Barton Public Library has a new leak and it’s one of about six or seven in the building.
Michael O’Connell, executive director of the Union County Public Library System, said they’re lucky, though, because most don’t come in contact with the collections.
“We’re going to have to keep an eye on the one in the children’s area,” O’Connell said. “That one’s right on the edge there. We may have to shuffle our audio books around just to keep them from getting wet.”
He said after he spoke with the News-Times, he would get a tarp to lay over the bookcase.
O’Connell said the library was built in the late 1950’s and was state of the art when it opened — that was 60 years ago.
He said all of the HVAC systems have been replaced twice. The windows have also been replaced but need to be replaced again. O’Connell said the roof probably needs to be replaced again — the last time it was replaced was about 20 years ago — but that it’s a huge expense. He also said the wiring is “scary.”
“It’s an evolved system,” O’Connell said. “We’re always worried about a fire up there with our electrical system. The problem is just that it’s an old building. The design life was probably only 20 years.”
O’Connell said the library has two options — neither one they can afford.
Option one: gut the building and fix everything.
“That’s probably going to be millions of dollars,” he said.
Option two: build a larger, modern library, which may cost a little more, O’Connell said. He said they would also be able to fix the parking.
O’Connell said no library goes without its issues, but Barton is different because the building is maintained by the library board. The other library buildings in the Union County system are maintained by the cities, so the board just supplies the content and the staff.
He said some of those buildings have issues and are working with their cities, but Barton has the leakiest roof.
O’Connell said if they can’t get the leaks fixed, the library will alleviate the risk to the collections.
“We put up buckets, we catch the water, and we’ll see about raising the money somehow,” O’Connell said.
The Barton Public Library is currently having their fall sale with Friends of Barton Library, which goes through Saturday.
Next, the library will host the Barton Library Monster Bash at 5:30 p.m. on Halloween.