Flood damage

I am writing from a site that suffered a roof leak during the recent
hurricane, Floyd, which hit the east coast.  Failure of a seam in a
metal roof due to high winds resulted in water entering the museum's
research library.  Having recently participated in a disaster
recovery workshop organized by SEMC our response was prompt and
organized, thereby minimizing damage from what could easily have
been a much larger disaster. Most of the material involved we were
able to air-dry however there were a certain number of books that
were soaked to the point where air drying was not an option.  These
volumes, primarily early nineteenth century books printed on a
variety of types of paper and bound in a variety of types of covers,
were taken to the freezer of a local grocery chain within the first
18 hours after the rains began.

We are now searching for advice/recommendations on locating a
books/paper conservator with experience in treating/drying books
after a water based disaster such as this one.

Ken Myers
Site Manager
Valentine Museum
1015 E. Clay Street
Richmond, VA  23219
804-649-0711  Ext. 320
Fax:804-643-3510

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 13:22
               Distributed: Thursday, September 30, 1999
                       Message Id: cdl-13-22-014
                                  ***