As Damage, Casualty Tolls Rise,
Libraries Look Toward Recovery
Memorial services for Lynn Edwards Angell and David Angell were held September 17 in Providence, Rhode Island. The librarian and her husband were aboard American Airlines Flight 11 when it was hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center September 11. As the death toll mounts, others who worked in the numerous corporate and law libraries located in the twin towers are still unaccounted for.
Kathy Earnest, director of the Pentagon Library in Washington, told American Libraries that both the library and new quarters being prepared for it were water-damaged in the aftermath of the terrorist attack. The library was considered part of a crime scene and no one was allowed back in until the area was released September 21. She said preservationists had already been contacted, but had not yet received security clearance to begin assessing the damage to the 200,000-volume collection.
Earnest said that when the crash occurred the staff was watching the president on television and helping customers. “There was a loud noise and then the building shook. Somebody ran in and shouted, ‘Stay away from the windows! Everybody get out!’” What followed was “chaos, but organized chaos. It was one of those experiences that you will remember for a lifetime,” she said.
Most New York Public Library branches resumed normal activities the day after the attack; reading rooms have been packed, and computer stations with Internet access have been in constant use, said spokeswoman Caroline Oyama. Of NYPL’s eight branches below 14th Street, six have reopened but without Internet connectivity, which has also been disrupted on Staten Island. The Chatham Square branch is expected to reopen shortly. New Amsterdam, the branch nearest the disaster site, will remain closed indefinitely. Full information about the library’s activities as well as city emergency information can be found on the library’s Web site.
NYPL issued a press release September 18 thanking library colleagues for “an unprecedented outpouring of care and support. Library directors and staff from around the world and throughout the United States have sent e-mails, faxes, or have called to express their concern for us all.”
Posted September 24, 2001.
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