Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library employees Yolanda Lacey, left, and Anitra Gray prepare boxes to move books from the bottom level into storage while new flooring is installed.(Melanue Duncan Thortis The Vicksburg Post)

[12/26/03]Boxes and boxes of children’s books, plus video and audio tapes have been packed away at the public library and won’t be available again until nearly a month into the new year.

“We had a garage full of boxes,” said Deb Mitchell, director of the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library. “We thought we had plenty, but we ran out the first morning.”

Mitchell and other library workers scrounged around and eventually found all the containers they needed to clear out everything from the 14,000-square-foot basement of the 24-year-old building.

They were getting out of the way because new floor tile will replace carpet that was damaged due to leaks from the storms that swept across Vicksburg in April and dumped 8 inches of rain in the area in 24 hours.

Water seeped in the lower level of the library through a hole in the concrete foundation. No materials were damaged, but the carpet was left wet and muddy.

Easier upkeep was the decision to replace the carpet with tile, Mitchell said.

“I think the county thought that tile would be easier to maintain with children down there,” she said.

The library’s children’s program, Storytime, is downstairs, and will resume in February.

“We just couldn’t figure out a way to do it,” Mitchell said. When the program resumes, children will sit on rugs.

Library workers have moved DVDs, newer videotapes and new audio books upstairs, and with the exception of picture books, all other children’s books will not be available.

Work is expected to begin Monday and will be complete by Jan. 26. Commercial Flooring Inc. of Ridgeland made the successful bid of $13,644 for the replacement, which had been scheduled for the summer before delays.