Our September 2011 Flood Story  

The "Tropical Storm Lee" flooding 7-10 September 2011 caused historic devastation throughout the Susquehanna River Valley in north central PA.

In Columbia County, the normally lovely Fishing Creek became an angry torrent that ripped through many rural townships on its way to meet the grossly-swolen Susquehanna in Bloomsburg. Both Fishing Creek and the Susquehanna caused heavy damage to the lower half of Bloomsburg and Fernville -- very close to our building at 15 Perry Avenue.

Our library headquarters were flooded with 18 inches of river water. The building was declared inhabitable and we had to evacuate as soon as the water receded. In less than 4 days, board members, staff and volunteers packed up and moved about 500 boxes of undamaged books, equipment and what was left of our furniture. We broke down the heavy steel shelving and cleaned everything out to the walls.

Where to move an entire library? Fortunately, the nearby Columbia Mall agreed to rent an empty retail space to us, so we moved the contents of the library there. We used the remaining bits of furniture to create an office. Three weeks later, we were back on the road with the bookmobile. (We had moved the bookmobile to high ground before the roads closed.)

Our losses exceeded $90,000; our flood insurance policy paid out $21,000. To put this financial "blow to the solar plexus" in perspective: Our entire operating budget for 2011 is $98,000. The 2012 budget already includes a $10,000 shortfall that we need to make up in fundraising. (2011 was a hard year financially; we had to spend over $10,000 for necessary repairs to the bookmobile.)

We lost over 3,000 books, most of our office furniture, our server for our online library catalog, printers, and much of our office supplies. Moreover, we lost 75 linear feet of shelf space -- the old wooden bookcases were ruined.

We will move the contents of the library to a permanent location later in Spring 2012 and rebuild the "walk-in" library and our office.

More than ever before in the 70 years of the Traveling Library, we will depend on fundraising events and donations from private individuals and public companies.

If you would like to help the Traveling Library and invest in the future of free, public library service for Columbia County, please click here.

If you prefer, please contact the Director at 570-387-8782 to discuss a donation or memorial gift.