GATESVILLE, Texas (KXXV) — After nearly eight months of closure, the Gatesville Public Library has reopened its doors to the community.
The building sustained heavy damage during last spring’s storms, which swept through the area leaving behind roof leaks, HVAC issues and water intrusion.
“It’s been a year and three weeks since the spring storms, and floods happened, but the damage to the library predated that. The last straw was those storms last year,” said Brad Hunt, Gatesville’s city manager.
The storm damage forced the library to shut down, leaving employees and residents without a central hub many rely on.
“It was, um, extremely difficult at the time,” said librarian Shea Harp.
Harp, who first fell in love with books at the Gatesville Public Library when she was just 8-years-old, said walking into the flood-damaged children’s room was heartbreaking.
“When we were walking in and finding the children's room, with water on the floor and on the ceiling, and the walls, it was pretty difficult on me and my employees. A lot of my employees are local and grew up here,” she said.
For Hunt, Harp and many in the community, the library is more than just a place to check out books.
“It’s the people running it, and serving it, and coming to it. Kind of like a church, it’s more than just a building. It’s the people, and that’s how the library feels to me now,” Hunt said.
“It was also pretty devastating because for some, for a lot of Gatesville, we are their connection to the outside world,” Harp added. “The library is very much a home base for some people. We see them at their highs and at their lows.”
With major repairs now complete, the lights are back on and shelves are slowly being restocked.
“I would say our sections, some of them, like our large print, for example, was hit pretty hard. We saw collections like that essentially disappear. We are working on buying new books to fill in those sections,” Harp said.
Although the rebuilding process is still underway, Harp credits the community for getting the library this far.
“Library needs to be able to roll into the next generation. We have made it into a home. And we will continue making it into a home for our community and our patrons into a welcoming community,” she said.
The Gatesville Public Library is now officially reopened. However, parts of Faunt Leroy Park and Shady Lane, also damaged during last year’s spring storms, remain closed.
