The Ferguson Municipal Public Library, which has acted as an “ad-hoc school” when classrooms closed, has drawn donations of more than $175,000 in less than two days after famous authors such as Neil Gaiman tweeted their support.

“It doesn’t seem real yet,” the library’s director, Scott Bonner, acknowledged Wednesday morning.

“I had no idea there was anything like that coming.”

The money donated so far adds up to almost half of the library’s annual budget of about $400,000, and Bonner said he hoped it would allow him to hire another full-time librarian to work with children and programming. The independent library, which has its own tax levy, serves about 21,000 residents with one full-time librarian (Bonner) and 12 part-time staff members. It relies heavily on volunteers to help with programs.

The library, at 35 North Florissant Road, is just a couple of blocks from the town’s police station, has mostly maintained a 9 a.m.-8 p.m. schedule for the week before Thanksgiving. On Tuesday it closed at 4 p.m.