Wichita State’s Ablah Library is open following flooding on the library’s lower level that left it mostly closed on Monday.

Dean of University Libraries Brent Mai said in an email that the lower level will still be closed to the public for the “foreseeable future.”  Mai said that the library’s electronic resources remain available. 

What happened?

According to Mai, the flooding was discovered Sunday morning around 10:45 a.m. by “a library faculty member.” The faculty member found “that water was pouring down the elevator shafts from a broken pipe between the men’s and women’s restrooms on the first floor of the Ablah Library Building.”

Mai said in the email that the water did not reach the lowest shelves on the lower level, so the library’s collections were not damaged.

What’s next?

Mai said the carpets and shelving will need to be moved to help with the restoration efforts while the collections that were held on that floor will be moved to off-campus storage. Staff who worked on the floor were relocated to the first floor. 

Mai said a timeline for the restoration “is still unknown as the assessment of what needs to be done continues.”