Within 10 minutes of its opening Tuesday, Ann Morris was the first person to check out a book at the Elk Valley Express Library.
"I've missed you guys," she said with a big grin as she opened the door to the new temporary branch in Big Chimney.
At 72 years old, she battled breast cancer for three years and only recently finished treatment. With the little energy she has left, she enjoys reading, especially mystery and Christian books.
"I'm so tickled that it's open again," Morris said.
The Elk Valley Express Library is a response to the June 23 floods that left neither the Elk Valley nor Clendenin library branches usable. The temporary branch gives patrons access to eight public computers, free Wi-Fi and a limited selection of books to check out.
Morris said she is grateful to have the temporary library in Big Chimney, at its previous building. The permanent branch is located at the Crossings Mall shopping center, in Elkview, but when the culvert bridge to the shopping center washed away in the floods, so did access to the library. The shopping center will not be able to reopen for at least two more months.
"With both of these libraries not being available, it cuts off services to whole portions of Kanawha County," said Terry Wooten, marketing and development
manager of Kanawha County Public Library.
Wooten said the library worked out a deal with the building's owner to use it. Within a week, maintenance was able to clean up the building and bring in furniture.
"We made a library in a week," Wooten said. "It was really quick, and we're happy that we were able to pull this off."
The temporary branch also is meant to serve the Clendenin area, after its library was left covered in inches of mud from the flooding.
That building received 9 feet of water and, although it is still in the process of cleanup, Alan Engelbert, the library director of KCPL, said the ultimate fate of the building is unknown. The full damage still needs to be assessed.
The 33-foot-long "Bookmobile" bus, where patrons can check out items, will make stops in Clendenin every Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the former site of Dairy Queen.
"The folks at the library recognize how important it is to support this community in these terrible times," Mickey Blackwell, a member of the KCPL Board of Directors said. "We'll be supportive in any way that we can."
Blackwell said he believes the temporary branch and added Bookmobile stop will be helpful for those who might have lost all of their books and technology to the flooding.
The library receives books every day, and most books at the temporary branch are new or were recently returned. It also has a limited inventory of audiobooks, DVDs, CDs and Playaways, as well as Express DVDs and books.
Patrons also can use this location to pick up held items from other libraries in the county system, if they would like to request a book.
At this time, the library does not expect a shortage of books and asks for people to hold off on donations.
The library has created a Web page for flood survivors who need help with access to Federal Emergency Management Agency resources, food assistance, legal help, building assistance and other needs related to flood recovery.
"We're hoping that we are going to be a resource for people who need help," Wooten said. "We tried to think of everything that people might need, and then find a resource they can contact to help them."
She mentioned the online tutoring and homework help offered at the library, which will be available for students when school starts in less than two weeks.
The Elk Valley Express Library will operate on limited hours for the first week (today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Beginning Aug. 1, hours will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The library is located at 4636 Pennsylvania Ave., Big Chimney, and can be reached at 304-965-8956.
Reach Jennifer Gardner at jennifer.gardner@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5102 or follow @jennc_gardner on Twitter.