MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – The Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier is rebuilding with help from the community.
Six months later, Vermonters are still picking up the pieces from this summer’s flooding. It’s been a community effort, and in central Vermont, it’s all about returning the favor – even if it takes 100 years.
The Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier was hit hard with eight feet of floodwater, inundating their basement. The waterline is still visible on their windows. All of their systems, from heat to electricity, were wiped out. According to the library’s executive director, Dan Groberg, their repairs cost over a million dollars.
“It’s been a long slog,” said Groberg. “We need to move all of those systems up above the floodplain, both to meet the building code and to prevent something like this from happening again in the future.”
But the library is starting a new chapter, back open and making headway on repairs, with a helping hand from the community.
“We’ve had a lot of generous donations and every single one of them has been a huge help,” Groberg said.
One of those donations came from The Friends of the Waterbury Public Library. More than just an act of goodwill, the folks at Waterbury’s library see it as a debt repayment.
A while back, Margaret Moreland took an interest in the history of the library and found herself digging through archives looking for lore. While searching through the records, she found an article from the Waterbury Record detailing a donation made to Montpelier from Waterbury after the 1927 flood.
“Waterbury had received 100 dollars from the Montpelier Library,” said Moreland, “it came to Waterbury with no strings attached. They used it to buy windsor chairs for the reading room and some reading lamps.”
Waterbury’s Library remained largely unscathed after July’s flooding. As they re-opened to help flood survivors get back on their feet, Montpelier’s library struggled to open at all.
Maureen White of The Friends of the Waterbury Public Library said, “We wanted to help but we couldn’t give them our donations because people donate to Waterbury for the Waterbury Library.”
So, they advertised that all proceeds from their book sale, which was August through December, would go to Montpelier.
“Libraries are absolutely critical to their communities. That’s a big part of why The Friends wanted to support the Kellogg-Hubbard Library and do whatever they could to get them back up and running after the flood,” said Rachel Muse, Director of the Waterbury Public Library.
They came up with $1,087, which they say is the original hundred bucks Montpelier gave to Waterbury almost a century ago (adjusted for inflation).
Back in Montpelier, $1,000 is just a drop in the bucket compared to their rebuild cost. But they say anything helps as they try to turn a new page.
“We got a lot of support from businesses and individuals and other libraries as well, but this one was really special because of that meaning behind it,” said Dan Groberg.
The Kellogg-Hubbard Library is accepting donations on their website.