PORTLAND, Ore. — More than four months after pro-Palestinian protesters broke into the Millar Library on the Portland State University campus, causing more than a million dollars in damage, the library reopened this week after undergoing extensive repairs.
"On that first day, it was impossible to imagine how long it would take because it was in so much disrepair," said Cris Paschild, associate dean of the PSU library and head of special collections and archives.
From the night of April 29 to May 2 earlier this year, the Millar Library remained under protesters' control after dozens broke inside. During the occupation, protesters caused more than $1.2 million dollars in damage.
On the morning of May 2, Portland police made their way inside the heavily fortified library and went floor by floor evicting those inside. Officers arrested 30 individuals; six were students at PSU.
On Monday, Sept. 16, the library reopened to students and staff after contractors had repaired and replaced broken items and repainted walls covered in graffiti.
"We had to replace all the computers, clean the tables, replace carpet tile," said Michael Bowman, current associate dean of the library who was interim dean at the time of the occupation.
In the student computer lab on the first floor, computer monitors once smashed were replaced with new ones. Staff said those monitors still had several years of life left in them.
Throughout the library on every floor, walls were covered in spray-painted graffiti. PSU spent $137,000 painting over them and other damaged walls.
Desks and chairs that were used to block doorways and stairwells were placed back in their rightful spot. The school spent $150,000 replacing broken or damaged furniture.
"It was a pretty big shock," Bowman said.
As students return to campus and visit the library, they'll notice that the library has been cleaned up, but there are also some remnants of the vandalism and damage left behind that crews weren't able to fully clean up. Leftover spray paint remains deep in the grooves of wooden bookshelves.
"We are sort of resigned to continue finding all these little things that we'll need to fix up and address over time," Paschild said.
When the library reopened to students and staff on Monday morning, staff said there was a line of nearly a dozen students waiting to get inside. Each day, it's been business as usual.
"It kind of makes me feel like crying and with a great sense of relief," Paschild said of students returning to the library.
Of the 30 protesters that were arrested, several of those cases are still making their way through the court system, though some of them have been resolved.
The first day of school at Portland State University is Sept. 30. Students move into the dorms on Sept. 26 and 27.