WCPL Director Ann Zydek shows the board some of the floor damage done during June’s heavy rains. (Photo by Amanda McFarland)

WARSAW — Heavy rainfall in June have the Warsaw Community Public Library staff feeling a little dampened as moisture continues to soak into the records room.

WCPL Director Ann Zydek showed the leaky area to the library board during its regular meeting Monday afternoon, July 11. She noted the nature of the old Carnegie library structure means the walls are thick but do not go down very far, making it easier for moisture to leak in.

In addition, the room is partially below ground level and drainage could not handle the record rainfall, leaving library personnel scrambling to remove books and other easily damaged items. The information technology room across the hall is currently serving as storage space for records room materials until the problem can be remedied.

Carpet tiles have been removed and fans placed around the room to help dry the area. Zydek noted, with a hint of irony, there is money in the library’s rainy day fund to help with the costs.

“And we had a rainy day,” she said.

Other News

• Next year will be the 100th anniversary of WCPL at its current location. Celebratory activities are in the discussion stages.
• The library’s summer reading program exceeded last year’s participation numbers. The teen and adult programs also saw an increase in participants. As July progresses, the programs are winding down.
• The library hopes to add Minecraft to its computers this fall.
• Old laptops will be available for purchase during the next WCPL book sale. They will need to be returned to factory settings before the library can sell them.