Schlow Centre Region Library will be closed Tuesday for cleanup after pipe burst

Schlow Centre Region Library will be closed at least through Tuesday after a pipe burst over the weekend.

Director Lisa Rives Collens said Monday that a sprinkler head broke in a second floor staff bathroom. It doesn’t appear any books were damaged.

Collens said she was “incredibly thankful” to Alpha Fire Company — as firefighters quickly responded and shut off the water, which limited further damage early Sunday morning — and a State College borough employee who soon brought equipment to help remove the water.

Water seeped into the first floor Community Room and got to some of the materials used for Toddler Learning Centre programs, but Collens was optimistic most of those items will be saved. Water also entered the server room, but there was no damage. The cleanup will focus on the wet carpeting, damaged ceiling tiles and Toddler Learning Center toys and items.

“Most everything is drying out very well,” Collens said.

Schlow has been through a similar experience before, and library officials were not expecting to occur again. In February 2015, a frozen sprinkler pipe burst on Schlow’s second floor. About 1,500 books were damaged in the flooding then.

Collens said a lot of work had been done to prevent a similar occurrence. “We’re really disappointed,” Collens said, adding that this incident does not appear as bad as the previous one. She had been in the library Saturday checking temperatures in vulnerable areas, and the readings appeared normal. She thought the library had made it through the worst of the weather unscathed and was surprised by the break.

Library volunteers and staff will be in the building Tuesday to clean up. Codes officials will need to sign off before Schlow can reopen to the public.

The library posted on Facebook that cleanup and restoration will be expensive. “Donations are going to be very helpful,” Collens said.

Donations can be made at schlowlibrary.org/donate, and those marked “flood” will be directed to the cleanup efforts.

Collens’ first thought when she was notified about the break shortly after midnight was that it must have been a frozen pipe due to the frigid weather. Then her fears turned to the collection.

“As a librarian, the first thing is fear of collection loss.”

Collens shared her appreciation for the Centre Region municipalities that have reached out to offer equipment such as dehumidifiers and fans. “It means a lot,” she said.

This story was originally published December 26, 2022 at 10:44 AM.