The Strategic Stewardship of Cultural Resources by Merril T Andrea;

Author:Merril T, Andrea;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1099103
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group

Chapter 11

The Silver Lining: Recovering from the Shambles of a Disaster

Camila A. Alire

SUMMARY. In July 1997, half the collections at Morgan Library at Colorado State University were damaged by flood waters. Staff members found themselves overwhelmed in emergency disaster recovery, in designing innovative systems to recover damaged materials, and in creating emergency programs to serve library users during the disaster recovery period. In rebuilding its collections to developing new systems, in changing the institutional culture to bring greater collaboration and flexibility, in developing a handbook so that others could benefit from the library’s experience–Morgan Library found the silver lining that grew out of what at first seemed a disaster of overwhelming proportions.

KEYWORDS. Flooding, recovery, insurance, flexibility

No one immediately involved in a major crisis or disaster even begins to think about whether or not the crisis might have some silver lining. That is the last thing on anyone’s mind.

This was definitely the case at Morgan Library at Colorado State University in July 1997, when half its collections were damaged by flood waters. Staff members found themselves overwhelmed in emergency disaster recovery, in designing innovative systems to recover damaged materials, and in creating emergency programs to serve library users during the disaster recovery period. Be assured that there was no silver lining at the outset.

From this experience, however, the Morgan Library was able to take a major disaster and turn the experience into something positive. Staff members were able to convert the cards dealt them into positive strategies and results and share their experience with other institutions as a model response to a major disaster.

The crisis began on the evening of July 27, 1997, when Fort Collins, Colorado, suffered flash flooding and, in a period of four hours, received 6.5 inches of rain. The Morgan Library was hit hard:

At about 10:30 [p.m.], the pressure of tons of water caused a portion of the west wall of the lower level [of Morgan Library] to give way, allowing the water to cascade in. Unlike a normal flood, where water slowly rises, a flash flood raged through the lower level. Later, estimates by the city indicated that the water entered the building at 5,000 cubic feet per minute–flood stage on the local Cache La Poudre River is measured at 3,000 cubic feet per minute.1

The water level within the Library’s lower level rose 8.5 feet, rising above the ceiling tiles by six inches. Some 658 cubic feet of water were in the library, equaling 4.9 million gallons, or 41 million pounds. All the bound journals housed in the library were damaged and had to be removed from the building, as were all the monographs located on the lower level. Afterward, many subject disciplines had no materials available for researchers.

Even though the disaster struck three weeks before the fall semester, the university president mandated that all buildings damaged must be operational by the first day of classes. Morgan Library was the hardest hit building on campus.

Although there have been larger-scale library disasters than that at Morgan Library,

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