Flooding damages geology books

  JENNIFER YUEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Fans have been
placed in the Geology Library in an attempt to dry 500 wet
books.

By Karen Albrecht
Daily Bruin Contributor

Record rainfall damaged about 500 books in the Geology Library
last Thursday morning due to clogged roof drains.

Water on the roof reached a depth of six inches before
overflowing into the venting system and drenching the books, said
Barbara Haner, Geology librarian.

“Library circulation continues as normal,” Haner
said. “But study space is severely reduced as the drying
books are occupying study space and upstairs it is noisy from the
fans.”

Sections QE 1-QE 200 suffered the most damage. Also, preparation
of course reserve material was delayed by the incident, Haner said,
but should be completed by today.

A record 5.12 inches of rain fell on campus Thursday, while the
three-day storm yielded 6.55 inches, according to staff
meteorologist James Murakami.

These figures are considerably higher than the 3.41 inches of
rain normally predicted for the month of January. Considering these
circumstances, he said, flooding should not be unexpected.

Facilities Management unclogged two blockages in the sewer and
drain lines Friday morning, but there is still residual water in
the building, according to Greg Zoll, Superintendent of Facilities
Management.

More than 80 instances of water intrusion were reported during
the storm, but rain complications similar to the library incident
usually occur less than five times a year, according to Zoll.

Sandbags are used routinely to prevent water damage in low areas
of campus, Zoll said, and can be seen positioned around the James
West Alumni Center. Such areas where drains are above the level of
buildings are a continuing problem for Facilities Management
personnel, he said.

Early Thursday morning, a night cleaner noticed torrents of
water entering the upper floor of the Geology Library through the
vents and notified the mop up crew from the first floor, Haner
said.

At 6:30 a.m., Lonnie Larson, Earth and Space Science Department
manager, discovered a pool of water formed on the roof. He notified
Facilities Management, who began pumping out the roof, according to
Keith Kirts, Earth and Space Science facility coordinator.

“At the rate it was raining, if the flooding had gone
unnoticed, we would have had a trout pond on the roof,” he
said.

Personnel placed plastic sheeting over the northern section of
the stacks and the rain was funneled into empty trash cans,
according to Kirts.

Meanwhile, they slid paper towels between the pages of wet books
on the study tables and turned on fans to aid in the book drying
process. Many of the books have color plates with a clay coating
which, when wet, will glue the pages together, said Kirts.

Most of the books were salvaged, he said, but many are still
damp and occupy study tables.

“The number of students using the library has been
significantly lower since the incident because of the lack of
available space,” said Angela Gardener, student library
assistant.

Signs at the library entrance indicate reduced study space and
suggest the Chemistry Library as an alternative.

Significant water damage and peeling paint is also visible on
the library walls, according to Gardener.