It was a dark and stormy… afternoon
Well, it wasn't this bad (Maitland & Cessnock, NSW in 1949) but any conection of the words 'flood' and 'library' send horrors through the strongest of hearts
4.38 pm, Friday 7th December 2007 will go down in the annals as a startlingly soggy moment !
A(nother) big storm came in from the west across Sydney, dumping over 20mm of rain in about 10 mins.
The new building, had just been opened by the big boss from Canberra, refreshments were being enjoyed by staff and invited guests…
Meanwhile, back in the Library, the Lone Librarian (aka LiteraryWolf!) was working at the reference desk, with a few staff perusing the internet and newspapers. The storm was ‘fully engaged’ outside, when loud rumbling and the odd thunk noises were heard… the Library floor was shuddering… then jets of vapour/dust burst from the floor ! ! [see also Ghostbusters movies].
After the odd expletive of astonishment, the Librarian (warden who earned her pocket money that day) encouraged (with gentle cries of “get out!, get out!, get away from the computers!”) the staff, who were likewise observing the floor in surprise but making no move to remove themselves from the volcanic scene.
Barely had the words left the Librarian’s lips, than - with a final KERTHUNK! -, the concrete of the floor slab cracked open, the carpet tiles lifted and a small but elegant, and very fast flowing, fountain of water emerged from a crack in the floor!
The staff, (yes, they were still there), were again encouraged to leave while the Librarian, shortly joined by heroes from facilities management, leapt into action dashing across the rapidly expanding Library Lake to rescue material from the floor and unplug electrical equipment.
The water kept flowing…
Personal items were rescued and the Librarian of the Lake, her arms clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft her job files, mobile phone, wallet and catering shopping from the water…{oops, sorry that sounds like a film}, and walked upon the Lake to return to dry land - there was a bit left.
A mere few minutes had past, the facilities heroes continued to rescue things and a small crowd had gathered to observe the phenomenon. Now, with a moment to pause, the Librarian squelched across to the only phone left plugged in and sought help from on high - a call to senior Library staff (they’re on a higher floor) to come and see the-Library-in-flood. The fearless Assistant Director quickly arrived on scene.
Brilliant strategies from the assembled crowd, such as putting the wide based newspapers table on top of the carpet tiles to stop the flow, were attempted… but failed.
The ether was burning with the flurries of mobile phone calls from the building owners who had not yet left the celebrations but had been called out to attend to now-filling-most-of-the-Library Lake.
The big boss (who had visited the Library earlier that afternoon with some VIPs to “I always show off our Libraries to visitors”) was engaged elsewhere in the building, but events were observed by many disbelieving and surprised executives, staff and visitors.
By now, some 10 minutes in, the flow was easing (fortunately! but only because the storm had finished) and the Library Lake, (now also spreading out to the building lobby and into a lift well), could be viewed and admired for what it was -- a splendid water feature no backyard renovation program could have accomplished ! And, most effectively, it remained at only several millimetres high - keeping it well below book shelf line.
The fearless Assistant Director liaised with facilities people to get damage control underway and to alert our colleagues here and around the country to our dilemma, only finally got home well into the night. The somewhat damp Lone Librarian beat a retreat around 5.30pm, dragged away after assurances she could do no more. By that time, heavy equipment had started to arrive, the water flow had stopped and the Library Lake remained, glistening in a bit of wet sunshine filtering through the windows.
And the story continued…
Over the weekend the whole Library - books, journals, cabinets,... nearly all fixtures and fittings - were stripped out and stored. Come Monday, the whole area of carpet tiles had been pulled up, the concrete was patched, then all things made their way back to their proper places (praise to the folk of the removals company - a scary déjà vu time for them – as they had only moved us, the Library and the entire office into the building several weeks before). The Library staff, who had been camping on a higher floor, returned to unpack (yet again).
So by late Thursday afternoon, just 6 days later, all was back in place and the new - new Library (no longer the Liquarium) was back in action.
A(nother) big storm came in from the west across Sydney, dumping over 20mm of rain in about 10 mins.
The new building, had just been opened by the big boss from Canberra, refreshments were being enjoyed by staff and invited guests…
Meanwhile, back in the Library, the Lone Librarian (aka LiteraryWolf!) was working at the reference desk, with a few staff perusing the internet and newspapers. The storm was ‘fully engaged’ outside, when loud rumbling and the odd thunk noises were heard… the Library floor was shuddering… then jets of vapour/dust burst from the floor ! ! [see also Ghostbusters movies].
After the odd expletive of astonishment, the Librarian (warden who earned her pocket money that day) encouraged (with gentle cries of “get out!, get out!, get away from the computers!”) the staff, who were likewise observing the floor in surprise but making no move to remove themselves from the volcanic scene.
Barely had the words left the Librarian’s lips, than - with a final KERTHUNK! -, the concrete of the floor slab cracked open, the carpet tiles lifted and a small but elegant, and very fast flowing, fountain of water emerged from a crack in the floor!
The staff, (yes, they were still there), were again encouraged to leave while the Librarian, shortly joined by heroes from facilities management, leapt into action dashing across the rapidly expanding Library Lake to rescue material from the floor and unplug electrical equipment.
The water kept flowing…
Personal items were rescued and the Librarian of the Lake, her arms clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft her job files, mobile phone, wallet and catering shopping from the water…{oops, sorry that sounds like a film}, and walked upon the Lake to return to dry land - there was a bit left.
A mere few minutes had past, the facilities heroes continued to rescue things and a small crowd had gathered to observe the phenomenon. Now, with a moment to pause, the Librarian squelched across to the only phone left plugged in and sought help from on high - a call to senior Library staff (they’re on a higher floor) to come and see the-Library-in-flood. The fearless Assistant Director quickly arrived on scene.
Brilliant strategies from the assembled crowd, such as putting the wide based newspapers table on top of the carpet tiles to stop the flow, were attempted… but failed.
The ether was burning with the flurries of mobile phone calls from the building owners who had not yet left the celebrations but had been called out to attend to now-filling-most-of-the-Library Lake.
The big boss (who had visited the Library earlier that afternoon with some VIPs to “I always show off our Libraries to visitors”) was engaged elsewhere in the building, but events were observed by many disbelieving and surprised executives, staff and visitors.
By now, some 10 minutes in, the flow was easing (fortunately! but only because the storm had finished) and the Library Lake, (now also spreading out to the building lobby and into a lift well), could be viewed and admired for what it was -- a splendid water feature no backyard renovation program could have accomplished ! And, most effectively, it remained at only several millimetres high - keeping it well below book shelf line.
The fearless Assistant Director liaised with facilities people to get damage control underway and to alert our colleagues here and around the country to our dilemma, only finally got home well into the night. The somewhat damp Lone Librarian beat a retreat around 5.30pm, dragged away after assurances she could do no more. By that time, heavy equipment had started to arrive, the water flow had stopped and the Library Lake remained, glistening in a bit of wet sunshine filtering through the windows.
And the story continued…
Over the weekend the whole Library - books, journals, cabinets,... nearly all fixtures and fittings - were stripped out and stored. Come Monday, the whole area of carpet tiles had been pulled up, the concrete was patched, then all things made their way back to their proper places (praise to the folk of the removals company - a scary déjà vu time for them – as they had only moved us, the Library and the entire office into the building several weeks before). The Library staff, who had been camping on a higher floor, returned to unpack (yet again).
So by late Thursday afternoon, just 6 days later, all was back in place and the new - new Library (no longer the Liquarium) was back in action.
