Water from a broken water pipe at the Glendale (Calif.) Public Library’s Montrose-Crescenta branch damaged around 2,000 children’s books October 29, ruining more than 500 of them.
The water flooded the ceiling tiles above the children’s room and soaked the 1,000-square-foot carpet, the Los Angeles Times reported November 3. Branch Librarian Patricia Zeider told the newspaper that giant fans were being used to dry out the area, which remained roped off.
Zeider said it could cost as much as $54,000 to replace the ruined volumes. She added that disaster-recovery firm Aeroscopic Engineers will freeze-dry the salvageable volumes at a cost of $2 to $3 per book.
Zeider hoped for cash donations from the community to help replace the collection. “I don’t know where the money will come from,” she told the Times. “It’s really sad to see this happen.”
Posted November 6, 2000.