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----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Thanks to Janis Ekdahl for passing on the message about hail damage to the College of Fine Arts Library in Sydney, Australia. It is now nearly 4 weeks since the hailstorm, and the library staff at the College of Fine Arts are now older and wiser! It is all very well to have a disaster plan, but how many of us think it will ever happen to us? For those who may be interested I will now update the situation. The weather in Sydney since the storm has been awful - very few days without rain, which made roof repair very difficult. Since thousands of houses and businesses lost their roofs in the storm it was very difficult to obtain tarpaulins, and then we had gale force winds which blew them off and caused more problems for the roofers. There is a short report on the actual damage accessible via the COFA library webpage (http://www.cofa.unsw.edu.au/units/library/) How did we handle it? Since the storm was localised the library staff had no idea what had happened until the next morning. Although security staff were aware of the damage the night before (the storm hit at 8.30pm after we had closed), they were not able to do much because the state emergency services were overwhelmed by appeals for help, and the main university campus in Kensington about 5 miles away was also badly hit. When we arrived in the morning the campus war eerily silent. There were branches and leaves all over the ground and the roofs of the 3 older buildings of the College, including the library, had broken and missing tiles all over. The ground floor of the library, housing the reference collection, bound serials, special reserve and visual resources was untouched except for the windows which were all broken. Unfortunately all the computer databases were under the windows and all were soaked, as were the printers. There was broken glass everywhere. Upstairs the scene was devastating. The rain had come straight through the roof and the timber board ceiling, soaking the book stack (about 34,000 books were on the shelves), current periodical display and all office areas. The carpets were sodden. The first thing one registers is shock, followed by an adrenalin rush which for me lasted for 3 weeks. The library staff were terrific. We held a quick conference on how to proceed, and a frantic rescue mission began with the aid of volunteers from all areas of the College. Our main aim was to get the wet books off the shelf and start drying them, but since the whole College as well as the university and surrounding suburbs were affected it was difficult to find somewhere to put the drying books. We quickly obtained 4 large dehumidifiers and fans to try to keep the humidity down, but it was hopeless since rain threatened contantly and we were working under a cover of black plastic to get the books off. We also had no lights until late that afternoon - they were full of water. I enquired about removing the books to a freezer facilty but the quote I received was prohibitive. Communications were extremely difficult between the College and the Risk Management Unit/insurance experts on main campus, partly because of the size of the emergency and partly because the noise of the fans made it impossible to hear the telephones - I was later equipped with a mobile phone. The university was not able to obtain tarpaulins the first day, and that night it poured again. By this time the book stack was covered from end to end in plastic, but the rain continued to drench the carpets and walls. On Friday we arranged to have the carpets on the first floor removed, and this was completed with the help of family and friends by midday Saturday. On Monday the State Library's Conservation Access Unit sent one of its staff to assess the situation (I had been in contact with them since Friday) and we were advised to remove the whole collection from the building to a dry humidity controlled space because mildew was starting to appear on books we had thought to be safe. Over the next 3 days 30,000 books were sent to the disused Oatley campus library which is equipped with dehumidifiers. They were unpacked and are being checked regularly for mildew. 4,000 books which had been wet remain in the COFA library. In spite of all the efforts made to save them, it appears that only 600 can be saved. Advice received from various sources, including the insurer, is that it is generally cheaper and more practical to replace books rather than restore them unless they are extremely valuable or irrecplaceable. We had quite a few surprises during this process. One was the value of the collection. The worst hit area was the painting books. The library was started in 1975. Books purchased in the early eighties, many of course being small print runs, are now out of print and quite valuable. These are the ones which will be hardest to replace and are important to us particularly if they were THE major monograph on an artist. Another surprise was how the whole disaster continued to grow! Things got worse, not better, particularly since for more than 3 weeks we were fighting everything from small leaks in the ceiling to torrents of water running down the walls which we had to catch so that the water did not damage the ground floor. Constantly emptying the dehumidifiers, which when full are very heavy, and emptying buckets is exhausting. Trying to work with the smell of damp and mildew, followed by dust and noise when the roofers were above, all took their toll on staff. We re-opened the library in a limited way 10 days after storm. We now have most of the reference computers back which means we are able to help students access the journal collection. We were most fortunate to have the support of the local library community. The University of Sydney has given free access to COFA students while we have no books, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales Research Library has opened its doors to our students which has really helped. The students also have access to the main library at the University of New South Wales. Now starts the process of replacement. Fortunately we are covered by insurance, but finding o/p books will be a problem for some books. Many have already been found via sources on the Net. In the next few days we hope to have a list of valuable/out of print books up on our web page. If anyone out there has duplicates which they are willing to donate or sell, I would be most grateful if you could contact me. Please note that my email address in the original message was incorrect. I would like to send my thanks to those of you who have sent emails of support and suggestions. I have not answered individually because I have not had time until now and I was accessing my email from different machines. The support of the library community has been wonderful. Jill More ****************************************************************************** Jill More Tel.+61 2 9385 0720 College Librarian Fax.+61 2 9385 0686 College of Fine Arts Email [log in to unmask] The University of New South Wales P.O. Box 259, Paddington N.S.W. 2021 Australia ******************************************************************************