Sages Pages Thanks Customers for Support After Flood

After a Jan. 8 flood, Madison bookstore Sages Pages received notes on its Facebook page from people saying they were praying for a smooth recovery, that the shop is an important part of the Madison community, and even offering to help stock shelves if the store reopens.

Owner Lillian Trujillo and her staff responded to Sages Pages' "wonderful and concerned customers" on Tuesday.

"Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your beautiful offers of help," Trujillo wrote. "At this time, we are entangled in a thick web of cleanup, gutting the store and lots and lots of insurance paperwork, as I'm sure you can all imagine. The loss has been devastating. It's all gone. The books, the bookcases, the computers, the furniture, you name it, it's trashed. We literally have to start from scratch."

It will take two to three months for the space to be rebuilt, and Trujillo said she needs to add up the costs of starting again, "from carpeting and painting to bookcases, displays and books (and toys!)"

"We will only know then if the insurance check will be enough to start again. I wish I could answer each one of your sweet posts individually... Much love to all, Lillian and staff"

Sages Pages bookstore was deemed a "total loss" by its insurance company after a water main break flooded the shop in the Madison Plaza shopping center with inches of water. Everything inside had to be removed so the store could be torn down to the beams and treated for mold, Trujillo said.