During the month of June, the Public Libraries of Johnson County will be collecting donations to help a major library in Puerto Rico still trying to recover from the damage caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria last year. In conjunction with the Iowa Library Association, libraries in Coralville, Iowa City, North Liberty, Oxford, Solon, Springmier, Swisher and Tiffin will be accepting donations of money to help the Francisco Oller Library in San Juan replace and repair books, videos and other materials, according a press release from the Iowa City Public Library (ICPL).
In its release, ICPL explained:
[The] Francisco Oller Library is an academic library located on the Escuela de Artes y Diseño de Puerto Rico (EAPD) campus in San Juan. It is the only institution in Puerto Rico offering a Bachelor of Fine Arts with majors in Art Education, Digital Art and Design, Fashion Design Industrial Design, Painting, Printmaking and Sculpture. Prior to Hurricane Maria, the campus had 518 students enrolled. That number dropped to 398 during the spring 2018 semester. Campus damages related to the hurricane are an estimated $2 million.
The Francisco Oller Library suffered infrastructure damage, losses in the collection, and was affected by the proliferation of mold due to the lack of electricity and air conditioning. Health concerns had the staff of four offering limited services in a designated area outside the library, including reference services and loans for items checked out before the hurricanes’ arrivals, until it was deemed safe to go back inside.
The damage done to Puerto Rico by hurricanes last September and October has been in the news again this week following the release of a report by researchers from Harvard University that estimates the death toll from Maria was more than 4,600, which is 70 times greater than the official death toll of 64. Also, on Wednesday the Associated Press reported that Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, which is still undergoing repairs, “is almost certain to collapse again when the next hurricane hits this island of 3.3 million people.”
“The grid is there, but the grid isn’t there. It’s teetering,” Hector Pesquera, Puerto Rico’s commissioner of public safety, told the AP. “Even if it’s a (Category) 1, it is in such a state that I think we’re going to lose power. I don’t know for how long.”
According to official estimates, approximately 11,820 homes and businesses still haven’t had their electrical service restored yet.
The library fundraising effort will run from June 1 to June 30, and cash donations will be accepted, along with checks made out to the Iowa Library Association with a note that is a donation for the Francisco Oller Library in the memo line. The association said it hopes to raise $15,000 to assist the library in San Juan.
