Book Preservation, Mold Abatement, and Climate Control after Katrina Flooding HURRICANE KATRINA EMERGENCY GRANT

FAIN: PC-50011-06

Notre Dame Seminary Library (New Orleans, LA 70118-4301)
Wayne Trosclair (Project Director: November 2005 to May 2006)

The Notre Dame Seminary Library in New Orleans holds a specialized theology collection of more than 85,000 volumes. Its rare book collection includes histories of Church parishes all over Louisiana and bibles, some dating to the 1500s. The Library has one of the most noted and rarest of Biblical works, the Complutensian Polyglot, published in 1520. After Hurricane Katrina, flood waters entered the library and the rare book vault. Although there was not extensive water damage to collections, which had been moved to higher shelves, the building was closed and without electricity for a long period of time and mold developed. When the staff could return to New Orleans, gas-powered air conditioners were brought in to reduce high temperatures and relative humidity and abate the growth and spread of mold. The staff also packed many of the rare books and moved them to Louisiana State University for freeze-drying to halt the mold growth.