One twister came down the main street of Pierce City and completely leveled a three-block area that included the David H. Jones branch of the Barry-Lawrence Regional Library system. “It was a 100% loss,” BLRL Director Jean Berg told American Libraries. “Out of 11,000 volumes, we retrieved two books and three puppets—that’s all we found.”
The branch, the newest in the system, had opened March 2001 in a renovated garage. Its earlier location in an old church was completely untouched by the tornado. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has indicated that the library will be included in the town’s cleanup funding. “The board met May 8 and decided: We are going to rebuild,” Berg said.
Another branch in Marionville had an outside sign knocked down, but Branch Supervisor Janea Kay Coker lost her home in the storm.
Fifty-two miles to the north, the Cedar County Library in Stockton lost part of its roof when the second story of the building next door collapsed onto it. Luckily, about 80% of the collection was salvaged and moved to temporary storage with the help of volunteer firemen, according to Director Glenda Pate. The network server and some of the computers were retrieved, but the audio- and videotapes were lost.
“All four walls are still standing, but they have cracks,” Pate told AL. “FEMA declared the library building unsafe on May 7. This facility was leased, and we don’t know what the owners are going to do yet. Empty buildings are at a premium in Stockton right now, so I don’t know if we will have a temporary location.” The library staff is currently operating out of the El Dorado Springs branch facility.
Posted May 12, 2003.