WESTERNPORT — About 40 people attended a town hall meeting Wednesday at the Bruce Outreach Center to share ideas and hopes for what a new Westernport Library could look like.
The library was devastated by flooding in May, leaving structural damages that insurance will not cover. Maryland’s appeal for Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funding was denied Thursday, leaving an uncertain fate for the library.
“As far as the future of Westernport library, I can say on our end, as part of Save the Westernport Library, we’re going to do everything possible to continue what we’ve been doing since February,” said the group’s founder, Trish Morgan Keating. “And that’s keeping the public informed, and trying to mobilize the community to stand behind the library both financially and in person.”
A temporary library location will open Nov. 3 at 121 Main St. in Westernport.
“The damage to our library was not merely cosmetic,” said Lisa McKenney, interim director of the Allegany County Library System. “The foundation took a hit in the front of the building where the floodwaters came across the street, and there’s now a height difference of approximately 6 inches from the outside walls to the inner wall … the building foundation is sinking in some areas and heaving in others.”
The library lost nearly everything in the flood, including movies, computers, furniture and more than 12,000 books.
McKenney said the library recently received a bill for cleanup that amounted to more than $130,000, and continues to raise money to help recover at https://givebutter.com/WesternportLibraryFloodRecovery.
“As you can imagine, if this bill stands and we do not receive additional funds from the insurance company, it will require a significant chunk of our insurance claim,” McKenney said.
Additionally, flood insurance will not cover the costs of structural damage.
The meeting progressed with ideas and public comment from Westernport locals.
Participants were asked what role the library can play in the community, how it can support growth at all ages, how it can encourage more use and how it can foster a greater love of reading.
The biggest problems residents said faced the town were jobs, public transportation, lack of residents and police presence.
Residents responded with thoughts of how the library may be of help to the community, including drug-preventative after-school programs, job fairs and a larger meeting room.
Many in attendance suggested the library collaborate with local churches and other businesses. Suggestions of improvements that could be made to the library included better hours, a stronger social media presence and lots of events.
“In order to promote the library, we need to remind people of just how great books are,” one resident said.
Programs that community members said they would like to see included book clubs, story times, resources for people of all ages and classes for parents to teach their children how to read.
A survey is available online at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-vOx-wjqrKGDE2d48b-VNM6dXMz5khD0ydRaPBFKG1p9D9A/viewform.