[MSN] Canada. Springhill building gutted by blaze in March reopens

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Happy ending after library fire
Springhill building gutted by blaze in March reopens
By TOM McCOAG Amherst Bureau
Wed. Nov 21 - 5:13 AM

SPRINGHILL - Doris Gilroy's eyes slide over the titles before she reaches
out, pulls a volume from the shelf and smiles as she opens it to read the
back cover flap.

"I missed being able to do this," the avid reader from Mapleton whispered
Tuesday as she visited the recently reopened Springhill library.

"You get used to being able to come here every week; then the fire happened
and suddenly the library is no longer here. It was tough being able to keep
myself and my 93-year-old mother in books while it was closed." The fire at
the library in March was started by three girls who were lighting paper on a
porch at the side of the library. It got out of hand and spread to the
building.

"We were lucky," library assistant Dot Harroun said. "We discovered the fire
moments after we'd finished a children's program. Thankfully, we got
everyone out without anyone being injured."

The library's basement was severely damaged, but the floor was so badly
damaged that the building had to be gutted.

Nova Scotia Community College and the Dr. Carson and Marion Murray Community
Centre helped out with drop-off and collection services during the hiatus.

"I was grateful that they did that, but it couldn't replace browsing through
the shelves to find a book," Ms. Gilroy said. 

During the months it was closed, the Cumberland County Library learned just
how much the library was missed.

"We'd get dozens of calls each week from people wanting to know when it
would reopen," chief librarian Frances Newman said in an interview at her
Amherst office.

It took seven months to restore the building and another three weeks to
unpack and shelve 470 boxes of books and other library materials and restock
the computers for the Community Access Program site.

"As we worked people would peek in the windows and ask us when we were
opening," Ms. Newman said. "We didn't tell anyone but when we opened in late
October, word got out really quickly and there were people lined up waiting
to get in."

Insurance didn't cover everything, but groups such as the Amherst Lions and
Springhill Rotarians funded the purchase of children's books and blinds,
drapes and mats.

Visitors found a few changes after the reopening. 

The carpet was replaced by a wood floor; the building and washrooms were
made wheelchair accessible and the layout was changed to make it easier to
find books. There is now a reading area, a work space for people doing
research and a children's area.

The library will be rededicated at a reopening ceremony Monday.

( tmccoag at herald.ca)