UI Main Library opens to public as flooding cleanup continues
Alayna Wilken - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 7/9/08 Section: Metro
The Main Library is open for business today, despite the stacks of books and boxes that still clutter the upper floors.
The first floor looked relatively normal Tuesday; the only thing missing was people.
"It's a little bit eerie in here," said Kristi Bontrager, a coordinator and public-relations representative for the UI Libraries.
Library staff members had been scrambling to get the building up and running. The job required a lot of reorganizing and attention, even though little water actually seeped in.
Only 2 to 3 inches of water got into the lowest level after the building was evacuated on June 13, but it was ground water - not river water - which made all the difference, said Nancy Baker, the university librarian.
With the water level that low, it did not reach the bottom of the shelves in the basement, where all the archival storage is located, she said.
As a precaution, though, all the books were taken out, one by one, and carried up to the upper floors.
The maze of shelves extends from wall to wall in the basement storage rooms. Still-empty spaces were visible on the bottom shelves Tuesday. Down the basement hallway, a damp smell permeated the Special Collections storage room. Fans droned as they circulated air into the room.
Valuable materials, such as the papers of James Van Allen and vintage films of Iowa football games, were some of the first items to be moved. At first, only books on the bottom 18 inches of shelves were moved. When flood predictions worsened, the empty-shelf level was raised to 4 feet.
Now, an improvised catalogue system consisting of scraps of paper is taped to the shelves, marking where books should be returned.
In a fifth-floor study lounge, rows of books line the floor and cover tables, waiting to be returned to the basement.
The third floor resembled the fifth, with boxes stacked 4 feet high for the length of the hallway.
However, the air was hot and stuffy, because of the tubes pumping hot air into the building.
The first floor looked relatively normal Tuesday; the only thing missing was people.
"It's a little bit eerie in here," said Kristi Bontrager, a coordinator and public-relations representative for the UI Libraries.
Library staff members had been scrambling to get the building up and running. The job required a lot of reorganizing and attention, even though little water actually seeped in.
Only 2 to 3 inches of water got into the lowest level after the building was evacuated on June 13, but it was ground water - not river water - which made all the difference, said Nancy Baker, the university librarian.
With the water level that low, it did not reach the bottom of the shelves in the basement, where all the archival storage is located, she said.
As a precaution, though, all the books were taken out, one by one, and carried up to the upper floors.
The maze of shelves extends from wall to wall in the basement storage rooms. Still-empty spaces were visible on the bottom shelves Tuesday. Down the basement hallway, a damp smell permeated the Special Collections storage room. Fans droned as they circulated air into the room.
Valuable materials, such as the papers of James Van Allen and vintage films of Iowa football games, were some of the first items to be moved. At first, only books on the bottom 18 inches of shelves were moved. When flood predictions worsened, the empty-shelf level was raised to 4 feet.
Now, an improvised catalogue system consisting of scraps of paper is taped to the shelves, marking where books should be returned.
In a fifth-floor study lounge, rows of books line the floor and cover tables, waiting to be returned to the basement.
The third floor resembled the fifth, with boxes stacked 4 feet high for the length of the hallway.
However, the air was hot and stuffy, because of the tubes pumping hot air into the building.
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