List of destroyed libraries

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List of destroyed libraries

Libraries have been deliberately or accidentally destroyed or badly damaged. Sometimes a library is purposely destroyed as a form of culturicide.[1]

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Birmingham Central Library destroyed by fire, 1879
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The urn containing ashes of the most precious Polish incunabula and manuscripts, deliberately burnt in the Krasiński Library by a Nazi German Brandkommando following the fall of the Warsaw Uprising

There are examples of libraries accidentally destroyed by human actions. Others were damaged by natural disasters like earthquakes, floods or accidental fires.

Library fires have happened sporadically through the centuries: notable examples are the destruction of the Library of Alexandria, the destruction of Library of Nalanda in India and the accidental burning of the Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, Germany.

Causes and prevention

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In earlier times mildew was considered a major problem in many libraries, and so the emphasis on library design was to increase air flow by, for example, leaving openings under the shelves in adjoining floors. In a fire, particularly one that starts on any floor except the top level, the flames would be drawn from floor to floor by the air flow, leading quite easily to the destruction of a whole library rather than just a small part.[2]

Advances in technology have reduced the possibility of a library collection being destroyed by fire. These include water sprinklers, fire doors, freezers, alarms, smoke detectors, suppression systems, and emergency generators. Older libraries are usually altered by closing up air flow openings and installing fire doors, alarms and sprinklers. Air conditioning reduces the mold problems. These are all essential parts of new library design.

There is no recovery possible if a book is burnt, so it is accepted that it is better to put out the fire with water and then dry out the books. As mold destroys paper, the books are frozen until they can be dried. This process will damage the book but not destroy it, and the information will be intact.

To reduce the chance of damage from fire, or other causes, and decrease the time needed for recovery after a destructive event, libraries need a disaster management and recovery plan. This can be an ongoing process which will include professional development following updates in technology for key staff, training for the remaining staff, checking and maintaining disaster kits, and review of the disaster plan.

In addition, fire-safety investigations are periodically carried out, especially for historical libraries. The Library of Congress, for example, underwent a year-long inspection beginning in 2000. Before the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, the Library of Congress and all Capitol Hill buildings were exempt from safety regulations.[3] Balancing historical preservation and contemporary safety standards proves to be a difficult task for "even a 12-year rehabilitation of LC completed in 1997 did not address many fire hazards".[4] After the Compliance Office inspection, however, the LC announced their wholehearted commitment "to achieving the highest level of safety possible" and "the Architect of the Capitol and Library of Congress will report their progress to the Office of Compliance every three months".[3]

Information technology is another reason for careful fire protection. With so many computers in libraries there "is a decrease in floor space and an increase in more compact and powerful computer systems" which generate more heat and require the use of many more outlets, increasing the number of potential ignition sources.[5] From as early as the 1950s the potential dangers of computer equipment, and the facilities that house them, were recognized. Thus, in 1962 the National Fire Protection Association began developing the first safety standards specifically applicable to electronic computer systems.[5] This standard is called NFPA 75 Protection of Information Technology Equipment. FM Global Data Sheet 5–32 is another standard providing guidelines to protect against not only fire, but also water, power loss, etc.[5]

Human action

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More information Image, Name of the library ...
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Natural disasters

More information Image, Name of the library ...
Image Name of the library City Country Date of destruction Causes and/or account of destruction
Thumb Royal Library of Portugal, Ribeira Palace Lisbon Portugal 1755-11-01 Great Lisbon earthquake
Imperial University Library in Tokyo, Max Müller Library, Nishimura Library, Hoshino Library Japan 1923-09-01 An earthquake and the following fires.[55] In September 1923 Tokyo Imperial University library lost 700,000 volumes to the Great Kanto earthquake setting off fires.[102][103][104]
National Library of Nicaragua Rubén Darío Nicaragua 1931, 1972 It was damaged in the 1931 earthquake. Another earthquake in 1972 caused damage.[105][106]
Thumb Several libraries, archives, and museums[107][108] Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Thailand, Sri Lanka 2004-12-26 The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. See Library damage resulting from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.
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Fire

More information Image, Name of the library ...
Image Name of the library City Country Date of destruction Account of destruction
Thumb Library of Celsus Ephesus Roman Empire 262 A fire caused by the 262 Southwest Anatolia earthquake[109] or a Gothic invasion.
University of Copenhagen Library Copenhagen Denmark October 1728 Copenhagen Fire of 1728
Cotton Library London, Ashburnham House United Kingdom 1731-10-23
Library of Congress Washington, D.C. United States 1814-08-25
Birmingham Central Library Birmingham United Kingdom 1879-01-11 A fire broke out behind a wooden partition serving as a temporary wall during building operations.[110] The fire caused extensive damage, with only 1,000 volumes saved from a stock of 50,000.[110]
University of Virginia Library Charlottesville, Virginia United States 1895-10-27
New York State Library Albany, New York United States 1911-03-29
National Library of Peru Lima Peru 1943-05-10
Jewish Theological Seminary of America library New York City United States 1966-04-18 Jewish Theological Seminary library fire
Charles A. Halbert Public Library Basseterre Saint Kitts and Nevis 1982[111]
St Michael's House Crafers Australia 1983 St Michael's House was destroyed as a result of the Ash Wednesday bushfires. The entire 40,000 volume library was lost including works from the 16th century.[112]
Dalhousie University Law Library Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada 1985-08-16 A lightning strike caused a short circuit in the electrical system which started a fire that destroyed the top floor of the building which housed the library.[113]
Thumb Los Angeles Central Library Los Angeles, California United States 1986-04-29 & 1986-09-03 At 10:52 a.m. on April 29, 1986, a fire alarm alerted staff and patrons of a fire in the library's main building. Over 350 firefighters responded to the blaze, which burned for about 7 hours. An estimated 400,000 books were destroyed and an additional 350,000 materials suffered significant amounts of smoke and water damaged. The fire was determined to have begun on the fifth tier of the northeast stack.[114]
Thumb Academy of Sciences Library Leningrad USSR 1988-02-14 The 1988 fire in the Library of the USSR Academy of Sciences (now Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences) broke out on Sunday, February 14, 1988, in the newspaper section on the third floor of the library. According to the library's acting director Valeriy Leonov, the fire alarm sounded at 8:13 pm, when the library was closed for visitors. By the time the fire was extinguished the following afternoon, it had destroyed between 190,000 and 300,000[115] books of the total 12 million housed. About 3.5 million volumes initially became damp due to firefighting foam.
Norwich Library Norwich, England United Kingdom 1994-08-01[116] On August 1, 1994, Norwich Central Library caught fire due to an electrical fault. Over one hundred firefighters responded as the flames escalated and smoke became visible from twenty miles away. Over 100,000 books and thousands of historical documents were destroyed.[117]
Iraq National Library Baghdad Iraq 2003-04-15
Thumb Duchess Anna Amalia Library Weimar Germany 2004-09-02
Glasgow School of Art, Rennie Mackintosh Library Glasgow, Scotland United Kingdom 2014-05-24 & 2018-06-15 On May 24, 2014, a fire began inside the Charles Rennie Mackintosh building at the Glasgow School of Art. The Mackintosh Library was lost in the blaze; however all students and staff were directed to safety and no injuries resulted.[118] The fire began after gases from an expanding foam canister being used in a student project were ignited by a sparking projector. At the time of the incident, the building's recently installed fire suppression system was not yet operational.[119] While the Mackintosh building was under renovation following the 2014 fire, a second fire broke out around 11:15 p.m. on June 15, 2018. Larger in scale than the previous fire, the damages that resulted destroyed all of the building's renovation progress, as well as part of the school that had been left untouched by the first fire.[120]
Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences (INION) Moscow Russia 2015-01-31
Mzuzu University Library Mzuzu Malawi 2015-12-18[121] In the very early hours of December 18, 2015, the Mzuzu University library caught fire. Although the library's wooden structure and carpeting spread the flames rapidly, students, staff, and firefighters on the scene attempted to rescue materials by carrying them out of the building and away from the flames. But by 5:00 a.m. the library collapsed, resulting in the loss of 45,000 volumes. Then a sudden rainstorm heightened the damage by soaking materials that had been carried out of the burning building.[122]
Thumb National Museum of Brazil Quinta da Boa Vista in Rio de Janeiro Brazil 2018-09-02 Not yet investigated. See National Museum of Brazil fire. Museum library was also destroyed.
Thumb Jagger Library (partially) Cape Town South Africa 2021-04-18 Partially destroyed by the 2021 Table Mountain fire.[123] However, the library's fire detection systems stopped the destruction of the entire collection.[124]
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See also

Further reading

  • The Bosnian Manuscript Ingathering Project – A call for Bosnian manuscripts ingathering
  • Polastron, Lucien X. (2007) Libros en Llamas: historia de la interminable destrucción de bibliotecas. Libraria, ISBN 968-16-8398-6.
  • Knuth, Rebecca. Libricide : the regime-sponsored destruction of books and libraries in the twentieth century. ISBN 0-275-98088-X
  • Polastron, Lucien X. Books on fire: the destruction of libraries throughout history. ISBN 978-1-59477-167-5
  • Civallero, Edgardo. When Memory Turns into Ashes... Memoricide During the XX Century Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine. DOI.
  • UNESCO. Lost Memory – Libraries and archives destroyed in the twentieth century
  • Books on Fire: The Destruction of Libraries Throughout History. Lucien Xavier Polastron. Translated by John E Graham. Inner Traditions. ISBN 978-1-59477-167-5. ISBN 1-59477-167-7.
  • Ovenden, Richard Burning the Books. London: John Murray[125]

References

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