Library to Reopen May 26th

On February 11th, a defective part in the sprinkler system at the Nutley Public Library burst, causing serious water damages and leading to the Library’s closure. The building was evacuated and has remained closed since. Vice President of the Nutley Public Library Board of Trustees, Pat Ritacco said, “...the fire department responded quickly and they were able to shut the water off, but the amount of water that was coming out of that sized pipe did extensive damage to the library, damaging a few books, CDs, the circulation desk, and a rug that was only about a year old, beside structural damage to the ceiling and spreading to where it affected the sheet rock in the walls.”

Repairs are a work in progress, but are, as RItacco reports, happening “..on time and on schedule…People are working hard on it everyday. They have done an excellent job…” However, water damage is serious and will take some time to repair it completely.

 The Library is scheduled to reopen on Tuesday, May 26, the day after Memorial Day, and roughly three months since the damage occurred. Many high school students have been affected by the closing. Freshman Sophie Morales was an active user of the Library until the closure. “I can’t really enjoy books the same anymore, because it was very local and very close to me and very easy to pick up a book, read it, and just put it back. Even though that’s been gone for not even three months, I really miss it.” 

Many others have tried to work around the Library closure. Nutley resident Thomas Schniedier, an active user of the Library, reads plenty of books and borrows many vinyl LPs and CDs from it. “I bought a CD and record player just for this, but now it's gone for a while, so I have to drive off in other towns that just might let you borrow music like the Nutley Library does, but it's so bothersome. I do miss it.”

Library faculty have been working tirelessly to get the Library back up and running again. The Library, through its efforts, has accepted the work of town residents as volunteers to clean up and tidy the mess caused by the water damage. Ritacco reports that, “They've worked very hard, they’ve been there every day since they were allowed back in the building…and they have worked tirelessly to reorganize, to move books so construction could commence, and they are just doing and absolutely exceeding all expectations…They want the library open, and nothing else.”