Flood recovery may not be in her job description, but, flashlight in hand, reference librarian Elinor Grumet navigated a darkened, dampened Hedi Steinberg Library to cordon off sections of the library with yellow caution tape (lights couldn’t be turned on for fear of starting an electrical fire). It was about an hour before midnight on the previous evening—Saturday, April 6th—when flooding was discovered in the reference library of Stanton Hall. The flood, caused by a pipe, which burst in the mechanical room behind Koch, has wreaked a fair amount of havoc on the reference library and the periodical room of the four-level Hedi Steinberg library. With countless books and periodicals now in desperate need of repair, the librarians are working tirelessly to mitigate the damage and put the library back in order.
“It’s a post-Pesach clean-up,” head librarian Edith Lubetski says good-naturedly. “Clean-up” doesn’t quite do justice to the scope of this rescue mission or to the scene which accompanies it: tables and desks buried under a sea of splayed-open books surrounded by fans, periodicals sitting in an inch of yellowed water, and books so swollen they cannot be removed from the shelves. Though the librarians couldn’t get to work immediately because the North Wing’s ceiling was in unstable condition, once it was cleared for entry, they tackled this undertaking with gusto. Ms. Grumet began testing each book for water damage and also dampness, lest mold form and spread. For the very wet books, Ms. Grumet patiently put paper towels between the pages to ensure that they didn’t stick together. The library staff already had paper towels on hand, Ms. Grumet points out, from a flood which took place last year, although this year’s flood has proved more destructive than the previous one. “It’s an old building,” she explains. The computers in the reference library also sustained damage; they were opened up and dried out, and though they still need to be tested, their prognosis looks good.
With end of-semester-exams and papers looming and study space in high demand, Stern students will be comforted by Mrs. Lubetski’s forecast: everything should be back to normal soon, with the carpets shampooed and books returned to shelves, albeit a little worse for wear. Books that aren’t fit to be returned will be replaced in either print or online form. “We hope it doesn’t happen again,” Mrs. Lubetski remarks. Both Ms. Lubetski and Ms. Grumet commended facilities-management, maintenance, housekeeping, security, and academic computing for working so efficiently to repair the damage.
Mrs. Lubetski, who has been working in Stern for over four decades, remembers when they first put the Mezuzah up on the periodical room—the room which sustained the brunt of the water damage. Over the years, the books have moved many times and have been divided up into different collections and locations. It is Ms. Lubetski’s hope that someday soon the books will find a permanent home together in a single location. Until then, the librarians are working hard—with their trademark enthusiasm, determination, and efficiency—to bring this latest (water-logged) chapter in the library’s history swiftly and smoothly to a close.