Woodbury Library Reopens, But Water Damage Extensive

The Woodbury Library will be open for business on Thursday, but patrons will notice that things aren't quite normal.

A sheet of plastic hanging from the ceiling blocks off the Reference section and the elevator, and parts of the carpet in that area have been ripped up. The ceiling is gone there, too.


This was not a planned remodel. Those are just some of the still-visible impacts that a burst water pipe has left on the library.

The pipe burst some time after the library closed at 5 p.m. on Saturday and before 3 p.m. on Sunday, when someone noticed water rushing out of the side door of the building, Pat Lunn, the library's executive director, told Patch.

Books, DVDs, Computers Ruined

By the time the water was shut off, the damage had already been done. Lunn said about half of the Reference section was lost, as well as a third of the adult DVD collection. About seven computers were also ruined.

The library has been closed for three days while crews worked to clean up. On Wednesday afternoon, heavy duty fans were still on inside the first floor, while library staff planned for their opening the next day.

They found a few more books that had been damaged by the water and, like many of the others, mold had quickly set in on the pages. The books — one a dictionary — were thrown in the trash.

While Lunn is confident that many of the books can be replaced, some in the collection may be a bit more difficult to find. One, which was one of her favorites in the Reference section, was a biographical index of everyone who has served in United States' Congress since the first one was convened in 1791. 

Fortunately, Lunn noted, the library is a member of the Bibliomation, which maintains a digital database of many Connecticut libraries' collections — like the old school card catalogue. They have already sent her a list of every item in the collections so the library can document and replace each item lost.

An insurance adjuster has already been out to assess the damage, Lunn said. She did not have an estimate of how much repairs and replacing the damaged items would cost.

About 6,000 Gallons of Water Puts Elevator Out

So much water came rushing out of the pipe that it filled the elevator shaft from the basement to the first floor. Given that hydraulic fluids had mixed with the water, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was called in to help pump it out. It took more than a 4,000-gallon truck to empty the shaft, Lunn said.

The elevator is out of commission as a result. "It will take several months for it to be repaired," Lunn said.