Dean of Libraries Gary Pitkin said damage to collections was minimal, mostly affecting 1,200 bound periodicals stored in the basement. Several offices and the university archives reading room also suffered minor damage, but many basement classrooms and offices were vacant because the library had been preparing for building renovations.
Early estimates put the damage around $200,000. “As far as materials damage, it could have been a thousand times worse,” said Ken McConnellogue, vice president for university advancement, in the December 28 Greeley Tribune. The library’s primary collections, housed on the first three levels, were not affected.
Cleanup was expected to take at least a week, but upper levels of the library reopened December 29.
Posted December 30, 2005.