The process has begun to move the Columbia-Marion County Public Library back to its home on Broad Street after being on Main Street for a year. The rebuilding and renovations are now complete.
“Very exciting, long time coming to finally get to this point. To finally get to this stage is wonderful,” Director of the South Mississippi Regional Library System Ryda Worthy said Tuesday.
In a topsy-turvy year for the library, it all began Dec. 16, 2019, when an EF-2 tornado hit Columbia, including the library, ripping off the roof. That same night, the storm system brought several inches of rain, flooding the library's inside, which caused extensive damage to the entire facility. The library had to temporarily close starting a nearly four-month process of going back and forth with the Marion County Board of Supervisors and the insurance company to find a temporary location and begin the repairs to the 45-year-old building.
Then to compound everything, a global pandemic hit, slowing down everything.
Eventually, the library found a temporary location on Main Street in the old Rankin building. However, due to the pandemic and other issues, the library had not been able to offer all of the services it had at the Broad Street location. The Main Street location closed on Wednesday.
Now that the repairs and renovations are complete, the next step is to move back into the building. The new furniture has not come in yet; however, shelves are going up and books are being placed on them.
“It’s daunting, nerve-whacking and stressful. Freaking out over how to get everything over here,” Branch Manager Mona Swayze said.
The goal now is to get everything back to the Broad Street location, Worthy said. From there, they can take their time to get set back up.
Swayze said with the pandemic, the books are being cleaned before being placed on the shelves. While the books that were at the Main Street location had been cleaned repeatedly, most of the books had been in storage for the year and need to be cleaned. Swayze said they have found a couple books that have been in storage that had mold on them. Not only that, all the books will be to be categorized again.
Both Worthy and Swayze have said the Board of Supervisors has been great. The supervisors have allowed for a few extra modifications to the building not covered under the insurance to help make the library better, such as creating a restroom that is handicap accessible.
“The supervisors have really stepped up,” Swayze said.
“They went over and beyond, doing more things than the insurance would cover,” Worthy said.
Swayze said she does not know how long they will be closed to the public. Worthy said they might have to offer curbside service first before allowing anyone inside with the furniture not in yet. Worthy said the reopening of the library will probably happen in stages.
Eventually, once everything is set up, the library will be open for patrons to come in, for computer use or to even browse the shelves. Swayze said a lot of people have said they have missed browsing the shelves of books.
But like with everything else, they will follow the Covid guidelines, whatever they may be at the reopening time. Worthy said there will be new things to look forward to, including new hours of operation and layout. She said there will be a lot of interesting things.
The meeting room will not be immediately available due to the coronavirus and not having furniture for the room.
The internet and Wi-Fi have been upgraded, and Worthy said she was thrilled about getting all new computers. The ones the library had been using were purchased 10 years ago.
Worthy and Swayze are hoping to do a grand re-opening celebration, but that will depend on what the Covid guidelines will be at that time.
