After six months, St. Charles Parish’s West Regional Library can finally turn the page from Hurricane Ida.
The Luling branch officially reopened March 2 after undergoing repairs to the significant storm damage the site incurred from Ida, meaning all of the parish’s library locations are now operational.
“It feels really good to be back open,” said Lauren Campo Pitz, St. Charles Parish Library Assistant Director. “I know our staff, they’ve been working at other branches since around Thanksgiving, and I know everyone’s very excited to be back around their branch. The response (from the community) has been great … a lot of people have been expressing their thanks and excitement that we’re back open on social media.”
The site was the final to reopen as it absorbed the most direct damage from Ida.
“It was definitely our hardest hit branch,” said Pitz. “We lost half of the roof on the second floor and one exterior wall on the second floor came down. We were unable to secure the roof and walls immediately after the story, so we had more water inside of the building from rainfall after the hurricane.”
That created several issues beyond building repair – materials were damaged and air quality became a concern due to worries about potential mold due to the water inside. Employees at the branch relocated to other branches as repairs were ongoing, the library keeping its doors closed until it could be safely inhabited again.
Everything on the second floor, including the library’s meeting room and its Louisiana collection, took water. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, staff that stayed local through Ida were able to retrieve as many books and materials as possible from the library.
“It’s a process that’s taking some time, because once Ida hit us, it went northeast and a whole bunch of libraries up there are in the same situation we are,” Pitz said. “So, we’re hoping we’ll learn more about that over the next few months.”
All of the books that took direct water damage have been disposed of. Pitz said a large part of the library’s first floor book and material collection was preserved thanks to how quickly it was removed.
There were 3706 items pulled from the Louisiana Room collection and they are currently being remediated out of state, according to Pitz.
The library has a total collection of 60,225 items, with only 3,200 of them lost.
“We saved 13,853 items from the damaged first floor of the library,” Pitz said. “
We brought dehumidifiers and ran them throughout the building to avoid losing more of the collection and more of the building.”
Hurricane repairs included a new roof for the second floor of the library, the gutting of all damaged areas, and a temporary wall built to close off the back half of the building until it can be repaired.
Some materials and spaces are unavailable for the time being due to the hurricane damage and ongoing renovations. The Louisiana Room and meeting room are unavailable. Books and other materials can be requested and delivered to the library through its courier service. All computers, study areas, Wi-Fi, and two study rooms are available.
Many of the library’s regular events and activities have already resumed. Weekly story times for children up to age 5 take place every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Planetarium shows are set for every Tuesday and Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m., every Saturday morning for children’s shows at 10 and 11:30 a.m. and every Saturday afternoon at 2 and 3:30 p.m.
“We also have a Nerd Night for teens every Thursday evening that’s started,” Pitz said. “I think by the summer, we’ll be able to offer a lot of the same types of programs and events that we always do.”
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