Edgartown library staffers were stepping over wet cement this week in an effort to ready the old Carnegie building on North Water street for its official reopening next Tuesday.

The sidewalk under repair is one thing that is not their problem — town highway superintendent Stuart Fuller is in charge of that project — but they have had their share of problems following last year’s furnace puffback incident. The building was closed in early December after a burst furnace covered much of the furniture, upholstery and stock in an oily vapor.

Until this week staff were working out of temporary digs in the selectmen’s meeting room at town hall, lending a limited amount of returns and new stock.

“It’s kind of an unfinished, New York look,” said library director Felicia Cheney this week, looking up at a break in the ceiling tiles which showed straight through to insulation and lighting fixtures.

Most of the tiles have been already replaced by Munters, the firm which has handled the cleaning operation following a protracted insurance claim process. Artwork was sent off-Island for cleaning and computers are being either repaired or replaced.

The basement floor will remain closed until at least mid-June. Tests taken late last month showed the air was unsafe on that level. Following another cleaning, further test results are due back this week. The carpet will be taken out for cleaning in a few weeks.

“To do one thing you have to do four others, it’s like that Japanese jigsaw,” said reference librarian Nis Kildegaard,

For now the children’s library which had occupied most of the basement floor can be found in a corner office of the ground floor.

The reopening nicely coincides with a meeting of the sustainable book club Tuesday night. Jon Abrams, director of the South Mountain construction company and a prominent figure in Island affordable housing, will host the event, which begins at 7 p.m. and is open to all who can fit into the ground floor.