Library Workers Continue Work to Dry Out Main Branch

The work to clear out 50,000 water-damaged books from the Main Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library continues this week.Director Craig Buthod says library employees are working to keep track of each book that has to be thrown out.“Part of the challenge here is the inventory," says Buthod. "All of the books from the library are, of course, listed in the library’s computers and in the library’s catalog.  We need to make sure that every book that has to be discarded has to be removed from the inventory, so we have to read the bar code of every book before it goes.”He says it’s a logistical challenge, because a lot of the ruined books were in various stages of processing when the flood occurred.“We have to make sure that any books that are still charged out to one of our patrons get released from their record," says Buthod, "so nobody gets charged overdue fines for something that happened after the flood here.”Buthod says it will take weeks to sort through the books.At least five-million dollars in damage was done to the Main Library. Some public areas of the library are expected to be re-opened by Labor Day, but full recovery isn’t expected until December.