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STORM DAMAGE AT BURTON BARR CENTRAL LIBRARYMuch of Burton Barr’s collection spared from damage | 1:12

The Burton Barr Central Library is closed indefinitely after Saturday’s storm damages. The library’s regularly scheduled events and programs will be disbursed to other local public libraries.

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STORM DAMAGE AT BURTON BARR CENTRAL LIBRARYCleaning up Burton Barr Library after storm | 0:11

An emergency incident response team works at Burton Barr Library in Phoenix to help clean up after a monsoon storm hit central Phoenix on July 15, 2017.
Phoenix Fire Department

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STORM DAMAGE AT BURTON BARR CENTRAL LIBRARYBurton Barr Library in Phoenix recovering after monsoon damage | 0:16

Workers help clean up Burton Barr Library in Phoenix after monsoon storms damaged the library on July 15, 2017.
Phoenix Fire Department

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STORM DAMAGE AT BURTON BARR CENTRAL LIBRARYPhoenix fire captain explains flooding at Burton Barr Library | 1:25

Reda Riddle-Bigler talks about the damage caused after a microburst storm broke a sprinkler head and flooded the phoenix library causing a shutdown.

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STORM DAMAGE AT BURTON BARR CENTRAL LIBRARYThe Burton Barr Central Library damaged from Saturday’s storm | 1:00

The Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix was significantly damaged from Saturday’s monsoon storm.
Wochit

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  • Much of Burton Barr's collection spared from damage

    Much of Burton Barr’s collection spared from damage

  • Cleaning up Burton Barr Library after storm

    Cleaning up Burton Barr Library after storm

  • Burton Barr Library in Phoenix recovering after monsoon damage

    Burton Barr Library in Phoenix recovering after monsoon damage

  • Phoenix fire captain explains flooding at Burton Barr Library

    Phoenix fire captain explains flooding at Burton Barr Library

  • The Burton Barr Central Library damaged from Saturday's storm

    The Burton Barr Central Library damaged from Saturday’s storm

The tally of damage from Saturday’s flood at Phoenix’s landmark downtown library is high — but it could have been far worse.

About 6,000 books at the Burton Barr Central Library were damaged, officials said Wednesday, in a weekend flood after a monsoon storm caused a pipe on the roof to burst.

While libraries “never want to lose one book,” that number is a small fraction of Burton Barr’s 500,000-book collection, said Lee Franklin, spokeswoman for the Phoenix Public Library.

Most of the damaged books came from the library’s reference section and were older materials such as almanacs, atlases and encyclopedias, Franklin said.

The fire sprinkler pipe on the library’s roof burst and spread water throughout the building’s five stories. The 208,000 square-footlibrary near Central Avenue and McDowell Road was closed indefinitely following the flooding.

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Franklin said the library’s art collection was safely removed and that the art is being stored at the Phoenix Art Museum.

All 208 Burton Barr employees have been reassigned to different libraries.

Crews are continuing the cleanup process, including removing carpet and drying out the building.

Officials on Wednesday didn’t have a timeline for reopening the library.

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Read or Share this story: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/2017/07/20/burton-barr-central-library-flood-damage-downtown-phoenix/494599001/