Local police, fire departments salvaged library equipment
By: centraljersey.com
On Wednesday evening, Aug. 4, shortly after closing at 9 p.m., the library suffered a water supply line break in one of the restrooms that resulted in minor flooding.
Over 3,000 square feet of the building were affected with approximately a half inch of water. We are very fortunate the leak was discovered quickly or the damage would have been devastating.
The South Brunswick Police Department and the Monmouth Junction Volunteer Fire Department responded to the library’s distress call. We can not thank these emergency personnel enough for all of their assistance.
Nearly a dozen members of the MJVFD, bringing in additional equipment, assisted library personnel for several hours through the night to get water up off the floor. This fast response and tremendous effort has enabled us to salvage the carpeting in the area.
The library was closed Thursday as a professional disaster recovery company came in to finish extracting water from the carpets. Drying fans and dehumidifiers were set up, and the library was able to re-open Friday with most of the building and collections accessible.
Through the weekend the affected area, including most of the AV collection, children’s fiction and some computer workstations, were not available as the area was drying. We appreciate everyone’s patience and regret the inconvenience.
Monday, most of the area was made available again. Two aisles and a computer area remain closed as we continue to dry moisture out of the base of the walls. It is expected all areas will re-open before the end of the week.
There has been some damage to the wooden display shelves in the area and the walls. The library is working with the insurance companies to repair the damages. The books and other materials were not affected, and we are thankful things were not much worse.
We thank everyone for their understanding and are grateful for our excellent police and fire services that came to the rescue.
We are glad to be open with full services and have much to offer.
We hope to see you at the library soon.
Chris Carbone Director South Brunswick Public Library

