BY DAVE CHOATE

The Children’s Room in the Weare Public Library was heavily damaged on April 16 by the spring’s extensive flooding. The town’s strong desire to see the shelves restocked with children’s books, on the other hand, was completely untouched.

On Monday, July 16, the Weare Board of Selectmen voted to approve $8,080 in expenditures to begin to rebuild and revamp the Children’s Room. The town insurance will kick in to cover the work of a contractor who will begin work on the foundation soon, giving residents and children who have been missing out on the room a glimmer of what’s to come.

Library director Christine Hague said the selectmen’s decision to release the money will allow repairs on the wrecked drain system to begin in earnest. Volunteers for the library have also been holding concerts and other fundraisers and have raised $4,600 to augment the town’s contribution to the library fund.

Hague said the library would like to make some improvements to bookshelves and other facets of the library, but will first have to decide which are necessary.

“We first have to decide what what is a need instead of a want,” Hague said. “But we’re eager, because the community has shown a tremendous desire to get back into the room.”

She noted that although the $8,080 has been approved, the library will still need to consult with the Board of Selectmen to decide on specific expenditures. Hague said the first project is to close the library’s Sawyer Room in order to start the fairly lengthy process of redoing the foundation.

That’s especially necessary because of the way the spring’s flood overwhelmed the entire room. The only system that didn’t fail was the French drains, which held up remarkably well in the face of the extreme precipitation.

Town Administrator Fred Ventresco said there was little disagreement among the selectmen, and that the town has been eager to support the library.

He said he hopes the contractor is able to start soon, as the newly laid cement will have to cure for six to eight weeks.

“I just hope we can schedule the chosen contractor quickly. It’s always a risk when you get that much rain, but we hope to shore up the building anyways,” Ventresco said. “I think the board had some money in the reserve fund, so there wasn’t much debate over what were clearly needed repairs.”

Hague said she can’t set a definitive date yet, but added that most of the children’s books are still available in a different section of the library. She said she’s grateful that the community has come together to help out the library.

“It’s gone very well so far. I feel very supported by our patrons,” she said.