A barbershop quartet concluded Saturday’s celebration at the Morristown & Township Library by singing A House With Love In It.
It was a fitting finale for a morning of powerful emotions: Joy, relief, gratitude, wonder, frustration.
Almost two years ago to the day, on May 3, 2010, an explosion ripped through the basement of the historic Willis Wing. The first floor heaved upward as if an earthquake had struck, recounted library President Nancy Bangiola.
A tragedy of national proportions was averted because alert library employees sensed trouble–the library had blown up before, in 1994–and staff cleared the building moments before the blast.
Now, after many months of makeshift arrangements, temporary locations and nearly $5 million in repairs and renovations, the library is whole again and the reopened 1917 wing looks better than brand new.
Its warm hues and cheery spaces are friendlier and more inviting than ever. Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty referred to the restored wing as a destination, with a sense of place that is tangible.
The Mayor indicates in our video clip that he will keep pressing for answers to what caused the 2010 explosion. So far, the library’s insurer has not disclosed any findings from its investigation.
Nancy Bangiola described the library as “the community’s statement about what it believes about higher learning, about access to information, and access to all for that information. That’s why it’s the free public library.”
To think that the community might be denied access —for the second time— to information about what caused its library to explode is infuriating.
How can anyone accept assurances about the building’s safety if nobody has pinpointed precisely what happened on May 3, 2010?
Suppose someone you loved worked there?
Wait a minute. Someone you love does work there. We were reminded of that on a scary morning two years ago, and again over the ensuing months when the library as we knew it was out of commission.
The Four Old Parts nailed it on Saturday.
A House With Love In It, that is our library.
