Libraries Evacuation Timeline
As the threat of potential flooding on the University of Iowa campus was communicated, members of the Libraries staff began the necessary work both inside the library and across campus to save as much as possible.
Monday, June 9. Preparations were made to relocate staff and essential book materials from the Art Library in Art Building West and the Rita Benton Music Library in the Voxman Music Building to the Main Library. Both of these libraries are located on the second floor of the building.
Special Collections and Preservation librarians began assessing potential trouble spots in the Main Library basement.
Staff from across the Libraries volunteered for sandbag duty on campus.
Tuesday, June 10. The Art and Music libraries were evacuated along with the rest of the Arts Campus.
A link to the online Flood Recovery Booklet was distributed through the UI Flood Information website and the Libraries website.
Libraries administrators, Special Collections and Preservation librarians met with Dave McClain to further assess flood risk to the Main Library.
Libraries staff members continued working on volunteer sandbag crews.
Wednesday, June 11. The fifth floor study lounge in the Main Library was converted to a temporary storage space for Special Collections materials. Through the efforts of the Libraries’ student workers, the bottom shelves (essentially 12-18 inches of space) were relocated upstairs.
The materials in Special Collections are unique and/or rare materials including artist’s books, manuscript collections, original bound volumes of the Daily Iowan and the University Archives.
Special Collections researchers were encouraged to contact the department because of difficulty in retrieving some materials.
Thursday, June 12. After receiving new flood estimates, Special Collections and Preservation librarians determined to more materials from the Special Collections storage area in the lower level of the Main Library. Student workers as well as library staff continued relocating materials.
Friday, June 13. Libraries administrators were notified that the Main Library would be evacuated. More than 150 staff members in the Main Library packed their belongings and prepared to disperse to other libraries and locations across campus.
Relocation of Special Collections and other difficult to replace materials continued through the efforts of hundreds of volunteers throughout the day and evening. Handing books along a “book brigade” that snaked down hallways and up stairwells, volunteers were able to move tens of thousands of books from storage including thousands of theses of University masters and doctoral candidates. One volunteer estimated that they were “passing nearly 100 books a minute.”
Sandbaggers built a dike along the west side of the Main Library and around the loading dock entrance.
Governor Chet Culver, Senators Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley and Representative Dave Loebsack along with other University and City officials visited the Main Library and thanked volunteers for their efforts.
Satisfied that as much of the Libraries’ irreplaceable collections as possible were out of harm’s way and concerned about the additional weight load on the upper floors, Libraries’ officials ended the book relocation at 9 p.m. The building was locked and alarmed.
The University of Iowa Libraries is the largest library system in Iowa and among the top 30 academic research libraries in the country. The Main Library, Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, 9 branch libraries, and the Law Library contain nearly 5 million volumes. About two-thirds of this collection resides in the Main Library.
