Our Library is a Mess

What were we thinking? This is such an undertaking - and nothing goes smoothly, not even lunch. We sent out for pizza. When it hadn't arrived in an hour, we called back. They lost our order, so we tried again. After another hour, it finally arrived. When Susan finally arrived in the lunch area, there was only one piece left. The workers were really starving! However, the pizza guy forgot his phone, and when he came to get it, he brought Susan another pizza - for free.

The most interesting thing to me was watching the bookshelves get moved. Those things are gigantic - check the pictures below. The workers attached wheels to a bunch of short 2X4s. Next they tilted and lifted the bookcase back and slid the wheels underneath. Then the 2X4s had to be centered under the bookcase. Finally, they screwed long 2x4s along each side of the bookcase to hold it steady and keep the bookcase from falling off. Then they rolled the bookcases to the other side of the Library. This all took at least 30 minutes. Then they moved on to the next book case. They'll have to go through the same process when they move them back.

Meanwhile, Library staff was working a few shelves ahead of the movers - packing and organizing all the books. The books had to be stored in rooms that weren't being carpeted - or in the trailer behind the library.

At some point, it was discovered that the area we thought was being carpeted was not what the city ordered. Panic! The area where all the fiction and nonfiction books were shelved - the area where the workers were busily moving shelves - had tiles, not carpeting. We thought the carpeting would extend into that area. But the City only bid out to replace existing carpeting. We had to carpet that area now that it was all torn up. Who knows how it will be paid for. We'll worry about that tomorrow.

We took this opportunity to put a fresh coat of paint on most walls, clean all the windows, and launder the curtains. It's going to look really nice - if we survive.

As I'm writing this, Library staff have packed everything downstairs. All the furniture has been moved to one side, and the carpeting has begun. There is an army of people up here on the second floor, starting the whole process again. The good news is that the bookcases are not as tall up here.

Did you see the nice article in the Democrat? Check it out - there were some good pictures.

Here's our new set of pictures. Click on any picture to go to the online album with captions, If you're reading this on Facebook, you'll have to go to the original blog to see them.