Water damage is one of the most common and notorious threads to books. With natural disasters happening more and more often, people have started to think seriously about solutions that would help to protect libraries from floods.
Our digital era has taught us to get the most information from mobile gadgets that now have access to the world`s greatest libraries and collections. However, libraries are not just storage for old-school books. World`s best libraries, as well as your local community center one has an essential purpose. They preserve our culture, examples of the printing industry which may soon enough become ancient history.
However, the invention of the printing press might have been the greatest breakthrough in the history of mankind. It gave access to education to many people, which has eventually pulled us from the dark ages and created the world we know today.
That is why it is so important to protect libraries from floods, and today`s scientific community does everything possible to develop the most efficient solutions.
The history of flooded libraries
Floods have been happening since the dawn of time, and because books are so vulnerable to water damage, they have always been the biggest threat for libraries.
People have always been trying to protect libraries from floods. Especially before the era of mass media and the Internet, libraries were technically the only source of knowledge available for the public.
However, before efficient anti-flooding solutions were invented, libraries were damaged by floods regularly. Some - beyond restoration.
Floods in 1910 in Paris, France (Baryala, 2006) and in 1966 in Florence, Italy, caused heavy damage to the respective national libraries. Over 2,000,000 books were damaged by the water beyond repair. Most of them were irreplaceable items, which have been lost for us forever.
In 1975, the Case Western Reserve University Library, Cleveland, Ohio, was flooded. Almost 40,000 books and 50,000 maps became wet and muddy. The restoration of the survived items and irreplaceable losses from the disaster came out in more than $550,000.
In 1985, heavy rains and overflowing of a river resulted in the flooding of the basement of the 450 years old Innsbruck Museum and Library in Austria. More than 80% of the library`s collection was lost forever.
No wonder, at some point, governments worldwide came to the conclusion that protecting libraries from floods is much cheaper and easier than dealing with losses and consequences of the disaster.
However, due to climate change and global warming, floods have been happening more often in the past 50 years.
Floods struck in Prague city of Czech Republic in August 2002, destroying and damaging large collections in more than 40 libraries, including 14 major research libraries and the National Library of the Czech Republic and the Prague Municipal Library.
The damage from this disaster was estimated at the record $11,000,000. More than 800,000 crucial historical documents, some of which have never been revealed to the public before, have been lost forever, taking their mysteries with them.
That flooding might have become a turning point that demonstrated that protecting libraries from floods is to preserve the history of mankind and our future.
Why do flooded libraries turn out so expensive?
Unlike with buildings, furniture, or any other property, flooded papers are most certainly instantly get damaged beyond repair. The procedure of restoration and sorting takes a lot of effort, knowledge, and time of qualified experts.
That is why it is always so expensive. Whether we are talking about municipal or private libraries, the restoration process will take a lot of time and money. Time and money could be better spent on overcoming other consequences of flooding.
Here are only some steps of the restoration procedure:
To clean water-damaged paper material so that fungus/mold does not grow, immediately spray the books with diluted Dettol solution, antifungal medicated powder, diluted ethanol, alcohol, or acetone. The room may be fogged or fumigated with the smoke of ajwain or caraway seeds which have antifungal properties. These measures will also speed up the drying.
• Check for how many hours the paper has been wet. Is it partially or fully wet? Is dirt like mud, chemicals deposited on it?
• If possible, sort out materials printed on art or coated paper. Also, separate out books bound with leather and vellum. These may include art books, books with color photographs, maps, etc. These materials must be frozen immediately within six hours.
• Other books need to be treated within 48 hours of the damage. If not, they will lose their shape gets swollen, and pages may bend.
In other words, when we protect libraries from floods, we save money and resources, which could be more efficiently used in saving properties, helping residents and business owners overcome the disaster`s consequences.
The modern way to protect libraries from floods
Flood barriers are the modern and most efficient way to secure any building and ensure that floodwater won`t enter it. Numerous happy customers worldwide have already acknowledged the efficiency and simplicity of Dam Easy flood barriers.
However, private businesses and households are not the only ones who can enjoy all the benefits of efficient and modern anti-flooding solutions. Hotels, schools, retirement, and community centers trust the safety and wellbeing of their visitors, residents, students, as well as assets to the modern flood barriers.
They are easy to install and remove, seal every passage, and don`t require much storage space. The fact that you can use those flood barriers repeatedly makes them the most sustainable and budget-efficient solution comparing to traditional sandbagging and other outdated solutions.
Contact Dam Easy today and learn about the modern way to protect libraries from floods, preserve your personal collection of books or protect a local facility.
By saving the wisdom of libraries today, we ensure the bright future of our children.
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