Eastern Kentuckians continue to clean up and rebuild after July’s historic flooding. School libraries are having a hard time dealing with the damage. Thousands of books were lost as flood waters poured into the buildings.
Sharie Bailey is the library media specialist for three Letcher County schools. She says there has been an outpouring of support for her libraries.
“I’ve talk to people from New York, Colorado, Georgia who have offered to donate and already sent things in, not only for the library but also for classroom libraries. So, people have been great about sending things in or saying they’re going to or donating money.”
She said people have been offering to help with book donations. Right now, she says the only problem with that is storage.
“So as far as people donating and sending in, we’re limited in what we can take right now. We’re not for sure exactly when we’ll be back in the building, but it will probably be several months before we’re back in the building.”
The libraries at the three schools she oversees had to be gutted because of the flood damage. She said once classes are able to start back up there will be some form of library service, even if it is just pushing a cart of books around to the classrooms.
**In a sea of partisan news, WEKU is your source for public service, fact-based journalism. Monthly sustaining donors are the top source of funding for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.
