Rare Law Books Damaged in Yale Explosion

http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2003/may2003/rarelawbooks.cfm

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Posted May 26, 2003.

Rare Law Books Damaged in Yale Explosion

Sprinklers activated after an apparent bomb explosion in an empty Yale Law School classroom May 21 dampened some 300 rare books stored in a vault located one floor below. The wet books were wrapped in protective paper and moved to a freezer at Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library through an underground tunnel the following afternoon, the May 23 New Haven (Conn.) Register reported.

Collections Care Librarian Erika Heinen said that although freezing will halt the damage, there may still be “tide lines, dirt, and discoloration, but we can get rid of a lot of it. Whether we choose to or not is another thing.” Yale Director of Library Preservation Bobbie Pilette said, “Once they are dried, an assessment can be made if they need further repair. We’re in a holding pattern.”

The explosion occurred around 4:40 p.m. No one was injured. A law student studying in the law library at the time told CNN that he grabbed his computer and ran after he felt the “earth move.”

Posted May 26, 2003.