There is still a visible trail of destruction in North St.

Louis City as cleanup and recovery efforts have been slowly taking place.

But the Penrose and Academy neighborhoods are seeing a light through the dark tunnel of devastation and uncertainty with the celebration of the reopenings of their St.

Louis public libraries.

The historic Julia Davis and Cabanne branch have made a complete recovery after being wrecked by the force of the EF3 tornado on May 16, 2025.

At no point did we ever think about not reopening these locations.

They're so critical to the communities that they serve and to the broader St.

Louis region.

So as soon as they went down, it felt like we were missing, you know, an important part of who we are.

The Julia Davis branch is a staple in the black community with a rich history behind it.

It was named after the St.

Louis educator and historian, Dr.

Julia Davis, who taught in the St.

Louis public schools for almost 50 years.

In 1941, Davis created a major African American research collection at this library to archive and preserve African American history and culture.

One of the many library workers that was there the day the tornado hit is Dominique Newton.

He's the assistant manager of this branch and he recalls the events that took place here just a year ago.

So it started off as a normal day and one of the staff members noticed that the clouds were just forming.

You know, we're already kind of on edge knowing that the tornado was coming and then once we seen that, the signals started going off on our phones and our weather alarm and we all took shelter.

Some of the damages that this location sustained were all the windows being completely broken, large debris lodged into the front part of the building and water damage to the carpet and some broken equipment.

Through all of this, there were no casualties amongst staff and customers.

The good thing is we do a lot of safety training at all of our locations.

Everyone knows exactly where to go, exactly what to do.

And throughout the city, you know, it was a citywide event.

All of our staff were able to make sure that our customers in the buildings, as well as the other staff, were in safe locations.

- The Cabanne Branch has an older architecture.

It was built in 1907 by Andrew Carnegie.

He was a wealthy businessman who funded the construction of libraries across the United States and the world.

This location has had its upgrades and renovations over the years that was destroyed by the tornado.

But one of the major pieces of destruction revealed something beautiful.

When the tornado rolled through, it pushed open a window, it got underneath the roof, and created a whole bunch of positive pressure in the, we'll call it the attic, which then blew out the drop ceiling for that building.

So the ceiling came crashing down in that location, which was extremely terrifying.

When the tornado rolled through and knocked out that ceiling, it exposed the original clear story for that building with significant architectural features that we have been able to renew.

We fixed it all up.

It's painted.

It's absolutely beautiful.

And we're really excited about folks coming in who have been in that building before and experienced it as it was, experiencing it now.

The Julia Davis branch has added even more features and resources that the community can come and enjoy.

As a regional library, it's a hub for resources and a lot of activities that happen around the community.

It's the largest creative experience of all the St.

Louis library locations, with eight 3D printers, a computer lab with various editing softwares, and two recording rooms underway.

It's been tragic being closed and to see how much the community needs these facilities.

So we are thrilled to open the door and see people come in.

I remember when we opened this building in 1993.

I've been here a long time, we've got some more things to do here.

But we can open the doors and we were anxious to get people in.

So we did it.

libraries are hugely important in the United States.

And it's wonderful to see this kind of support.

And I just hope it goes on.

We're thrilled to be part of the community and to be open again.

Come out and see us.