for us," Shepherd said, noting that it could have been worse.

"At least no books got wet," she said.

The flooding began Sunday night during a "terrible rainstorm," Shepherd said. A bit of debris somehow blew onto the roof and into the roof drain, causing it to clog.

"So the water just poured through the main floor of the library and into the admin office, into, of all places, our supply closet," Shepherd said.

The water destroyed lots of supplies like ink cartridges and other consumables, caused damage to the walls as it ran down toward the lower level and soaked the carpeting in the administrative offices.

A disaster cleanup crew was working at the scene Monday and with all the carpet removal and possible tearing down of walls, "the admin office is going to be down for a while," Shepherd said.

The library is still open, though, and all normal library services will continue. You can still reach the Administration Offices by calling 401-847-8720, Ext. 100. Staff moved the library's switchboard to another room and employees are working in different spots in an effort to limit the impact on readers.

Shepherd said the library is grateful that the water ended up sparing their collection of books. The water did flood the lobby area where they operate a used bookstore, but "the water came just below the lower shelf of books," she said. "We're very lucky."

The last time the library had to deal with similar damage was in 2010 when Hurricane Sandy battered Aquidneck Island. That situation was different because it was caused by tons of water "coming down the hills" and pouring down the elevator shaft, Shepherd said.