Rainstorm Floods Basement of
Stanford's Main Library
A huge rainstorm that hit Northern California February 3 caused extensive flooding on the campus of Stanford University, where more than 60,000 books were damaged by up to eight inches of muddy water that filled the basement of the school's main library.
The flooding in Green Library was first noticed around 1 a.m., Janet Basu of the Stanford News Service told American Libraries; by 3, some 150 students, plus library staff, had turned out to form a human chain to move more than 120,000 books upstairs to safety. Water-damaged materials were sent to a cold-storage warehouse to undergo vacuum freeze-drying.
The basements of the Meyer Library and Braun Music Center were also flooded, reported Basu. The storm washed out an electrical transformer in an adjacent building, leaving Green Library without power at the end of the week.
Posted February 9, 1998.
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