ALA assists libraries and archives damaged during the recent flooding in Central Europe

Contact: Michael Dowling


312-280-3200


mdowling@ala.org

For Immediate Release


September 2002

ALA assists libraries and archives damaged during the recent flooding in Central Europe

This summer has seen some of the worst flooding in years for Central Europe. Considerable damage to libraries and archives has occurred throughout the region. Libraries and archives in the Czech Republic were especially hard hit.

UNESCO has created a Web site,
www.unesco.org/webworld/floods_europe that provides information on the damage to libraries and archives in the region and where donations can be sent. For further information on opportunities to provide assistance, please visit
the Web site or contact the American Library Association (ALA) International Relations Office at
intl@ala.org.

"Our thoughts go out to our colleagues in Central Europe who are struggling to cope with the devastating effects of the flooding," said ALA President Maurice J. (Mitch) Freedman. "The library community has always rallied to support libraries in times of crisis, and I encourage those who can contribute, to provide whatever support they can."

"About 1 million volumes from various library collections, among them several incunabula, early prints and printed books up to 1800, and some rare collections have been damaged. Losses at archives and museums are even heavier," said Vojtech Balík, director of the National Library of the Czech Republic

The 100,000-volume library of the Faculty of Law at Charles University and the 70,000-volume library of the Prague Institute of Archaeology on the embankment of the Vltava River were submerged during the flood.

The National Library of the Czech Republic has been freezing materials in libraries and archives that have been flooded, including 5,000 cubic meters of frozen books and archival material in one day.

Libraries and archives in Germany, Austria and elsewhere also suffered considerable damage.