The library has been closed for renovations since June 2002. The damage, which was discovered on Monday, August 4, was believed to have occurred over the preceding weekend. University spokesman Glenn Small said in the August 6 Baltimore Sun that officials believe the air-conditioning drainage pipe may have become clogged with calcium deposits, common in older pipes. The library, which holds 318,000 volumes, opened in 1878 to house a collection bequeathed by philanthropist George Peabody. Its most valuable works, held in a rare-book room, were not harmed.
The books were moved from Baltimore in freezer trucks August 5 to the Document Reprocessors restoration company in Middlesex, New York, where they were to undergo a freeze-drying process. Document Reprocessors General Manager Quintin Schwartz told the Sun that most of the books were salvageable. “They’re wet, and they need to be fixed, but it’s not like a flood,” he said. “These books can be brought back.”
Small said that when a new air-conditioning system was installed earlier this year, the pipe that leaked was not replaced. The university has hired an independent mechanical engineer to find the cause of the blockage and to determine whether other pipes in the library are at risk of leaking. Small added that the damage will be covered by insurance.
Posted August 11, 2003.