FLOODED BRASSALL SCHOOL BACK ON ITS FEET

Chris Cheng showing flood level marker in library

 Many Queenslanders suffered in last January's devastating floods, including one of the schools who came to the Ipswich Festival of Children's Literature. 

Volunteers sorting new books

Brassall State Primary School

Brassall State Primary School sits not far from Mihi Creek. At the height of the flood, some buildings were submerged up to the ceilings, others were only up to the windows, while only one block was high enough to escape any damage.

The rotting aftermath

When the floodwaters receded, the community with the aid of the army took weeks to clean up the stinking silt, garbage and driftwood.
One of the most devasting sights were the piles of rotting, mushy library books being scooped up in the buckets of graders and dumped. 

Inside the library

I visited Brassall State School last week and talked to librarians and volunteers who were still covering and indexing the many thousands of new books bought with Government funding in their new library.

So it was lovely that the kids from Brassall State School made it to 
the Ipswich Festival this year.