The Georgetown Neighborhood Library sustained water damage in its historic Peabody Room Feb. 13 after a sprinkler pipe burst.
The water affected the walls of the first and second floors of the library, as well as the Peabody Room, which is housed on the third floor. The room, which is the only separate collection on local history in a neighborhood library, houses a rare collection of District artifacts, including books, maps, photographs, letters, scrapbooks and clippings dating back to the 18th century relating to the people and places of Georgetown. The library, which is part of the D.C. Public Library system, is located at 3260 R Street NW.

“Fortunately, there has been minimal damage to the historic collections of the Peabody Room,” the library said in a statement. “The few items in the room that were damaged have been moved to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library to be treated by library staff.”
While the MLK Library — the central location of the D.C. Public Library system which is located in Gallery Place — will treat the books, all of the damaged items will be treated and eventually returned to the Georgetown Neighborhood Library, though no timetable has been set for the reparations.

The library is currently closed for approximately three weeks so that repairs can be made to the building to reduce the risk of mold but will likely be reopened around March 9. While the library is closed, holds and other patron services will be available through the Palisades Library at 4901 V St. NW.

Georgetown University will offer assistance to the public library as need, according to University Librarian Artemis Kirk.

“We of course will offer to assist that library as they might wish, but I understand that their damaged collections have already been transported to the conservation lab of the main DCPL branch,” Kirk said.

Lauinger Library previously housed the Georgetown Neighborhood Library collections after the public library was victim to a fire in 2007 that damaged the building and destroyed some of the its rare books but left many of the photos untouched.

“Our University Archivist Lynn Conway offered access to our many thousands of photos of the surrounding Georgetown area to the public library. We also offered access to Lauinger Library to any residents of the neighborhood,” Kirk said.
Kirk said the library remains open to the public while the neighborhood library undergoes renovation and reconstruction.

“All the public are still welcome,” Kirk said.

Matt Martin (COL ’16), who works at the circulation desk at Lauinger Library, noted that the various libraries in Georgetown have a synergistic relationship.

“I’d say that with all of Georgetown’s many libraries there’s plenty of books here at Georgetown to use,” Martin said. “I’m glad that we have the Georgetown Public Library because it’s a great place to study off campus if the library space is too overutilized for your taste, or if you want a book that Lau doesn’t happen to have.”