Nine-year-old twins Emily and Laura Delp were among the first young visitors to the Children’s Department, Friday, March 13, and happy to see the department (where mother Valerie Delp works) reopened to the public.

“I’m happy,” said Emily, but admitted that she is partial to the upstairs Young Adult Department, where there is a chess board available.

“I like looking at the books here, and sitting in the bean bag chairs,” Laura said, so she was glad to have access to the space, which has been closed since burst pipes flooded the area February 17.

“Yes, we’re back,” said Children’s Librarian Lana Bennison. New carpet tiles were in place, ceiling tiles replaced, and all was “cleaned and freshened up,” she pointed out. Looking over the shelves located near the check out, all appeared as it was prior to the February 18 flood. Moving toward the rear corner of the room, though, the loss of 10,000 books to water damage was apparent.

It will take time, said Ms Bennison, before gaps in the collection are replaced. She had ordered 1,800 books the day before, but patrons must understand that replacement is a process of many steps.

“It’s not just about buying, but preparing [the books] for patrons to borrow, and that can be time-consuming,” she said.

Once books are ordered and delivered, they must be entered into the system, labeled, and shelved. To compare the enormity of getting 10,000 books back on the shelves and into circulation, Ms Bennison noted that normally the entire library processes 9-10,000 books in a year.

“We lost over 10,000 books in the Children’s Department, so it’s a huge project, and an ongoing project over the course of several months,” she said.

The library will continue to get books through interlibrary loans for patrons in need of a book missing from the collection, Ms Bennison said. Children’s programming normally scheduled in the story room or Children’s Department will resume immediately.

Library Director Brenda McKinley announced that the library would have a “fine amnesty week” in celebration of and to welcome patrons back to the re-opened department.

“It’s really nice to have the department open again,” said Janice Bernard, a library assistant. “We’re happy to have people coming back.”

Ms Bernard added that the Children’s Department is appreciative of the assistance from librarians on the main floor of the library.

“We appreciate that the main floor circulation desk could handle the intake and display of children’s books upstairs, as well as the mini-children’s department set up there. It was an added load for them, but they did it graciously,” she said.

If people want to help rebuild the Children’s Department collection, Ms Bennison suggested the donation of books.

“It benefits the Children’s Department directly — we get first pick of donations — or indirectly, when we benefit from the annual book sale,” she said.