[MSN] Books salvaged from old East St. Louis library are abandoned again.

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Books salvaged from old East St. Louis library are abandoned again
By Doug Moore
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/11/2007

EAST ST. LOUIS — For the 7,000 books sitting in a storage unit on State
Street, it's abandonment all over again.

The books were among at least 10,000 items including magazines and albums
left in a shuttered city library for more than three years. Many of the
items became makeshift beds or fire starters for homeless people, who broke
into the library for shelter. A leaky roof damaged or destroyed many of the
books in the building, at 409 North Ninth Street.

Library officials admit that they erred in leaving the materials behind when
they moved to a new site in January 2001. The library board hired a
consulting firm to determine what books would go into the new library but
made no plans to find a home for those they did not want, which included
city directories and other records that help track the city's history from
the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Outraged city officials, who said they assumed the old library was empty,
shooed away the homeless and boarded up the building in August 2004. Two
months later, the city got inmates from the nearby Southern Illinois
Correctional Center to box up the books and take them to a public storage
facility, where they were to stay until the city could work with the library
board and archivists to assess what should be salvaged and what should be
tossed out.
That never happened.

Today, nearly 2 ½ years later, the boxes of books still sit in the 10-by-15
storage unit, and the owner of the facility has sent a $2,700 bill to the
city. He wants payment or the books out.

"Sooner or later, I assumed someone would try to get in contact with me,"
said Brooks Hairston, owner of Eagle One Storage. "I had donated the space
for three months, but the person who got me to put the books in here is in
jail now, and I know the deal I made with him is no good now."

Kelvin Ellis, who was the city's code enforcement chief and arranged for the
books to be moved into storage in October 2004, was indicted three months
later on a series of federal charges and is now in prison, serving time for
tax evasion, vote buying and obstructing justice in a wide-ranging federal
investigation.

Robert Storman, the city manager who worked with Ellis to secure the old
library and get the books moved, resigned in January 2005, a week before
Ellis was indicted. Robert Betts is the third city manager to serve since
Storman resigned. He said he was unaware of the books in storage.

"I thought the library took control of that," Betts said. "It hasn't been
one of the priorities at City Hall. I thought for sure the school district
or library or community college would have stepped in to preserve those
books."

Cynthia Jones, who was library director when the abandoned books were
discovered but not when the transition was made from the old building to the
new one at 5320 State Street, has since resigned. Harold Lawary, the library
board chairman who publicly apologized for bungling the care of the books
and other materials, could not be reached for comment. 

Mayor Carl Officer said he was working with the Katherine Dunham Centers for
Arts and Humanities to try to find permanent storage for the items in one of
the buildings the organization owned.

Reginald Petty was one of about a dozen volunteers who showed up on a
Saturday in August 2004 to begin removing the books from the old library.
Petty, a collector of African art and a historian, has a few hundred of the
books in his home, including city directories, high school yearbooks and
other volumes that help chart the city's history.

He is among a group of residents working to form an East St. Louis
historical society, using the books as a starting point.

"It's unfortunate this hasn't been done," Petty said. "All the small towns
around here have a historical society."

Petty said the books would probably still be in the old library if someone
from the National Railroad Association had not began looking for records at
the new library nearly three years ago. The man was bounced from one city
historian to the next, including Petty. Finally, the man went by the old
library as part of his research and found the discarded books.

Some of those items that Petty and other volunteers removed before the city
intervened were stored in a building that state Rep. Wyvetter Younge, D-East
St. Louis, once used as her office. A fire later took the building and all
the items inside. Petty said most of them were magazines.

As for the old library, it still stands. Last week, the boards were off the
windows and doors. Petty said homeless people were once again using the
building. As for the books in storage, Petty and others would like to see
what condition they are in. But it is unclear who has the key.

Hairston, the storage unit owner, said he sent the city a bill a week ago.
He's unsure if he will get paid, but he would like the books out so he can
begin renting the space for the advertised $99 a month. If the city does not
respond, he will eventually cut the lock, but he has no idea what he would
do with the books.

Petty says the books may be too badly damaged to be saved. Some had mildew
on them when they were stored. 

"Someone needs to find out if they are salvageable," he said.

dmoore at post-dispatch.com | 618-624-2576

http://www.stltoday.com/