Posted April 22, 2005.

Fire Severely Damages Minnesota Library

An April 14 fire that destroyed a sporting-goods store in downtown Virginia, Minnesota, also caused severe damage to the city library next door. The Virginia Public Library could remain closed for as long as six months, although inspectors are still assessing structural damage to the two-story, 19,000-square-foot building. No one was injured in the blaze, which broke out shortly before the library was scheduled to hold a reception in honor of its former director, William H. Gordon, who was in town visiting. “There will have to be some disaster relief,” Gordon, who retired in 2002 as executive director of the American Library Association, told American Libraries.

The April 20 Duluth News Tribune reported that heat and smoke from the fire damaged some 40% of VPL’s 90,000 books, which will have to be replaced, as will 28 computers, the first-floor ceiling tiles, and carpeting throughout the facility. However, electronic library records, which are housed off-site, are intact. Director Nancy Maxwell is establishing an office in city hall, along with a book return area. Other library workers are being reassigned to other city jobs until the library is operational.

Serving a population of some 9,000, VPL has 400–700 visitors daily. “The impact is going to be very noticeable,” said Jim Weikum, who directs the seven-county Arrowhead Library System of which VPL is a member. “The upside is that there has been such strong support there, that if anybody is going to bounce back, it’s going to be Virginia.” In the meantime, VPL patrons are using other Arrowhead member libraries.

Posted April 22, 2005.