HARWICH – Sometimes the absence of something helps everyone understand what a presence it is. That was the case this week when Brooks Free Library was closed due to an issue with the building’s emergency light inverter system.
The lighting problem began a week and a half ago, the morning of Oct. 13. While everyone hoped it could reopen by Wednesday, Oct. 14, a repair technician from was not available until this Friday. Whether the problem can be fixed and the library can reopen next week, remains to be seen.
“The community has really rallied to help us,” Library Director Ginny Hewitt told selectmen Monday night. “You know that saying ‘it takes a village?’ Well that’s what it feels like here. Everyone was really willing to help.”
That help included assistance from folks at the Harwich Junior Theatre arts center, which offered to host the numerous afterschool activities the library offers.
“That was really our biggest concern,” Hewitt said, noting that other programs could be moved or cancelled, but that working parents count on the library to provide a safe place for children in the afternoons.
Board games, Chromebooks and other activities were moved to the arts center, and regular afterschool hours remained available for students.
Library staff also set up a limited “hold and pick-up” area in the lobby during daylight hours. Being called “Library in the Lobby,” Hewitt said there were 400 items checked out, returned or put on hold, a number in keeping with regular library traffic.
“So we’re relieved people are still finding what they need,” she said.
The problem’s genesis was the installation of a new emergency lighting system in 2012, Town Administrator Chris Clark said. Some of the lights throughout the building provide regular lighting; others have a battery back-up making them emergency lights. The system through which the power comes into the building and diverts to emergency lights somehow “burned up,” Clark said.
The company that installed the system is in California, and arranging for local technicians to come assess the damage and make repairs was not available until today. The warrantee on the work has expired. Each emergency light battery is guaranteed for seven years, and were installed “at considerable expense,” Clark said. Replacing the system until the batteries are due to be changed wouldn’t be financially responsible, he added. Hewitt pointed out that the library board of trustees has requested funding for a generator in fiscal year 2019, at which point replacing the current emergency light system can be considered.
This is not the only problem the library has had with its wiring and lighting. The lights have dim and flicker on damp days. Eversource has agreed, after repeated requests, to look at the issue, Hewitt said. The parking lot lights recently went out as well.
Page 2 of 2 – On this past Saturday, adding insult to injury, Hewitt said library staff arrived to a library without heat.
“At least we couldn’t see ourselves shivering,” she joked.
The most recent updates on daily programs, and whether they have been canceled or moved, is being updated regularly on the library website brooksfreelibrary.org. Residents can also call 508-430-7562, ext. 1.
