Staff and volunteers recovered and froze about 33,000 of the library’s 166,000 maps; a little more than half of those are being shipped to Texas, where they’ll be freeze-dried and cleaned by a recovery firm in a process that could be completed by next fall. However, librarians estimate restoration of the remaining materials could take up to seven years, according to the December 13 Honolulu Advertiser.
Most of the library remains closed to the public, but staff have been retrieving about 500 books a day for patrons through a paging service begun in November. While the newest section of the library is expected to open to the public during the spring semester, officials don’t yet know when the rest of the building, which is still without power, could reopen, the campus newspaper Ka Leo O Hawai’i reported December 13.
Meanwhile, the university’s library and information science program, which was due for accreditation review in 2006, was granted a two-year extension after all its accreditation documents were lost in the flood.
While dollar estimates for the library haven’t been tallied, university officials say the total damage on campus—which affected more than 30 buildings—could run as high as $100 million, the Associated Press reported December 13.
Posted December 17, 2004.