‘This has been my home’: South Charleston Public Library celebrates re-opening after three months of closure

SOUTH CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – It was a big day in South Charleston as the community celebrated the reopening of their library.

“It’s been three months. The city and the staff have worked hard to get things ready,” said Todd Duncan, director of The South Charleston Public Library.

In April, a massive storm flooded the library, damaging thousands of books and other materials .

“We had to reshelve over 40,000 books,” Duncan said.

Duncan called the library a hub in the South Charleston community where people can come in and access the internet, check out books, notarize documents and even obtain a passport.

“When they were gone, a community asset was gone, but now they’re back open, and we can continue to do all the things we’ve done before and maybe on a larger grander scale, involve more people,” Clifton Moore, a patron, said.

Moore has visited the library every day for the past two and a half years and said he was out of sorts when it closed. He also said that he relied on the library as a space to come and do work, and even lost out of opportunities because of the closure.

“This has been my home every day for the last two and a half years. When they were closed I had nothing to do and nowhere to go. Now that we’re back open, I can resume my life with my library family,” Moore said.

The library is open Mondays through Saturdays. For specific hours of operation or to book availability, visit the library website .

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