Library Water Damage Estimated at $12,000

The Thousand Oaks Library suffered an estimated $10,000 to $12,000 in water damage during last weekend’s heavy rains, according to City Manager Grant W. Brimhall, who said Wednesday he had feared bigger losses and was “greatly relieved.”

The $9-million library, which has experienced leaks since it opened in 1982, suffered its worst flooding to date during a downpour Saturday night, said Brimhall and Marvin Smith, director of library services. The Janss Road facility was closed Sunday for repairs and on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.

It reopened Tuesday and suffered minor leakage with minimal damage during Tuesday night’s rains, said Brimhall.

Brimhall said 15 books from the library’s 265,000-volume general collection appeared ruined beyond repair by the weekend leaks, and those could be re-ordered. Another 20 to 30 books were being dried and restored, he said, for an estimated book loss of less than $1,000.

Between six and eight rare volumes on bookbinding, which were housed in Smith’s office, were destroyed. Those books, described by Smith and Brimhall as irreplaceable, were estimated to be worth $3,000 to $4,000 by Brimhall.

Brimhall said another $5,000 to $7,000 had been spent on drying and cleaning large portions of soaked carpeting.