[PADG:247] Univ of Hawaii Disaster Recovery week 3

[Lynn A Davis <ldavis@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Just a brief update as we move into the third week post flood.  My
colleague, Susan Murata, who is Library Director at Kapiolani Community
College, adds new photos to her web site on a regular basis.   
http://library.kcc.hawaii.edu/main/flood/

Julie Page from UC San Diego is here, and helping us think through all
of the large and small next steps.  Yesterday we identified and pulled
the CJK shelf list from the muck and she had a hands on opportunity to
help pry apart a metal catalog (very difficult) and pull out cards that
have expanded from water and are wedged into the drawers, box them and
pop them in the freezer.

Since last week we have been primarily working with our staff who lost
their offices in the flood to recover essential papers or catalogs.  We
could not get into these areas until BMS CAT (the contractor to
stabilize the building) began to clear the mountains of debris blocking
the doors.

The building above the flooded out ground floor contains 5 floors of
Library collections including our Special Collections.  We still do not
have electricity in the building and no one is making any commitment to
when that might happen.  One problem is we still have 2-3 feet of
water/sludge in the sub-basement (former cold war fallout shelter) that
they need to pump out before any tries to connect the building. 
However, the humidity throughout the building is at about 50%; temp
78-80 degrees f. BMS CAT is doing a good job with maintaining the low
humidity, and UH is working to activate back-up chillers on the "Library
addition." The addition is where the Preservation lab is located and we
did not have any significant damage in that building and have been up
and running with electricity within the first week. It is likely we will
have AC into the other building by the end of the week.

I am sure this more than anyone wants to know about events in Honolulu.
 If you would like to receive further updates let me know off list, and
I will be happy to stay in touch.  Also I am always pleased to hear of
any ideas you might have.

lynn

Lynn Ann Davis
Head, Preservation Department
University of Hawaii at Manoa Library
2550 McCarthy Mall
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
Phone:  (808) 956-8539
FAX:    (808) 956-5968