Did Willard Library catch footage of the Grey Lady in action? What do you think?

Evansville's Haunted Library

Located on First Avenue in Evansville, Willard Library is a gorgeous Victorian Gothic-style building. One thing I think is so neat is that it is one of the first public libraries to open in Indiana, opening in 1885.   While Willard Library is a beautiful historic location, the one thing people always talk about is the legend of the ghost that haunts the halls of the library.

The Legend of the Grey Lady

Local legends of a ghostly woman haunting the library have been around for nearly a century.  In fact, the first recorded encounter with the Grey Lady took place in the 1930s when an after-hours maintenance man reported bumping into a woman wearing a long dress and a grey shawl.  The woman then faded into darkness, and the legend of the Grey Lady began.

According to Willard Library, no one truly knows who the Grey Lady is. Still, it is widely speculated that she is the ghost of Louise Carpenter, the daughter of Willard Library founder Willard Carpenter. Over the years, there have been many reported sightings of the Grey Lady by employees, people visiting the library, and even by paranormal investigators.

According to Willard Library, a few of the unexplained occurrences noted are:

• Water turned on or off
• Smell of perfume
• A feeling of cold
• Noises
• Books and furniture found moved
• Feeling of touch on hair and earrings
• Odd items found in library

And now we can add locked doors being opened to the list of unexplained happenings at the library.

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Security Cameras Catch a Locked Door Being Opened

On April 25th, Willard Library took to social media to share a weird event that was caught on security camera.  In the video, you see a door quickly open and shut.  Admittedly, when I first saw the video, I thought, "This just looks like a draft catching a door?" But the explanation of the video does make this much more mysterious than I initially thought.

The door in the video was locked the entire time.  The library has staff on camera locking the door before leaving, and when the Library Director got to the library to check the door because it opening triggered the alarm system, the door was still locked.  So why did it open?

The caption accompanying the video says:

Video footage confirms that staff members double-checked the doors before leaving.

Later that evening, as the Library Director was on his way to do some after-hours work, he received a call from the alarm company notifying him that a specific door had triggered the system.

The Director informed them he was already on-site and would investigate. When he checked the door in question, it was still securely locked.

So what do you think?  Do you think this is just a weird circumstance that can be explained, or do you think that maybe the Grey Lady stepped outside for some fresh air? After all, haunting a historic library all day must get a little bit stuffy at times, and sometimes you just need a breath of fresh air.