On to the next chapter: South Charleston Public Library still closed after storm damage

SOUTH CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – Taking it one page at a time, the South Charleston Public Library is working to reach the next chapter after being closed for over two months.

In early April, severe weather ripped through the tri-state , damaging the library’s roof. South Charleston Public Library Director Todd Duncan said about 1,200 books and a portion of the carpet were damaged from being exposed to the rain but they are close to reopening.

“We just have to get all these books shelved and do a little bit of cleaning and then we should be ready,” Duncan said. “There was basically a sunroom in the building for a while. We flooded two additional times after that so the roof was in really bad shape.”

Now that the roof and flooring have been replaced, Duncan said they can work on re-shelving the 40,000 books they removed to make repairs.

Meanwhile, residents remain eager for the library to be back in operation in time for one of their busiest times of year, the summer.

“I’ve missed it so much,” said Debbe Moredock, a South Charleston resident. “My family goes regularly to the library and I still have a few books out that they told us to hang on to.”

Duncan said since their summer reading program was postponed due to the closure, they plan to extend it to make up for lost time, adding that the theme this summer is “decades of discovery.”

“It couldn’t open up soon enough since school is out,” said Jeff Gerencir, a South Charleston resident. “You know, the children need to be able to have a place to go sometimes and a good place for children to go is the library.”

While there is no official date for when the library will be reopen, Duncan said they’re expecting to be operational in at least two weeks.

“We’re excited to be open,” he said. “I think we’re going to be busy just because we’re reopening but also summer reading on top of it, it’ll be a little crazy around here.”

All checked out books won’t be due until July 6. Anyone with questions can call the library daily from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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