Sunday, February 17, 2008

Library lovers, prepare yourselves

Vandals broke into our library last Monday evening, as well as two other businesses within a half-block radius. Small fires were set in the building where paper bundles are stored, but they burned themselves out. A law office had all of its machinery smashed, and a fire extinguisher was sprayed over everything.

At the library, we lost the copy machine (pictured below), three computers, shelving units, and an untold number of books when the miscreants smashed through the window in the front door.



These shelving units were knocked over, rendering them unusable. Rows and rows of books were thrown to the floor, as were all the audio books. Holes were kicked into walls and doors. The women's room toilet was smashed. The lid to the men's room toilet was smashed over the sink, causing a steady leak from the faucet.



A reading bench in the children's room was used as a battering ram, we assume in the hopes of smashing the new windows that had been installed after last summer's break-ins. However, the casing was too narrow for the width of the bench, so those windows remain unharmed. Money was taken, of course. But worst of all, those bastards smeared, wiped, and ground in dog crap almost everywhere you can think of: countertops, books, shelves, carpeting.



We were closed until Saturday, busy working to regain some order. Carpets were professionally cleaned, electricians and handymen were in to help. Dedicated volunteers came in to help clean what they could, desensitizing any materials that had been on the floor (anything with actual feces on it was immediately disposed of), alphabetizing and reshelving books onto already packed shelves and onto our temporary, makeshift shelving space. And the community has been wonderful. There have been so many calls and so many people dropping by, wanting to be put to work, making donations (money or food) or just sending condolences. The support of these people has made all the difference in the world.

There haven't been any arrests yet, but the police have a few names they're looking into (particularly, apparently, at one who I thought of immediately upon hearing about the break-in). We most likely won't get to hear the names of the people responsible; they're probably all under 16. Ah, justice.

7 comments:

Dev said...

I hope that they catch the vandals who did this soon. I use my library at least once a week and it saddens me that this happened to you.

Nemesis said...

Are you even serious? WHY would anyone want to do that?? Your poor library . . . I'm so sorry!

Anonymous said...

That's disgusting. It's the LIBRARY, you stupid people.

Anonymous said...

People suck.

When I saw the picture of the copier the first thing I thought was, "Oh, no, not the copier!" Ugh. I hate people. I hope they throw the book at those morons.

April said...

Dev, Rumor has it that someone was caught, but as I wrote previously, we'll probably never know who it was because of being underage. (Love your profile pic, by the way!)

Nem, I knew you'd feel our pain.

Sally, they're definitely morons. Though upon discovering the extent of the damage, I called them much, much worse names.

Towr, I agree with the sentiment, though I hope that when they throw the book at them, it's covered in dog crap.

Carina said...

Bastards.

If they were my kids I'd bring them back to rub their faces in the feces.

Anonymous said...

OMG. If my friend 'Muffin saw these pics he would end up rocking in a corner muttering to himself from the horror. That's disgusting! At least the community has been supportive though, there are still good people despite the idiocy of this vandalism. Why do vandals always wreck stuff that's there for their pleasure though, parks etc? Are they really that brain dead? If they keep doing it the area just ends up with no services. Stoopid heads.