While the children’s area of the Washington Public Library remains closed due to an interior display window that fell in the facility last month, patrons are still welcome to browse in person.
No one was seriously injured by the window that fell from the upper floor atrium and shattered on the first floor, spreading glass shards throughout the building. Library Director Bryna Walker says four shelves of books each from the children and adult collection areas had to be discarded, and the children’s area and baby garden is taped off, “The reason for that is because carpet needs to be replaced throughout the library, because of glass shards that could possibly be coming up from underneath even though we vacuum every day. So just because kids roll around on the floor we closed that area off and we shifted all the books to the junior fiction section.”
The library plans to stay open while the carpet is replaced, which Walker says will start in the children’s area as soon as July. While community members have graciously offered to organize efforts to replace the damaged books, Walker assures that the replacement has already begun and is covered by the library’s insurance. For more information on the library’s current operations, click below.