Slowly but surely, Meeteetse library replacing books

Two years after a mistakenly activated sprinkler system ruined roughly 4,000 books at the Meeteetse library, about a quarter of them have been replaced.

“It’s been a slow process because we’re trying to be careful and not replace redundant stuff but really get good, new stuff,” Park County Library Director Frances Clymer told commissioners last week, adding, “We’re gearing up to do some serious ordering in the next few months.”

The February 2013 flood claimed a lot of books at the Meeteetse library. File photo courtesy Frances Clymer

Commissioners gave Clymer permission to keep using money from the roughly $173,000 insurance settlement the library received for the lost books to buy the new ones.

A temporary, full-time staffer was hired with the settlement money last year to help handle the influx of new books.

“She’s working through ordering, receiving, processing, cataloging and so forth, so it’s a time-consuming process,” Clymer said.

The Meeteetse branch library is inside the Meeteetse school, which lost around 1,100 of its own books in the sprinkler deluge.

Meeteetse, Park County Commission, Park County Library