Library closes after pipe bursts drenching building
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

On Tuesday, fans, buckets and vacuums are scattered across the children's room at Forbush Memorial Library in Westminster to deal with the flood from the broken pipe. JOURNAL PHOTO/JEFFREY W. BOUDREAU

The Forbush Memorial Library closed this week after a water pipe burst this week after pipes near the roof froze in the cold weather Monday or Tuesday.

The library had been closed at 2 p.m. on Saturday and remained closed on Sunday and Monday. But Library Director Margaret Howe-Soper said they believe the pipe burst sometime early Tuesday morning.

"Mostly it's a clean up operation," Howe- Soper said. "We need time to work."

As of Wednesday's press time it was unclear exactly how long the library would be closed for after this week.

"In order for us to reopen we have a lot of clean up to do. We're still in the assessment stage," said Howe-Soper on Wednesday.

Howe-Soper said it is a coincidence that the pipe burst a week after a new boiler was installed. She said the pipe seems to have froze because of the air intake up by the roof let in too much cold air.

A clean-up crew was brought into the library to help with the work. JOURNAL PHOTO/JEFFREY W. BOUDREAU

Howe-Soper said, there are places in the children's room that didn't get wet and neither did many of the offices. The circulation desk and reference area, the front lobby and the majority of the children's room were all wet.

The library didn't loose a lot of its collection, Howe-Soper said. She said the books that got wet were being freeze-dried and the archives that sat below the area of the broken pipe were being assessed and hopefully restored.

Howe-Soper said the process would go through approved vendors and the library would develop contracts with the company before it was done.

She said the state has procedures for this type of work but that she has also had the training and developed procedures during her years of work.

"We know we have insurance," Howe- Soper said. "The adjustor has to come out and tell us what is covered and what isn't."

The trustees held their already scheduled meeting on Tuesday night at the Town Hall to discuss the issue. The trustees gave Howe-Soper the authority to have the needed discussions with vendors and the insurance company.

The work that needs to be done is not related to the pending renovation project, said Howe-Soper.

The fire department responded Monday morning after receiving the call about the water in the library. The firefighters helped to dry vacuum the library as well as other work to help clean up.

"They came and they were wonderful," Howe-Soper said. "Even (employees) that had the day off came in to help move things."