Progress on our back room:
What a difference a roof can make on a room! The dehumidfier that a recovery company had in there certainly dried out the air. But after they got done "packing out" the room, they came the next day and took the dehumidfier. Now with the new roof on, the room is air tight - well at least 99% so. There are some 'leaks' but the flashing still needs to be put on. It's amazing what a difference it makes. Now we have a situation of no air flow which in turn can present its own set of problems. We have been leaving the doors into the back room open to help balance the air and get some airflow. I had a fan promised, but it hasn't shown up yet. Painters came today and have gotten all the old paint scraped off. Some of it was so bad I think you could have blown on it and it would have fallen off. The company that removed the contents had already sprayed with germocide and fungacide (which I didn't know till today). So at least now the painters won't have to.
I'm learning alot about 'disaster recovery'. One thing is that I am sometimes kept in the dark of what's going on. So today, I met with our maintenance dept. head and got some information. It was good because he needed information from me as well which he didn't realize he needed. (I still don't have a complete timeline of what the companies plan to do and when.) Between that and other things going on in my professional life, I am reminded once again the importance of communication, something we tend to forget to do. Painters will return tomorrow and put on a sealer (something like Kilz) and primer. By Wed. the room will probably be painted. I have carpet samples coming tomorrow to pick out.
As for my end, I have been spending a good part of the day trying to find companies on line that can provide back issues of periodicals and what they would cost. Last week I started researching other items that were tossed and looking up what they would cost to replace. I suspect we will end up not having our own periodicals treated for the mold - at least not the most of them. It is more expensive to treat them than it is to replace them, if you can find replacements. I am finding a harder time finding replacements for religious periodicals, especially those from specific organizations. In fact there doesn't seem to be too many "backorder" companies out there to begin with. Well, the saga will continue. The fat lady hasn't sung yet.

Disaster is spelled "b-l-e-s-s-i-n-g"

A coworker sent me this message today: "I wonder how many times in life we try to push through our own plans instead of asking God if He has a better way?"
We can be such dense people, not to mention blind, "un-trusting", stubborn and a few other adjectives. Her comment was in response to the following email I sent to our faculty and staff today:
As many, if not all of you know we (campus) were damaged from a wind and rain storm that blew thru' here a week ago last night.
As a result the roof on the Library's storage room was folded back like a blanket and damage was suffered in the contents below. Companies were quick to respond to our insurance agent and Friday [June 10th] plans were formed and put into action. Currently [June 17th] we now have an empty back room with a temporary roof covering. Contents are now all off site being stored, dried, cleaned and treated for mold. As soon as the Boys' Dorm roof is finished I am told they will begin putting down a permanent roof, here . [June 21st: we now have our new roof, too.]
What have we learned through all this? Plenty! God has a sense of humor for one thing. I was not anticipating putting the books back in there after the book sale this spring, but was unable to find any place else on campus to put them. Yet I knew that if they stayed in the back they would get ruined. Well I was right, ---they did get ruined. BUT, God wanted them ruined!!! Doesn't that sound strange to our human way of thinking??? We will now get more money for the loss of the books then if we had sold them. They are "just books" and God has His ways of providing.
--"His thoughts are higher than 'my' thoughts" ((that's for sure)),
--"All things work together for good...",
--"I know the plans I have for you, plans for good and not for evil...", and more.
God is CERTAINLY in control. Now, we will have a finished, usable room because the Lord is providing the money through the insurance company. "God works in (AMAZING) ways, His wonders to perform...."

The timing for this lesson could not be missed for me personally. For the last two years our family has been going through a crisis with our older son. This resulted in him being imprisoned and he being divorced from his wife and losing his children. To me, losing the contents (some), was an "in your face" (to me) reminder that God IS in control. There's no two ways about it. Even when things are not going the way I would like for them to. But what a reminder that He knows the beginning from the end and what seems like a tragedy to us is in actuality a blessing in disguise.

Friends of the Library

We have tried to revive the FOL that had become inactive many years ago.
It has been an uphill struggle to get folks interested in it once again. I have, however, spent part of the last couple of weeks completely reviewing the files of the organization when it was active and what we have done in the last 4 years. It has been interesting to learn more about the activities of the past and what we might possibly be able to do now to get it going once again. This review wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the fact that I have had to find documentation for the business office as to what the practice, procedures and authority had been in the past for the FOL. This may be another one of the "blessings in disquise." Hopefully for the current efforts we will be able to get some ideas, be better organized, keep better records, and not give up.