ReOccupy Writers Meeting Tonight to Rebuild Library, Though Mayor's Office Claims Books Are Safe

Aftershocks and responses to last night's eviction of protestors at New York's Zuccotti Park are of course coming in from all over--and importantly, Gothamist reports that the books, or some of them, are safe:

As we originally reported at 4:15 a.m., the NYPD and Department of Sanitation tossed the entire contents of the Occupy Wall Street library into some dumpsters. At that time, the library's Twitter account transmitted this message: "The NYPD has destroyed everything at #OccupyWallStreet and put it all in dumpsters, including the #OWSLibrary. It's time to #ShutDownNYC." The library had more than 5,000 books, and recently Patti Smith funded a more permanent structure (pictured) to house it in.

Even though the city has been telling protesters that things would be stored in a Department of Sanitation facility at 650 West 57th Street in Manhattan, and could be picked up after noon, many believed and reported that the books had been destroyed. When we called the DoS this afternoon it wasn't looking good, the woman who answered the phone simply told us, "my boss isn't sure where the books are." And earlier today the library's blog had updated saying tonight at 6 p.m., "writers and readers from across New York City will gather in Liberty Plaza to reoccupy the space and rebuild the People’s Library."

But alas, good news has just arrived via the Mayor's Twitter account: the books are "safely stored" at the West 57th Street garage, and can be picked up tomorrow. They even provided photographic evidence. But how about the book shelter that Smith provided?

The librarians are still in doubt that it's all there, according to this post; and will be meeting with ReOccupy writers and protestors at 6:00 p.m. this evening to rebuild the library. More info at the Facebook event page here.