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Spotlighting Tennessee Libraries

Kingston Springs Elementary School

Tennessee Library Association president Susan Earl (left) presents a flood relief check to Kingston Springs Elementary Library/Media Specialist Sue Hasse. 
 

Representatives of the Tennessee Library Association (TLA) presented a check for $1,000 to Sue Hasse, Library/Media Specialist of Kingston Springs Elementary School after the school and library suffered severe flood damage during the May 1st flooding in middle Tennessee.  The school contained six feet of water during the peak of the flood and is still undergoing cleanup and rebuilding.  Since the library shelves stood five feet high and were completely submerged, the school lost nearly 100 percent of their materials.  “Bring back your materials…that’s what I had been telling students over and over because the end of school was near,” said Hasse with a hint of irony.  “You’ll want us to keep them safe over the summer.”  As the waters seceded, one witness noted that the library looked “as if a hurricane had struck from within; chairs, books, and computers had apparently swirled around together when the flood waters rushed in, and one chair was actually impaled into the wall.” 

“The Tennessee Library Association is honored to present this check to you to assist in your library’s recovery,” said TLA president Susan Earl.  TLA works to promote the establishment, maintenance, and support of adequate library services for all people of the state; to cooperate with public and private agencies with related interests; and to support and further professional interests of the membership of the Association.  When asked why TLA decided to help recovery efforts, Earl replied, “It’s the right thing to do…it broke our hearts when we heard about how hard-hit this school was, and that’s what TLA does: we support libraries in Tennessee.”
 
Kingston Springs is a small family community located ten miles west of the edge of Nashville on I40 and was one of the hardest-hit areas during the flood because it sits in a bend of the Harpeth River.  The community spirit was evident during the presentation ceremony hosted by Cheatham County Public Library in Kingston Springs.  Everyone turned out, from the mayor, to the library board, to job-searching patrons who view the library as a second home.  In fact, the public library in Kingston Springs was built by community volunteers.  “There is a real community and volunteer spirit here,” the attendees agreed.  “We are all from other places but are all family,” added public library director Janet Walker.