In Detroit, we’re still cleaning up from the flooding of June 26, on top of dealing with a coronavirus pandemic. The Main Library of the Detroit Public Library was hit pretty badly by the floods. A week ago, I noticed the doors on the Cass Avenue entrance were boarded up, and there were hoses connected to two big boxes. A fire and water cleanup service had a truck parked nearby.
There was the announcement on the Detroit Public Library website that the Main Library would reopen on July 6. That seemed overly optimistic. I predicted that the closure would last much longer than two weeks. It’s one of those things I’d rather be wrong about.
Indeed now that Independence Day has come and gone, the Detroit Public Library has announced on social media that the Main Library will remain closed through Labor Day, but hopefully not much longer than that.
That leaves six branches (Campbell, Edison, Jefferson, Parkman, Redford, Wilder) open for limited service. The rest of the branches remain closed because they were deemed unsuitable for coronavirus precautions.
The current target date for a full reopening of the whole Detroit Public Library system is June 30, 2022. Hopefully the coronavirus pandemic will be over well before then. But climate change poses plenty of other threats to the Detroit Public Library and to libraries all over the world.