Residents celebrate Fredericton Public Library’s reopening after vandalism

It was a grey, rainy time erstwhile Maureen McKee walked up to the Fredericton Public Library. But she had a crushed to grin — aft being closed for implicit a week, its doors again opened to the public.

“Oh, it’s truthful bully to person the library unfastened again. It’s specified a fantastic assets that we person successful our small town, our small city,” she said.

On Sept. 30, a vandal smashed a window, walls and computers and stole astir $300 from an interior money contributed by unit for staff. The vandal besides sprayed occurrence extinguishers and caused h2o harm to the archetypal floor.

Police person arrested 1 man, Kelly Gordon Kleim, and charged him with breaking and entering, arsenic good arsenic charges of mischief and of theft implicit $5,000

The city’s gathering manager, Scott Brown, estimated repairs would outgo $50,000 to $100,000.

But 1 week aft the incident, the harm was hardly noticeable but for coating supplies, a missing h2o fountain successful the children’s conception and repair workers.

Fredericton Mayor Kate Rogers said she heard from a fig of radical who were acrophobic astir erstwhile the room would unfastened again.

“It appeared primitively to beryllium worse than what it was. After the cleanup was done, it became evident to unit that they would beryllium capable to get it opened backmost up successful comparatively abbreviated order,” she said.

Resident questions motive

But for section scholar Reg Murphy, questions stay astir a motive.

“I’d similar to recognize what possessed them to bash specified a thing. It’s successful my mind, it’s conscionable unimaginable that idiosyncratic would bash that to the library,” helium said.

Police haven’t yet revealed a motive, and neither the politician nor the seat of the library’s board, Ben Wolthers, would speculate connected one. Wolthers confirmed that Kleim was a room user.

And the demolition took a toll connected the staff.

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“It’s been a spot of a journey. I deliberation astir apt their lowest constituent was aboriginal past week,” Wolthers said.

But the closure has highlighted however important the room is to members of the assemblage — similar Megan Valk.

She was astatine the room with her 2 young sons for a storytime event.

“It’s conscionable a large assemblage resource, it’s conscionable a root of societal clip for our kids arsenic a stay-at-home parent. It’s free, the programs are escaped which means it’s accessible to everyone,” she said.

Troy Piercy is simply a geologist who uses the room computers to scan documents for work. The reopening makes his occupation a small easier.

“It was benignant of hard, due to the fact that I person to get worldly retired and scan worldly and this is wherever I travel to bash my enactment for that,” helium said.

Wolthers said the outpouring of assemblage enactment has been fantastic — including raising adjacent to $10,000 for the library’s endowment money which goes towards programs and caller books.

“It’s astonishing and not astonishing successful a way, due to the fact that we cognize what a heavy transportation we person with the Fredericton community,” helium said.